(special thanks to Tim Terry for showing their newsletter to me)
Noach |
| Beresheit/Genesis 6:9 - 11:32 Isaiah 66:1-24 |
| The story of Noah and the flood is one of the best known biblical accounts and some could think that given its familiarity, what new insight could we possibly gain? Id' like to share one with you that will probably be a new thought. For in seven days' time I will make it rain upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created." Gen. 7:4 Noah had been building the Ark for 100 years and during that time had repeatedly appealed to his fellowmen to repent of their sin, warning that Hashem had promised to send massive judgment upon the earth in the form of a flood because of the corruption and wickedness of His creation. When we come to the verse quoted here, the Ark is complete and Noah is about to enter the ark with his family and with the animals. At this point, Hashem says He will yet wait another seven days before commanding the rain to fall and the fountains of the deep to burst forth. After 100 years, why wait another seven days??? Have you ever wondered? The key to the answer is found in an earlier verse. Hashem saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. And Hashem regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was grieved. Gen. 6:5-6 Hashem's heart was grieved when He witnessed the evil and corruption which had overtaken the family of man which He had created in His image and likeness. For 100 years He had given them opportunity to repent through Noah's outreach to their perverse minds and hearts. Wasn't that more than enough patience? Why at this juncture does He declare a seven day delay? I believe there are two reasons: 1) His overwhelming love and mercy towards mankind looks for every avenue to draw His creatures to repentance, even after 100 years of waiting! Maybe, just maybe, given another 7 days they will repent??? 2) In Judaism we have a custom when a loved one dies. For seven days, we "sit shiva" which means for the first seven days after the death of a family member, we mourn over the loss in a concentrated fashion, remembering the good times, receiving comfort from visiting friends who come to pay their respects, etc. By specifically calling for a SEVEN day delay, our Sages teach that Hashem Himself "sat shiva" and mourned over the deaths of all those whom He was about to destroy - His own creation. He was grieved. One translation says He was 'heart-broken' over man's corruption. Before inflicting judgment, the King of the Universe, Creator of all, grieved over what man's evil was drawing upon itself. Hashem 'sat shiva'. Can we begin to fathom the depths of such Love? |
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