Dear TBZ community:
Often we think about the story of Noah as a kind of children’s story -- a family building an ark and all the animals of the world peacefully walking, two by two, and a rainbow ending. There are toys and coloring books depicting the story and of course there is no Noah's story without the “Rise and shine arky arky” song.
But behind the docile animals, the songs, and the happy ending there is a very dark and painful story.
In Chapter 6 verses 11 and 12 we read:
וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס
The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness.
וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְהִנֵּ֣ה נִשְׁחָ֑תָה כִּֽי־הִשְׁחִ֧ית כָּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר אֶת־דַּרְכּ֖וֹ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ
When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְנֹ֗חַ קֵ֤ץ כָּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם וְהִנְנִ֥י מַשְׁחִיתָ֖ם אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ
God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth"
God created the world and created humankind in God’s image. At the end of creation God looked at the world and found it very good - וְהִנֵּה־ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד. But it doesn’t take long for jealousy and hatred to appear and to rule. And by Noah’s story, God is desperate and is ready to destroy God’s own creation.
Often the question is asked “why didn’t God destroy everything and start from scratch?” God could have started a new world with perfect human beings, who love and share and who do not harm each other, but instead God gave another opportunity to human kind by leaving Noah and his family alive. God chose Noah, who was far from perfect but was the best that could be found in a generation of lawlessness. Perhaps just this can be an inspiring teaching for all of us: that one person, not a perfect person, but a person who is called a tzadik, a pious person in their generation, can save humankind. In one person, one simple person, there is the potential for salvation.
Noah’s biblical story has two endings. One that we know and often celebrate and one that we often avoid speaking about. The easy one is the rainbow ending - keshet b’anan קֶּ֖שֶׁת בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן, the commitment that God makes with Noah and with human kind giving a sign.
We read in chapter 9, verses 15-16:
וְזָכַרְתִּ֣י אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֗י אֲשֶׁ֤ר בֵּינִי֙ וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔ם וּבֵ֛ין כָּל־נֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּ֖ה בְּכָל־בָּשָׂ֑ר וְלֹֽא־יִֽהְיֶ֨ה ע֤וֹד הַמַּ֙יִם֙ לְמַבּ֔וּל לְשַׁחֵ֖ת כָּל־בָּשָֽׂר
I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
וְהָיְתָ֥ה הַקֶּ֖שֶׁת בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן וּרְאִיתִ֗יהָ לִזְכֹּר֙ בְּרִ֣ית עוֹלָ֔ם בֵּ֣ין אֱלֹהִ֔ים וּבֵין֙ כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֔ה בְּכָל־בָּשָׂ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures, all flesh that is on earth.
The hard ending comes after the rainbow.
We can imagine that Noah, his sons, possibly his wife (whom we don't know much about) walk out from the ark to a world destroyed and waiting to be renewed. And although they are grateful to be alive, although a beautiful rainbow has given them a promise for a brighter future, they are alone in this remade world, and all that they have known has been swept away. I can imagine Noah’s children -- who are supposed to now be fruitful and multiply and become the new ancestors to humanity -- finding this task too heavy and too hard to hold. They are the survivors of the flood and they are lonely, they are afraid, and they don’t know what the future will hold.
Noah subsequently plants a vineyard, he drinks the wine he creates, and becomes drunk. His son, Ham, sees his nakedness and tells his brothers. They respond and cover their father. Noah wakes up, confused and angry, and he curses Ham.
What does the text mean when it says that Ham saw his father nakedness? The rabbis give different interpretations -- from Ham sodomizing Noah to castrating him (Sanhedrin 70a)-- perhaps trying to explain the depth of Noah’s anger and curse. But maybe, the pshat, the literal meaning of it says it all: when Ham sees his father’s nakedness, he sees a man stripped bare of everything. He sees a man vulnerable and alone, and there are no promises and no rainbows. Having Ham see his father’s humanity, and his weakness, Noah lashes out.
Why is this story placed here after what feels like a happily-ever-after rainbow-across-the-sky ending? Perhaps this unhappy ending reveals the fragility of each human being, and that the potential of salvation in the tzadik of his time, can slip all too quickly into a place of desperation, anger, sorrow, pain and hurt.
As I read this story, I think of the potential for each of us to be a tzaddik - a person empowered who can bring redemption and salvation -- and that each of us can become despairing, angry, and lose sight of our power and our hope.
At moments I feel empowered: I can bring change. I know I count, my vote counts, my work for a better future counts. Then, at moments, I fall into despair and question if what I am doing really makes a difference. I don’t know what the future will bring. I don’t always know if the rainbow continues to be the promise for a better future.
The parasha ends with the generations that come after Noach, their children and the children of their children and all the nations and generations that came after them. Perhaps that is the promise. The promise of future generations that will continue to live and to bring change. Noah was an ish tamim, a simple man in his generation; he was a tzadik, a pious person who stood above the wickedness of the earth and gave humankind another opportunity.
Each of us is Noah. Each one of us counts -- our votes count, our deeds count, our efforts count. And when we fall into despair, when our weakness and vulnerability is made visible, we can remember the rainbow and the commitment of God that we are in this together, and the beauty and love in this world can be renewed by us.
May this Shabbat bring renewal and blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, and patience, and open our hearts with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful and restful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
