Weekly Torah Study: Noach 2025/5786 -- Leaving the Ark

(13) In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the waters began to dry from the earth; and when Noah removed the covering of the ark, he saw that the surface of the ground was drying.(14) And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.(15) God spoke to Noah, saying, (16) “Come out of the ark, together with your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives. (17) Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and everything that creeps on earth; and let them swarm on the earth and be fertile and increase on earth.” (18) So Noah came out, together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. (19) Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that stirs on earth came out of the ark by families.

And immediately afterward it is written: “This He ordained in Joseph for testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt” (Psalms 81:6), implying that Joseph’s release from prison took place on Rosh HaShana. It was also taught in the baraita: On Rosh HaShana our forefathers’ slavery in Egypt ceased. From where is this known? It is written here: “And I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt” (Exodus 6:6); and it is written there, with regard to Joseph: “I removed his shoulder from the burden” (Psalms 81:7). From here it is derived by verbal analogy between the two instances of the word “burden” that just as Joseph was released from prison in Tishrei, so too, the slavery of our forefathers in Egypt ended in Tishrei. It was taught in the baraita: In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt, as it is explicitly stated in the Torah. The baraita continues: In Tishrei in the future the Jewish peoplewill be redeemed in the final redemption. This is derived by means of a verbal analogy between one instance of the word shofar and another instance of the word shofar. It is written here, with regard to Rosh HaShana: “Sound a shofar at the New Moon” (Psalms 81:4), and it is written there, with regard to the final redemption: “And it shall come to pass on that day, that a great shofar shall be blown” (Isaiah 27:13). It was also taught in the baraita: Rabbi Yehoshua says: In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt; and in Nisan in the future the Jewish peoplewill be redeemed in the final redemption. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that the final redemption will be in Nisan? The verse states: “It is a night of watching for the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt; this is the Lord’s night of watching, for all the children of Israel throughout their generations” (Exodus 12:42). This teaches that the night of Passover is a night that has been continuously watched, i.e., set aside for the purpose of redemption, from the six days of Creation, and it will continue to be so until the final redemption. The Gemara asks: And how does the othertanna, Rabbi Eliezer, understand this verse? He derives from it that this is a night that is continuously watched and protected from demons, meaning that demons have no power on the first night of Passover. AndRabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshuafollow their lines of reasoning, as they disagreed about this same issue in another context as well. As it is taught in a baraita: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day were all the fountains of the great deep broken open, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). Rabbi Yehoshua says: That day was the seventeenth of Iyyar, the second month of the year counting from Nisan, which is the day that the constellation of Kima sets during the day and the season that the springs diminish with the increased heat. But because the people of the generation of the flood changed their actions for the worse, the Holy One, Blessed be He, changed for them the acts of Creation, and instead of Kima setting, He caused the constellation of Kima to rise during the day and He removed two stars from Kima, and in this way He brought a flood to the world.Rabbi Eliezer disagrees and says: That day was the seventeenth of Marḥeshvan, the second month counting from Tishrei, which is the day that the constellation of Kima rises during the day and the season that the springs increase.

(1) ויסר נח את מכסה התבה, he had thought that the earth had already dried out completely only to find (2) והנה חרבה פני האדמה, that whereas there was a thin layer of earth above the water, the earth had not yet dried out thoroughly.

(21)יהוה smelled the pleasing odor, and יהוה resolved: “Never again will I doom the earth because of humankind, since the devisings of the human mind are evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done.

(10) “The Lord said to His heart” – the wicked are under the control of their hearts: “The scoundrel says in his heart” (Psalms 14:1); “Esau said in his heart” (Genesis 27:41); “Yerovam said in his heart” (I Kings 12:26); “Haman said in his heart” (Esther 6:6). But the righteous, their hearts are subject to them: “Hannah was speaking to her heart” (I Samuel 1:13); “David said to his heart” (I Samuel 27:1); “Daniel placed in his heart” (Daniel 1:8); “the Lord said to His heart.” “I will not continue…and I will not continue” – it is powerful, it is powerful. The Rabbis say: “I will not continue” for the [present] children of Noah, “and I will not continue” for [future] generations. Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great said: Wretched is the dough whose baker attests in its regard that it is inferior – “[and the Lord said to His heart…] as the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Abba Yosei HaTorati says: Wretched is the leaven whose maker attests that it is inferior, as it is stated: “For He knows our inclination; mindful that we are dust” (Psalms 103:14). The Rabbis say: Wretched is the sapling whose planter attests that it is inferior, as it is stated: “The Lord of hosts, who planted you, spoke evil of you” (Jeremiah 11:17). Antoninos asked our Rabbi, saying to him: ‘From what point is the evil inclination implanted in a person? From the moment he emerges from his mother’s womb, or even before he emerges from his mother’s womb?’ He said to him:’ Before he emerges from his mother’s womb.’ He said to him: ‘No. Were it implanted in him while still in his mother’s womb, he [the fetus] would dig through her innards and emerge [by force].’ Rabbi conceded to him, as he was in agreement with the opinion of the Biblical verse: “As the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth [neurav]” (Genesis 8:21). Rabbi Yudan said: “ne’erav” is written; from the moment that he pushes out [ninar] to emerge from his mother’s womb. Antoninos also asked our Rabbi, saying to him: ‘From when is a spirit embedded in a person? From the moment he emerges from his mother’s womb, or even before he emerges from his mother’s womb?’ He said to him: ‘After he emerges from his mother’s womb.’ He said to him: ‘No. This is analogous to a piece of meat, if one were to leave it without salting it for three days, it putrefies.’ Rabbi conceded to him, as he was in agreement with the opinion of the Biblical verse, as it is stated: ”You granted me life and kindness, and Your command [ufkudatekha] preserved my spirit” (Job 10:12) – from when did you place the soul in me? It is from when You deposited me [hifkadetani].