ספר בראשית - פרשת נח - ז:יז-ח:יד - שלישי

Now the flood was forty days upon the earth. The waters increased, and they lifted the ark, and it rose off the earth. The verse is describing how, as the rain continued for forty days, the water level kept rising, and eventually the ark was lifted up and floated above the ground. The Torah repeats the phrase about the ark being lifted and rising off the earth to emphasize that the ark was not just sitting on the ground but was actually floating, carried by the waters. This is the beginning of the description of the mabul, showing the power of the flood and how it affected everything on earth.

Rashi explains the phrase "vataram me'al ha'aretz"—that the ark rose off the earth—means that the ark was actually submerged in the water to a depth of eleven cubits, like a heavily loaded ship that sits deep in the water. Only part of the ark was visible above the water, while most of it was submerged. Rashi brings proof from the following verses that describe the depth of the water above the mountains, showing that the ark was indeed sunken into the water and not just floating on the surface.

The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark moved along the surface of the waters. This verse tells us that as the water kept rising, the ark was carried by the water and began to travel over the face of the deep. The Torah is emphasizing the intensity of the flood and how the ark was completely at the mercy of the waters, floating wherever the water took it.

Rashi comments on the word "vayigberu"—that the waters prevailed—meaning that the waters increased on their own, without any further intervention. The floodwaters continued to rise and strengthen by themselves, showing the overwhelming force of the mabul.

The waters prevailed exceedingly, exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the entire heavens were covered. The verse is stressing that not only did the water rise, but it covered even the tallest mountains everywhere on earth. This shows the totality of the destruction—the flood was not localized, but covered the entire world, submerging even the highest peaks.

The waters rose fifteen cubits above the tops of the mountains, and the mountains were covered. This means that after the water reached the height of the tallest mountains, it continued to rise another fifteen cubits above them. This detail is important for understanding how deep the floodwaters were and how completely everything was submerged.

Rashi explains that "chamesh esrei ama milma'ala"—fifteen cubits above—means above the peak of every mountain. After the water level became equal with the tops of the mountains, it continued to rise an additional fifteen cubits, so the water was fifteen cubits higher than the highest mountain. Rashi points out that this is proven by the verses that follow, which describe the depth of the water and the way the ark was submerged. The ark itself was sunken into the water to a depth of eleven cubits, and the water above the mountains was fifteen cubits, so the ark could float above the mountains without scraping them.

All flesh that moved upon the earth perished—among the birds, among the cattle, among the beasts, among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and among all mankind. This verse describes the total destruction caused by the flood: every living creature on land, whether animal or human, was wiped out. Only those in the ark survived. The Torah lists each category to emphasize that nothing was spared, and the devastation was complete. Rashi notes that the fish in the sea were not affected by the flood, as they were not included in the destruction.

Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, of all that were on the dry land, died. This means that every living creature on the dry land perished in the flood.

Rashi explains that the phrase "Nishmas Ruach Chaim" means the breath of the spirit of life. In other words, it refers to the breath of life that is in the nostrils of living creatures.

Of all that were on the dry land — this excludes the fish that were in the sea. The fish were not affected by the flood and did not die, since they were not on the dry land.

And it, meaning the flood, blotted out all the beings that were upon the face of the earth, from man to animal, to creeping things, and to the fowl of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth, and only Noach and those with him in the ark survived. The verse is emphasizing that everything was wiped out except for those who were in the ark with Noach.

Rashi explains the word "Vayimach" — "and it blotted out" — is in the active voice, not the passive. It is from the same grammatical form as "Vayifen" (and he turned), "Vayiven" (and he built). Every verb whose root ends with a hei, such as banah (to build), machah (to erase), kanah (to acquire), when you prefix it with a vav and a yud, it is vowelized with a chirik under the yud. Rashi is teaching that the meaning of the verse is not that all the beings were blotted out, but rather that it — the flood — blotted out all the beings. The grammatical point is that the verb is in the active form, not the passive.

But Noach — Rashi explains that this means only Noach survived. This is the simple meaning. The Midrashic explanation is that Noach was groaning and spitting blood because of the burden of caring for the cattle and the beasts. Some say that he was late in feeding the lion, and the lion struck him. Regarding him it is said in Mishlei 11:31, "Behold, the righteous man is requited for his sins in this world." In other words, Noach suffered in the ark due to the great responsibility and the difficulties he faced in caring for all the animals, and this suffering was a form of atonement for him.

And the waters prevailed upon the earth for 150 days. This means that the floodwaters remained at their height and dominated the earth for a total of 150 days.

And G-d remembered Noach and all the animals and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and G-d caused a spirit to pass over the earth and the waters subsided. The verse is saying that Hashem remembered Noach and all the animals and cattle that were with him in the ark. This means that Hashem turned His attention to them, and as a result, He caused a spirit to pass over the earth, which brought about a calming and the waters began to subside. The phrase 'G-d remembered' refers to Hashem acting with mercy, turning from judgment to compassion, and beginning the process of ending the flood and saving those in the ark.

Rashi explains that the name used for G-d here, 'Elokim,' is usually associated with the divine standard of justice. However, through the prayers of the righteous, this standard of justice was converted to the divine standard of mercy. On the other hand, the wickedness of the wicked can convert the standard of mercy back to the standard of justice. As it says earlier in Bereishis, 'And Hashem saw that the evil of man was great,' and then it says, 'And Hashem said, I will blot out.' Even though the name used is the name of mercy, it was turned around through the actions of the wicked to become an expression of judgment.

Rashi asks: What merit did the animals have that G-d remembered them? The answer is that they had the merit of not having corrupted their ways before the flood, and also that they did not copulate in the ark. These two merits were the reason Hashem remembered the animals along with Noach.

Rashi explains that the 'spirit' which G-d caused to pass over the earth was a spirit of consolation and calm. It was a calming wind that brought relief and began to settle the waters and the situation on earth.

The phrase 'al ha'aretz'—'upon the earth'—means concerning the events and affairs of the earth. It refers to what was happening on the earth as a result of the flood and the subsiding of the waters.

Rashi explains the word 'vayashoku'—'and the waters subsided'—by comparing it to the language used in Megillas Esther: 'when the king's fury subsided.' It is an expression of the calming of anger, meaning the waters calmed down and the fury of the flood abated.

And the springs of the deep were closed, and the windows of the heavens, and the rain from the heavens was withheld. This verse describes how the sources of water for the flood were stopped: the springs from below were closed, the windows of the heavens were shut, and the rain was held back, ending the flooding from above and below.

Rashi explains that when the springs were opened at the beginning of the flood, the verse said 'all the springs of the deep,' but here it does not say 'all.' This is because some of the springs remained open—those that were necessary for the world, such as the hot springs of Tiberias and similar springs. Not every spring was closed; only those that were not needed for the ongoing needs of the world were closed.

The word Vayichale means 'and it was withheld.' Rashi explains that this is similar to the usage in Tehillim 40:12, 'Lo sichale rachamecha'—'do not withhold Your mercies,' and in Bereishis 23:6, 'Lo yichale mimcha'—'it will not be withheld from you.' So here too, Vayichale means that it was withheld.

The verse says, 'And the waters receded from upon the earth, going and returning, and the waters diminished at the end of one hundred and fifty days.' This means that after the floodwaters had covered the earth, they began to recede and diminish. The process of the waters going down was gradual, and it continued until the end of 150 days from when the flood began. Rashi will explain the calculation of these days in the next commentary.

Rashi explains the phrase 'at the end of one hundred and fifty days'—that is when the waters began to diminish. This was on the first of Sivan. How do we calculate this? The rain stopped on the 27th of Kislev. That leaves three days in Kislev, plus 29 days in Teves, making 32 days. Then you have the months of Shvat, Adar, Nisan, and Iyar, which total 118 days. Add those together and you have 150 days. So, the waters began to diminish at the end of these 150 days, which is the first of Sivan.

The verse says, 'And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.' This means that after the waters began to recede, the ark finally settled and rested on the mountains of Ararat on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. Rashi will clarify which month is meant by 'the seventh month' in the next commentary.

Rashi explains that 'the seventh month' here refers to Sivan. It is the seventh month counting from Kislev, which is when the rain stopped. So, the ark came to rest in the month of Sivan, which is the seventh month from the end of the rain.

On the seventeenth day of the month, Rashi says, from here you learn that the ark was submerged in the water eleven cubits. The verse (in verse 5) says, 'In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.' That tenth month is Av, which is the tenth month from Marcheshvan, the month when the rain began. The waters were fifteen cubits above the mountain peaks, and from the first of Sivan until the first of Av, the waters diminished fifteen cubits in sixty days. That means the water went down at a rate of one cubit every four days. So, on the sixteenth of Sivan, only four cubits had diminished, and the ark came to rest the next day. From this, you learn that the ark was submerged eleven cubits in the water above the mountain peaks.

The verse says, 'And the waters continued to diminish until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.' This means that the process of the waters going down was ongoing, and it was only in the tenth month, on the first day, that the mountain peaks could be seen. Rashi will explain which month is meant by 'the tenth month' and how to count it in the next commentary.

Rashi explains that 'in the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible'—this is the month of Av, which is the tenth month from Marcheshvan, the month when the rain began. If you would say that it is Elul, the tenth from Kislev (when the rain stopped), just as you say 'the seventh month' is Sivan, the seventh from the end of the rain, it is not possible to say so. You are forced to count the seventh month from when the rain stopped, because the forty days of rain and the 150 days of the waters prevailing only end on the first of Sivan. If you would count the seventh month from when the rain began, it would not be Sivan. So, too, the 'tenth month' can only be counted from when the rain began. If you would count it from when the rain stopped, it would be Elul. But then, when the verse later says (verse 13) 'on the first of the month, the waters dried from the earth,' you would not have enough time for all the events to take place between the appearance of the mountain tops and the drying of the earth. If you say the mountain tops appeared in Elul, then the earth would be dry in Marcheshvan, but the verse calls it 'the first,' which refers to Tishrei, the first month of the year (from creation). According to Rabbi Yehoshua, it would be Nisan. Therefore, Rashi proves that the 'seventh month' is counted from the end of the rain, and the 'tenth month' is counted from when the rain began.

It was at the end of forty days, Noach opened the window of the ark that he had made. This means that after the forty days had passed from when the tops of the mountains became visible, Noach opened the window. The verse is telling us that the forty days are counted from when the mountain peaks were seen, not from when the ark came to rest. This is important for understanding the timeline of events after the flood.

Rashi explains that the phrase "Miketz arbaim yom"—at the end of forty days—means forty days from when the tops of the mountains were seen. In other words, after the mountain peaks became visible, Noach waited another forty days before opening the window of the ark. This clarifies that the forty days are counted from the appearance of the mountain tops, not from when the ark rested on the mountains.

The window of the ark that Noach made refers to the tzohar—the source of light in the ark. This was not the same as the door of the ark, which was made for entering and exiting. The tzohar was specifically constructed to bring light into the ark, as mentioned earlier in the Torah. The door, on the other hand, was closed by Hashem and only opened later when Noach and his family left the ark. So, the window here is the tzohar, not the entrance.

Noach sent out the raven, and it went out, going back and forth until the waters dried from the earth. The raven did not go on the mission Noach intended. Instead, it circled around the ark, not leaving to search for dry land. The reason for this, as explained in the Midrash, is that the raven suspected Noach of wanting to take its mate, so it did not fulfill the mission. The verse describes the raven as going out and returning, meaning it kept circling the ark until the waters dried up from the earth.

Rashi explains the phrase "yotzei vashov"—going out and returning—as meaning the raven was circling around the ark. It did not go on the mission Noach sent it for, because it suspected Noach regarding its mate. This is as taught in the Aggadah in Sanhedrin 108b, where it says the raven was suspicious and therefore did not carry out Noach's instructions.

The phrase "until the waters dried from the earth" is understood simply as its plain meaning. However, the Midrash Aggadah adds that the raven was actually prepared for another mission in the future: during the drought in the days of Eliyahu, as it says in Melachim I 17:6, "and the ravens brought him bread and meat." So, the raven had a future role to play in providing for Eliyahu during the famine.

After that, Noach sent out the dove from himself to see whether the waters had subsided from the surface of the ground. The purpose of sending the dove was to determine if the land had become dry enough for life to resume. The dove would serve as a test: if it found a place to rest, it would not return, indicating that the earth was dry; if it returned, it meant the earth was still covered with water.

Rashi explains that Noach sent the dove at the end of seven days. This is learned from the verse (verse 10), which says, "He waited another seven days." From this, you learn that even the first time Noach sent the dove, he had waited seven days after sending the raven. So, there was a pattern: after sending the raven, Noach waited seven days before sending the dove, and then continued to wait seven days between each subsequent sending of the dove.

The phrase vayishlach here does not mean a mission or sending on an assignment, but rather simply letting go—he sent her off to go on her way. The purpose was to see if the waters had subsided, because if the dove would find a place to rest, she would not return to him. So, the act of sending was not a formal mission, but just releasing her to see if she would come back or not, which would indicate whether the land was dry.

The verse says that the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him, to the ark, because there was still water covering the entire surface of the earth. Noach stretched out his hand, took her, and brought her back into the ark. This means that the dove was unable to find any dry land to rest on, so she came back, and Noach brought her back inside.

Then Noach waited another seven days and again sent out the dove from the ark. This shows that after the first attempt, he waited a full week before trying again. The process was methodical—he did not send the dove out every day, but waited seven days between each attempt to check if the waters had receded.

The word vayachel means he waited or anticipated. This is similar to the verse in Iyov 29:21, "they listened to me and waited for me." There are many such examples in scripture where this root means to wait or anticipate, not to begin something new.

The verse describes how the dove came back to Noach toward evening, and behold, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in her mouth. Noach then knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth. The dove bringing back the olive leaf was a sign that the land was beginning to dry, and there was now vegetation available above the water. This was the indication Noach was waiting for to know that the floodwaters were receding.

Rashi comments on the words taraf befihah—'a plucked leaf in her mouth'—and says, "I say that it was a male dove." Therefore, sometimes the Torah refers to the dove in the masculine and sometimes in the feminine. Generally, every mention of a dove in scripture is in the feminine form, as in Shir HaShirim 5:12, "like doves by streams of water, bathing," and Yechezkel 7:16, "like doves of the valleys, all moaning," and Hoshea 7:11, "like a silly dove." So, the Torah sometimes uses the feminine and sometimes the masculine, and Rashi suggests that in this case, it was a male dove, which is why the language varies.

The word taraf means 'grabbed' or 'snatched.' But the Midrashic interpretation is that it refers to food. The word befihah—'in her mouth'—is interpreted as an expression of speech or declaration. The dove is understood to have said: "Let my food be bitter like an olive, but given by the hand of Hashem, rather than sweet like honey but given by the hand of flesh and blood." In other words, it is better to have a simple, even bitter, sustenance from Hashem than something sweet from a human being.

Noach waited another seven days and again sent out the dove, but this time she did not return to him anymore. This shows that after the previous attempts, the land had dried enough that the dove found a place to settle and did not need to come back to the ark. The process of waiting seven days between each sending is repeated, and the fact that the dove did not return was the final sign that the earth was now habitable.

The word Vayeichel is similar to Vayachel, but there is a difference in the grammatical form. Vayeichel is in the form of Vayifal, which is an active form, while Vayachel is in the form of Vayitpael, which is a reflexive or passive form. The meaning of Vayeichel is 'he waited,' and Vayachel means 'he made himself wait' or 'he was patient.' Rashi is teaching us the difference between these two forms, explaining that in this context, Vayeichel means 'he waited' or 'he was patient.'

This verse describes that in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters dried up from upon the earth. Noach then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground had dried. The explanation here is that after all the events of the flood, on this specific date, the water had finally dried up from the earth. Noach took off the cover of the ark, which allowed him to see that the face of the ground was dry. However, as explained later, the ground was not yet completely dry and solid; it was more like mud that had crusted over on the surface, but it was not yet fully dry earth. This is an important detail, as the process of the earth drying out took some additional time even after the waters had receded.

The phrase Berishon (in the first month) is explained according to two opinions. According to Rabbi Eliezer, Berishon refers to the month of Tishrei, while according to Rabbi Yehoshua, it refers to the month of Nissan. This means that the timing of these events is understood differently depending on which opinion you follow regarding the beginning of the year and the calendar months.

The word Charvu (dried) here means that the ground became like mud, with a crust forming on its surface. In other words, the top layer of the earth had dried and hardened, but underneath it was still muddy. The drying was not yet complete; it was only the outer surface that had become crusted over.

This verse states that in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was completely dry. This marks the point when the land was finally fully dried out, not just crusted on the surface but truly dry, so that it was possible to leave the ark and walk on the ground. The process from when the waters first receded until the earth was totally dry took a significant amount of time, as detailed in the previous verses and explanations.

Rashi explains that the descent of the floodwaters ended in the second month, on the seventeenth day. The eleven days difference between the solar and lunar years is accounted for here. The judgment of the generation of the flood lasted a complete year. In other words, the flood lasted for a full solar year, which is 365 days, and since the lunar year is shorter by eleven days, this is why there is an extra eleven days mentioned here, from the seventeenth of the second month in one year to the twenty-seventh of the second month in the following year. This calculation shows that the flood lasted exactly one full solar year, fulfilling the decree that the punishment would be for a complete year.

The word Yavsha (dry) here means that the earth became dry as it should be, completely dried out in the proper way. Now the ground was no longer muddy or crusted, but truly dry and solid, suitable for living and walking upon. This is the final stage of the drying process after the flood.