By Eric Lenefsky
When one thinks of the story of נח and the מבול, one generally associates it with destruction. Hashem is fed up with the world He has created. It has corrupted itself, it has defiled itself, and it is deserving of destruction. Hashem obliges wiping out all that He worked on in last week's פרשה of פרשת בראשית. So it's certainly a correct association that נח is a story about destruction.
Yet upon further examination, upon a closer look at the פסוקים, what we begin to see is that while yes, נח is a story of destruction, it is also, and is just as much, a story about recreation. I'd like to share some parallels we see between נח and בראשית that highlight this point.
Before we get to the recreation, we have to see the destruction. Hashem opens up the windows of heaven and the depths of the earth, and the waters begin to flood the earth. The waters of the sky and the waters of the ground are brought back together, undoing day two of creation.
After that, the water grows and grows until the tips of the mountaintops are submerged by 15 אמות. The land is covered by the water, destroying day three of creation.
Rashi in פרק ח tells us that during the מבול, there was no day or night cycle, that the sun, the moon, and the stars had no power; they didn't do anything, taking away day four and day one of creation. The תורה then tells us about the death of the birds – day five – and afterward about the death of the animals and mankind – day six.
So we see that the מבול is very much a step by step destruction of בראשית, of the creation of the world.
Then Hashem remembers נח and his family on the teivah, and he begins to end the flood. The first thing the תורה tells us is, ויעבר אלקים רוח על הארץ, that Hashem, sent out a wind over the land. This brings to mind, say, בראשית, פרק א, פסוק ב. The תורה tells us there, the earth was תהו ובהו, it was a watery chaos, ורוח אלקים מרחפת על פני המים, and the wind of God stood over, hovered over the water. There was a wind hovering over the water there, and now a wind over the water once again.
Following that, the תורה tells us that the waters of the sky stop, the waters of the ground begin to recede, and the waters are no longer intermingled. The waters have become separate, bringing back day two of creation. When the water recedes enough, the mountaintops are seen once again, reviving day three of creation.
Then נח opens a window from the ark, and he sends out a raven. After the raven comes back, he sends out a dove. נח sends out birds back into the world, bringing to mind day five of creation.
Finally, נח and the animals are told to leave the תיבה, bringing back to mind day six, where animals are there, mankind is there, and just like אדם הראשון, ruled over the animals, נח goes out ahead of all them.
So we already begin to see parallels between the end of the מבול and בראשית, showing us that מבול is a recreation of the world. Yet this goes further.
After נח offers קרבנות to Hashem, God says, לא אוסיף לקלל עוד את האדמה בעבור האדם. Hashem promises to no longer curse the land because of mankind. Whereas in פרשת בראשית, the land is cursed because of mankind, and earlier in נח the world was destroyed because of mankind, no longer will השם curse the earth because of mankind.
After that, we see Hashem command and bless mankind פרו ורבו, telling them to be fruitful and multiply, a ברכה that was given to אדם and חוה as well. Following that, mankind is commanded about which foods it should be consuming, just like אדם and חוה were commanded back in גן עדן, albeit this time with the caveat that they are allowed to eat meat. Coming along with this command is the prohibition against eating the blood of the animals, and speaking about blood, we’re warned against shedding the blood of a fellow human being.
This needs to be said, because in the original creation, קין kills הבל. And so now השם tells us, by the way, that was wrong. You're not allowed to do that; you're not allowed to spill the blood of a fellow man. And then finally, השם explains why. He reminds us of the צלם אלקים in which mankind was created, putting the icing on the cake of these parallels.
What we see is that yes, the מבול was about undoing creation but it is also about recreating the world in a new way, giving mankind another chance, blessing them again with פרו ורבו, telling them not to murder because they made that mistake last time, and promising not to curse the land because of them again.
It is a story of recreation, which can only follow destruction. I think it's apt, it's very relevant, for our times as well. We’ve experienced a lot of destruction in the past year, more than most of us have ever seen in our entire lives.
Yet, concomitantly following a destruction, there must be a recreation. There must be a recreation of the land that we live in, there must be a recreation of the nation that we are a part of, and there must be a recreation of the lives of those lost.
Just as השם destroyed the world and recreated it in the times of נח, may we who have experienced the destruction experience the recreation from הקדוש ברוך הוא, which comes from Him, but must come from ourselves to as well. May we be זוכה to live up to this holy and challenging task of recreating the world after the destruction, and by doing so, may we only be זוכה to a full recreation of in ideal world with ביאת המשיח.
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