Parashat Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32)

Parashat Noach opens with the words, “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). In this passage, “generations” is the Hebrew word toldot (תדלות). The word toldot is most often used in the Scriptures in relationship to genealogy, since its primary meaning is “descendants” or “offspring.” For instance, toward the end of this week’s parashah we read, “These are the generations of Shem” (Genesis 11:10). Immediately following is a list of Shem’s descendants. The pattern repeats with Terah, the father of Abraham, saying, “Now these are the generations of Terah” (Genesis 11:27), followed by a list of his children. The same goes for the lists of the sons of Ishmael in Genesis 25, etc.

However, in the case of the Bible’s description of Noah (and a few other select individuals), rather than listing his children, his character traits are listed. The Scriptures appear to be emphasizing that, more than his literal offspring—the very ones that would repopulate the world after the flood—Noah’s legacy was to be found in his character. The Scriptures list three “offspring” of Noah: his righteousness, his blamelessness, and his relationship with God. Let’s briefly explore these concepts.

Parashat B'reisheet (Genesis 1:1-6:8)

Parashat B’reisheet is always filled with fascination and intrigue whenever we study it. There are so many facets of the Creation account to explore that it would take a lifetime to begin unraveling them. For instance, on the first day of Creation, we read about the creation of light:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:3–5)

Although light is created on the first day, the sun, moon and stars are not created until the fourth day. If these luminaries were not created until the fourth day, then what was the light that illuminated the first three days? Fortunately, we have insights of our sages from the last two millennia that help us peer into the deep mysteries of these events. When Rashi, the famous medieval commentator, read this passage his response was that it cannot be properly understood without outside commentary, particularly the midrash.

What does the midrash have to say about this passage? It has more than we have time to cover here. But the main concept we need to understand is that this light that was first spoken into existence is unique and distinct from the light produced by the luminaries. It was a special, pure light that radiated from God himself. The Torah gives us a clue about the quality of this light when it says, “And God saw that the light was good.” It was the first of all Creation to have this special designation of “good.” According to Rabbi Elazar, in a midrash called Yalkut Shimoni, the light that God created on the first day was used by Adam to look from one end of the universe to the other. It was something extremely special.