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If you ask a person on our streets to depict Noah, he/she would most likely say: “I envision Noah as an old bearded man, standing on the deck of his ark, surrounded by grinning animals…”
Some would offer a more sophisticated answer: “Noah is a drunken, old man rolling naked on the ground and then sexually violated by his own grandson…Ha!”
How sad it is that this picture of Noah permeates our culture and imagination. We see it printed on countless children “bible stories.” A transcript of mine named “Children of Noah” was rejected by the publisher, for “We do not deal with children books.”
Yes, we are guilty of rendering Noah to a semi comic figure, bereaved of moral message.
And I wonder: Has this image of Noah, been inscribed on our mind by the Heavenly Court on purpose? Noah means ‘pleasant’, ‘accommodative.’ Unlike many prophets before or after him, he did not rebuke his generation (Midrash) nor did he start a new religion. The name of his wife, Naama, means the same, that she too was a pleasant woman, easy going and accommodating. They matched each other from birth. So when Noah speaks to us through the bible over generations, who would be offended? Who among us would object the teaching of his drunken grandfather, who rolls naked on the ground holding a cup of wine?
The sad fact is that Noah is the most neglected and forgotten prophet of the Bible. His message is paramount, since we still live on contingency under his Rainbow Covenant. It is only because of his prayer on Mount Moriah that the Heavenly Court agreed to be more patient with us, and not to bring back the Flood SO FAST as before.
It behooves every person on Earth to be familiar with Noah, his life, his teaching, the causes of the Flood, how to prevent another Flood, and the Rainbow Covenant.
Bible critics say that the ancient Babylonians and Acadians had similar stories about a flood and a person who save animals on a boat. Moses, they argue, just copied these stories.
But the truth is that these ancient Babylonian myths LACK any moral message, bedsides the notion of an angered god(s) who brought the Flood. This in contrast to Moses’ story about Noah that is so rich In moral messages, like the Heavenly Court in session, the Attributes, the reason for the moral decay of the generations, and the implication to our days. How can one even compare these Babylonian empty myths to The Torah story?
It is plausible that it happened the other way around; that the true story of Noah as told by Moses, degenerated into the mythical Babylonian story. The Torah herself says that after the Flood, Noah’s children forsook his teaching and adapted IDOLATRY. Noah became obsolete. Gradually his messages were forgotten and replaced by stories bereaved of any moral message.
For instance: As we’ll learn from the Torah text, Noah’s Ark had a pyramidal shape, that ensure its stability over the rising, gushing waters. It could not capsize. No wonder that the Egyptians built their pyramids as “a boat that floats over the river of life and would not capsize.” Let’s note that the person Egypt is listed in the Torah as Noah’s great-grandson. The Egyptians retained Noah memory, without his faith.</font size>
So who was Noah?
We’ve learned that Noah descended from Adam’s youngest recorded son, Seth. The long list of the generations between Seth and Noah is full of righteous peoples, like:
Enosh, the fiery preacher of the MERCY, as it is said “it was then that they began calling in YHVH name”
Hanoch, who never died, because “he walked with ELKM” and kept his Laws (Genesis 5: 22; ) and because “ELKM took him away” (Genesis 5: 24). Tradition says that Hanoch received a brunch of the Tree of Life that rendered him protection from the Angel of Death.
Metushelach, who lived longer than anyone else (Genesis 27). It is said that he was so righteous, that ELKM waited for his passing away before He would bring on the Flood (Midrash)
Noah’s ancestors were all pillars of faith, the spiritual leaders of their generations. Foremost was Seth’s son, Enosh, the priest of Mercy.
In contrast to Noah, his wife Naama had nothing to brag about her heritage. She came from Cain’s infamous Children of ELKM, who carried out Cain’s murderous ways and also transgressed ADULTERY and the rest of the Six Commandments of Adam.
How in the world could Naama and Noah marry each other?
How could they become the new Adam and Eve?
What is their message to us?
Can we prevent another Deluge?
On Noah’s birth it is said:
“And he (his father,Lemech ) named him Noah saying:
This one shall comfort us
For all our work and the toil of our hands
For the curse which YHVH has cursed…” (Genesis 5: 29)
Reverse Adam curse, become a new Adam
If Adam was cursed to eat bread by the sweat of his forehead,
Here came Noah with a hope to ease that curse, to make the farmer’s life easier.
Hence Noah would reverse the curse placed on Adam. In fact, he would become a new Adam.
It sounds simple, but the message here is enormous. Man can ease or reverse G-d’s curse! The very name., Noah, suggests this. Later in his life Noah fulfilled his parent’s hopes and melted Tubal Cain’s weapons into metal ploughs, the first of their kind.
Before the Flood, ELKM ordered Noah to save himself with a man made Ark. It was a scientifically sound Ark, with a pyramidal shape. That never capsized. ELKM could have saved Noah by creating a bobble around him, or by another miracle, yet He told Noah to save himself and his family and the animals by a smart ark. Again, the message of the story of Noah is: Man CAN and should ease his lot by using his mind, science and technology.
By melting his weapons to metal ploughs, Noah became an inspiration for the prophets of Israel, who said that a day is coming when all nations would melt their swords and spears into ploughs.
Noah, like Adam, was born circumcised
Moreover, the verse says about Noah that
“Noah was a completely righteous man, tamim,
with ELKM did Noah walk”
The term ‘completely righteous’, tamim, infers that he fully complied with ELKM and his Laws.
But it can also infer that Noah was tamim, circumcised.
The same word tamim appears in Abraham’s circumcision, as G-d tells him: “walk before me and be tamim…circumcise yourself…” (Genesis 17:1)
By the circumcision, we ‘complete’ our makeup.
But there is a difference:
While Abraham was ordered to circumcise himself, Noah was born completely circumcised, tamim.
This difference would establish a major principle:
All the Commandments given to Abraham and his seeds are given as ORDERS,
While Noah’s children may fulfill them VOLUNTARILY
Adam too was born circumcised
Since Adam too was born circumcised, the Torah here equates Noah with Adam.
Noah becomes a new Adam, the new father of humanity.
The other meaning of tamim,’ compliant with submission, is also important. Noah and Abraham surrendered themselves to G-d’s wishes. What is the act of circumcision? Placing the emblem of our true Master, G-d, in our flesh.
An historical note: The Hebrew tamim or shalim, is the same as the Arabic ‘Islam.’
A simple calculation from the text revels that Enosh, the illustrious priest of MERCY, passed away when Noah was a young man, probably a teenager. Tradition holds that Noah’s mother died at his birth, so his father Lemech gave the newborn child to his own father, Metushelach, to be raised and trained by him. Somehow this plan did not work well, perhaps because of the vast difference in their age, and Lemech took Noah to Enosh to be raised by him.
Now why did the leader of Mankind, Enosh, seven generations older than Noah, agree to adapt Noah and raise him like his son? After all, Enosh had many wives and concubines and his seeds literally filed the Earth! What then was special about Noah?
A hint for that lies in the fact that Noah was born circumcised. To most people of his town, this seemed like a weird congenital defect, something to hide. But to the prophet Enosh this was an omen that the child Noah had a potential greatness; that he could become a new Adam, who was also born circumcised. This might be why Enosh showed an interest in young Noah.
We should also remember that Enosh, unlike Metushelach, ever aged. At the advance age close to a thousand years, his body and mind remained fresh and vital as of a thirty years man. Enosh could relate to Noah and develop a good report with him.
Enosh taught Noah everything he knew, hoping to make him his heir, the next leader of Mankind.
This explains why Enosh bequeathed his Brunch of the Tree of Life to Noah, when Noah was still a young lad.
We can imagine young Noah standing by his great grandfather-mentor Enosh, as he delivered his fiery sermons about the forthcoming of the Kingdom of MERCY. Noah must have seen the ecstatic response of the audience to Enosh’s words, how they chanted and clapped hands and cried out with happiness to the good news.
But Noah must have also witnessed how Enosh’s crowd went out after the sermons to commit heinous crimes, with no fear of ELKM’s retributions.
If the Kingdom of YHVH, of MERCY, is here,
if the Sabbath is around the corner,
why be afraid of Sinning?
If all sins are about to be forgiven with unconditional Passion and Love,
why holding yourself from taking whatever you want?
Noah must have seen the spiritual decay caused by his mentor Enosh’s teaching.
And when he grew up, he did not follow this teaching of worshiping YHVH alone
But instead, he reverted back to the ancient teaching of Adam, about YHVH ELKM’s Oneness.
This is exactly what the verses say about Noah:
On Noah’s faith it is said:
“Noah found face in the eyes of YHVH” (Genesis 6: 8)
“Noah was a righteous man in his generations, Noah walked with EKLM” (Genesis 6: 9)
Clearly, Noah followed YHVH ELKM Oneness: He found face in YHVH eyes, while walking in E LKM’s laws.
By this he differed from both
- His clan, Seth family who followed Enosh, the preacher of YHVH
- Naama’s clan, Cain’s family, who followed ELKM lone.
Noah departed from his mentor Enosh preaching. This must have been a dramatic descent of a young disciple from the teaching of his beloved, old mentor.
It is enigma and a mystery, how Naama and Noah met and married each other.
She coming from those who worshiped ELKM
He from those who worshiped YHVH
And together, in their marriage, they united YHVH with ELKM.
Did he see Naama performing her infamous show of the Devil Naama, who could be seen occupying two sites in space at the same time?
When and how did he discover that the Demon Naama was merely beautiful twin girls, performing on the stage, bringing their audience to madness?
How could he separate the good Naama from her sexually corrupt twin sister?
It seems that from the entire humanity of their times, Naama and Noah were the only couple practicing Oneness. They were the only ones who reverted to the ancient faith of Adam and Eve.
Terrible BLOODSHED
To put their union in perspective, the Torah says:
“And the Earth filed with hamas,” (Genesis 6: 11)
</p align=left> Where ‘hamas’ refers to the deadly mixture of BLOODSHED and THEFT (Rashi.
This hams was perpetrated by the two camps that spilt society:
- The Children of ELKM, who committed hamas because of their gained military power, brought about by Tubal Cain’s metal technology. They also took women as they wished (Genesis 6: 2)
- Enosh’s camp, who committed heinous crimes because they did not fear ELKM anymore,
Moreover, these two camps fought each other to the death.
Considering this makes us wonder even more, how could Naama and Noah get married at all
Each came from a rival camp!
Monstrous offspring
There was another hindrance to their marriage. Tradition says (Zohar) that both camps banned any mix marriage between Cain and Seth. Their history showed them, that such mix marriages had produced “Monstrous children who threatened to destroy the world” it was as if the evilness in each camp joined together to form these ‘monsters.’
Naama and Noah were warned about that risk, yet their love overcame their scare and they married each other nevertheless. Yet for four hundred years, they refrained from bearing any child. While their peers’ seeds filled the Earth, Naama and Noah had no child.
And then, a hundred years before the Flood, they took their chance and bore just three sons and no more. Their sons too married before the Flood, yet refrained from bearing children of their own.
Place on that scare the curse that Naama’s father, Lemech, put on his own seeds for Seventy Seven generations, and you will understand why they feared so much from bringing children to the world.
It was only after the Flood, as we’ll learn, that Noah agreed to procreate and start civilization again. He did that only after receiving a promise from the Heavenly Court that the Flood would not return again SO FAST. This promise was sealed by the Rainbow Covenant, under which we still live.
Which makes us wonder: Are we those fearful “monsters children who may destroy the world?
There are several meanings to the name Noah, reflecting different aspects of his character AND MESSAGE.
1: Noah, who’d brings Comfort
His parents named him Noah for they said :
“This one shall comfort us for all our work and the toil of our hands
From the curse which YHVH has cursed.”
Noah means “Comfortable.” He took Tubal Cain sharp weapons and converted them to metal ploughs. By this he atoned for his brother-in-law’s murderous deeds.
As you see, this is extremely relevant to our main topic: BLOODSHED.
You can say that Noah’s main struggle in life was NOT ONLY against IDOLATRY and ADULTERY, but MAINLY against BLOODSHED, and THEFT. You will see that soon in the content of the Rainbow Covenant, which is predicated on BLOODSHED LAWS in details.
2: Noah, the accommodating one
“Noah” also means “comfortable,” the one who accommodated everyone, including sinners. As we’ve said, Naama’s name infers the same, that she too was a pleasant and accommodating person. They matched. They also had the same father’s name: Lemech.
For example: Building his Ark on top of a mountain
Tradition says that Noah never rebuked or scolded anyone. Some see this as a weakness, others as strength. He avoided confrontation. His teaching too is based on NO CONFRONTATION. Just give a good example by ypour lif, by following YHVH ELKM Oneness.
Thus, when ELoKiM foretold him about the forthcoming of the Flood, Noah did not go out to preach and scold. Instead, he and his three sons built a magnificent Ark on the top of a mountain overlooking their city.
They built it slowly, patiently, over more than a hundred years, for all to see and wander.
So when people asked him “Why do you build your Ark up there? Do you anticipate the ocean to rise up?” Noah said: “Well, you’ve just said so.”
And when they asked: “Do you infer that we are sinners, and that we should repent?”
He said: “Well, you’ve said so.” (Midrash)
Hence he delivered his message by personal example, a trait we should all adopt.
3: “Noah,” whose Ark rested
Noah also means “the one who has rested.”
It may refer to the Ark that ‘rested’ after the Flood was over as it says: “and the Ark rested on the seventh month…on the mount Ararat.” (Genesis 8; 4)
4: Noah, who rested on the Sabbath
But tradition (Zohar) says: Noah rested on the Sabbath.
“These are the histories of Noah, Noah was a righteous man.”
Since Noah’s name appears twice here, side by side, as “Noah Noah,” the rabbis said: Noah merited to experience TWO TYPES OF THE SABBATH:
Our weekly Sabbath
The Eternal Sabbath, in his ark.
He first observed the Sabbath as all Mankind should do: to remember the story of Genesis
And he also witnessed the reign of YHVH inside the Ark, as it is said: “And YHVH closed for him.” YHVH closed the door of the ark, took control on the inside of the ark, while leaving the stage to ELKM to execute the Flood outside the Ark.
Indeed, in the Ark “the wolf did not prey on the lamb, and a child could play safely on a snake pit.” His Ark was the inspiration for Israel’s prophets.
Now we need to read about the Heavenly Court’s decision to bring on the Flood!