Genesis Topics 2
Why the World Needs Noahides
In our new series of classes, we choose a topic from the book of Genesis and discuss it in depth. First, we define to which mitzvah does the passage belong? Then we dwell in depth on what is said
We remember that the book of Genesis is structured according to the six commandments of Adam –
Chapter 1 defines idolatry, Mitzvah 1
Chapter 2 The Story of Eden, deals with heavenly love, and presents the institution of marriage along with incest laws – Mitzvah 2
Then the section of the Torah from Cain and Abel to the Flood deals with bloodshed 3 and presents the laws of bloodshed
Today, let’s’ talk about Noah’s name
As already mentioned, it appears in the section devoted to Bloodshed. Indeed, the passage ends with the Rainbow Covenant, which is based on the laws of Bloodshed. We live conditionally. If we observe these laws of Bloodshed, the flood will not return. If we repeat the Bloodshed that Noah saw through his generations, the flood will return.
Noah and the Heavenly Court
In other words, Noah’s message is that humanity is under judgment. Indeed, in this passage of Noah we see the Heavenly Court in its entirety as we do not see anywhere. Other in the Bible
“And YHVH (1) saw that the evilness of Adam was great
on Earth, and That all the impulses of his heart
are evil all day long, and YHVH(2) Regretted
that He had made Adam on Earth, and
was saddened to His Heart, and YHVH (3)
said, I will wipe out Adam whom I
had Made from the face of the
Earth, both Man and Cattle to
creeping Things and the
Bird of the air, for I
regret making
them.”
“And NOAH found face in the eyes of YHVH (4)
“These are the generations of NOAH, NOAH
was a complete, righteous man in his
Generations, with ELoHiM (1) NOAH walked.
NOAH begot three sons, Shem ham and Yafet
“And the
Earth corrupted
before ELoKiM (2) and the
Earth filled with hamas ELoKiM (3)
saw the Earth and behold it was corrupt,
for all flesh corrupted its way on Earth and
, ELoKiM (4) said to NOAH the end of all flesh
has come before me, for the Earth is filled with
their hamas I shall destroy them with Earth, and
“I, MYSELF, shall bring the Flood on Earth to destroy
all flesh in which is breath of life from under the Heavens
and everything that is on Earth shall die” (Genesis 6: 5-13)
We see the Attributes YHVH and ELKM judging – first humanity then Noah. Each Attributes speaks its view. The Wings of the Court are perfectly symmetric. Both wings support Noah on each side as if to carry him on the water below. On the other hand, it looks like Noah is holding his wings to carry him above water. If he held only one wing, either of ELKM or YHVH, , he wouldn’t be saved.
For example, the children of Cain, who held only ELKM’s wing, did not survive the Flood.
Enosh’s disciples who held only the wing of YHVH also did not survive.
Only Noah and his family, who held both wings, survived the flood. They believed in YHVH ELKM Oneness.
The court reappears in full also after the flood in the Rainbow Covenant. Thus the Heavenly Court is central point to Noah
Noah and Peace
The second important issue for Noah has to do with his name. Noah means pleasant.
It also means that he was a pleasant man who did not quarrel with anyone. He had no enemies. And even when he wanted to bring his generation back to repentance, he did not turn to them angrily with rebuke, but indirectly. He respected every man. And his wife Naama named means the same – that she was also a pleasant person who accommodated everyone.
Noah did not wish to die as a martyr, or start a Zihad. He wanted to live well.
His parents named him Noah, hopping that he would give comfort to Man’s hard work, to ease the hard work in the field. Indeed, when he grew up, he took the swords of Tubal Cain- his infamous brother in law – and turned them into the first metal plows. That act would inspire years later the prophet Isaiah who prophesied that a day would come and all nations would melt their weapons into instruments of peace
Noah and the Sabbath
There is another important meaning for the name Noah – rest, like on the Shabbat.
Who rests on the Sabbath? If you say G-d, it is incomprehensible. G-d can’t be tired.
To find out who rested on the Sabbath let’s go to the Ten Commandments that say:
For six days YHVH made heaven and earth
And rested on the seventh day
Who rests? The Attribute of Mercy – YHVH.
And it’s a wonder. Chapter 1 says that ELKM created the six Days, and on the seventh day He abstained from more work, not that He rested. Why is it written here that the Attribute of Mercy YHVH made heaven and earth?
The answer is that chapter 1 describes the first plan that ELKM had in mind – to create heaven and earth alone. But seeing that Adam would not stand under His harsh judgment, he added with him the Attribute of Mercy – to offer Adam a chance to win his trial and enter the Sabbath.
Chapter 1 is written to show the moment YHVH came into our world – into the Sixth Day – from Her Domain, the Sabbath.
1
Before consulting YHVH
ELKM —1—2—3—4—5—6—/YHVH the Sabbath
Here in the diagram, each Attribute dwells alone with no intermingling. ELKM creates the Six Days alone, YHVH dwells in Her Sabbath alone.
But before making Adam, ELKM invited YHVH to come over, share with Him the Heavenly Court, and make Adam “in Our Form and Our Image.
ELKM —1—2—3—4—5—6—YH/VH the Sabbath
Adam
Here is what you see in Chapter One – YHVH entering the Sixth Day – half of Her Name – YH – is here, the other part VH is still in the Sabbath.
The YH is the presence of YHVH in our world, the origin of the Shechinah.
The Sabbath to come is not another Day in creation above the six Days, but a new reality that the whole world will enter. A reality in which there is no judgment, neither death nor birth. Only pleasure and holiness. It’s hard for us to imagine what it is.
In Her Domain, the Sabbath, YHVH neither creates nor judges. She “rests” there. As She has entered our Universe, She has done something She does not do – creates and assesses. That is a “concession” of Her towards ELKM in order to participate in the Heavenly Court. As such, YHVH has taken part in the MAKING of the Sixth Days as it sis said in Genesis Chapter 2 –
These are the chronicles of the Heavens and the Earth
As they were re-created,
On the Day that YHVH ELKM MADE the Heavens and the Earth
YHVH participated in the final MAKING of the Six Days. That is something She did contrary to Her nature, hence She is looking for a Place to rest Her Wing – either in the Temple or in Adam’s heart. The court also gave Adam a Sabbath day in our week, where YHVH can ‘rest,’ as if a Tempe in the Time dimension.
Man’s task it to draw YHVH into this world. When that happens, the world has entered the Eternal Sabbath
Why “Noah, Noah”?
The Midras asks: why Noah’s name is repeated twice? Indeed, the verse says:
This is the history of Noah, Noah was a righteous and innocent man
Here his name appears times to show that he was privileged to see two types of Sabbaths. The Sabbath to come, as seen in the creation story, and our Shabbat.
He saw the Sabbath to come in the ark. For there was neither death nor birth there. And the Attribute of Mercy prevailed there, as it says “YHVH close for him.” She showered Her warmth on Noah inside the Ark, while ELKM executed the Flood outside.
Hence Noah saw and kept the Sabbath, recalling the creation story.
It means, Hence, that the other people oth in his generation did not keep the Sabbath or forgot about her.
In must have been like that. Since the Children of Cain worshiped ELKM alone, whole Enosh’s clan worshiped YHVH. Alone, whereas the Sabbath has a meaning only in regard to the two Attributes as One.
Hence the two camps forgot the Sabbath, and violated IDOLATRY by worshipping One Attribute over the other. That failure led them to slide down into ADULTERY and BLOODSHED, even THEFT.
Transition Between the Sixth
and the Seventh Days
Let’s turn the microscope higher and assess – precisely where does Noah Ark fit in the story of CREATION?
In fact, to be precise, the Ark was not ruled by the Eternal Sabbath itself, but close to it . Because still the animals in the ark ate and drank, and Noah and his family were very busy. The Ark environment fit the conditions CLOSE to the Sabbath, as if in the passage between Friday and Saturday, as if at the last minute of the six Days
What happens on that transition time? Chapter 1 says:
ELKM saw that it was good.
ELKM said let us make an Adam in our image and likeness
ELKM saw all that He had done, and behold, it was very good
And there was evening and there was morning, Day Six
Prior to creating Adam, the Judgment was “good.”
After creating Adam, the Judgement would be ‘Very good,”
Hence Adam should elevate himself from being ‘good’ like all creatures, to be “very good.”
To be Very Good, Adam would have to invite YHVH into his heart, so that She would change it and elevate it from the animalistic stage of the Evolution to a creature that harbors YHVH’s values in his heart.
On every Friday , before entering the Sabbath, the Heavenly Court assesses Mankind whether we’ve taken the proper steps in oiur journey towards the Eternal Sabbath. That Judgment is repeated also on the New year – Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary birthday of Adam
If Mankind has failed to move towards the Sabbath,
Or has forgotten the Sabbath,
The Heavenly Court would terminate us, as it did in Noah’s time
Implications to our days
How does all this relate to our time?
It turns out that humanity has forgotten what the Sabbath is, like Noah’s generation.
On one side stands Islam that has moved the Sabbath to Friday, celebrating the day on which Adam was created. Hence they have forgotten the Sabbath itself and do not know about the Attributes. Their faith resembles the Children of Cain – emphasizing the Law over Mercy.
On the other hand, stands Christianity, which has moved the Sabbath to Sunday without any connection to the idea of the Sabbath in chapter one. They do not remember the Attributes and know nothing about the Divine presence and its name.
The problem is that today, humanity is facing a titanic clash of the two civilizations
Recently the Dutch prime minister spoke in New York about radical Islam’s takeover of his country and Europe. There are areas of Amsterdam that look like in another country. The language there is Arabic, the writing and signs are Arabic, the violence within the family is great – especially against women – but the police dare not enter and intervene
The schools do not teach the history of the Netherlands but of Islam, there are no science studies, no human rights and freedom are taught, girls are covered from an early age, and women have no rights. They are servants to their husbands. Democracy is not taught, but a dictatorship of religion. Every child learns that his task is to die for Islam.
The prime minister said that more mosques than churches are being built in Europe today, and within ten years a quarter of Europe’s population will be Muslim. Their number will double in the second decade to become half of Europe’s population. The implications for Europe’s economy and politics are enormous. Europe is sinking into darkness and poverty, fighting the Great Satan that is America.
In this new world that is developing before our eyes, there is a special place for the children of Noah.
The population in the world would listen to Noahide more than to Jews. Jews, as you know, are blamed to have killed both Jesus and Muhammad. But Noahides would be heard.
The Noahide believe in life, not death. A person should live as well as he can, as Noah taught.
The Noahide believe in peace, not war. Humanity must turn weapons into tools of work and medicine, as Noah did. Shabbat is a symbol of peace. It is forbidden to fight on Shabbat)
The Noahide believe that each nation has its own border and that no other nation should enter its borders. For there is an ancient Noah’s Covenant between the Nations that secures each natin’s borders.
Noahides believe that every nation has the right to develop its own justice system, as long as it is in the spirit of the six commandments of Adam.
It is believed that Mankind must improve himself and be very good, overcoming the animal instinct of Bloodshed we’ve inherited through the Evolution. This sould be done with the help of the Torah.
The Noahide believe that man should stay away from cruelty, hence the prohibition against eating animal blood and organs
The children of Noah believe in the freedom of man created in the image of God.
We believe in democracy, as the Torah says “follow the many.”
We believe in women’s equal rights to men.
We believe and keep the Sabbath as it appears in chapter 1 of Genesis.
We believe that if Man does not improve himself, the flood will return as the covenant of the rainbow says
We believe in Isaiah’s words that one day all nations will ascend to the Mount of YHVH in Jerusalem. Mount Hashem is also the mountain where Noah prayed that his sons would have less evil inclination of bloodshed.
Thus Noah’s message is relevant today. If we see that the world is warming and the ocean is rising to flood the world, humanity must go back and remember Noah
SELECTED TOPICS – 2/
Why the World Needs Noahides?
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Rabbi Zvi Aviner
Diagram 1 Before Consultation
ELKM – 1—2—3—4—5—6–/YHVH Shabbat
Diagram 2
ELKM – 1—2—3—4—5—6—YH/VH Shabbat
Adam
Very Good
And ELKM saw that it was good
And ELKM said Let us make an Adam in our image and likeness
And ELKM saw all that He had done, and behold, it was very good
And there was evening and there was morning, the Sixth Day