How Noah’s Rainbow Covenant may Change You
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Rabbi Dr Z Aviner
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Noahidesevencommandments.com
Today we will learn about Noah’s prayer after the flood, about the altar and sacrifice he brought, and about the covenant of the rainbow, which are the foundations on which the movement of the sons of Noach is built
There are so many philosophical commentators on what Noah wanted to achieve – deep philosophical recluses who have one thing in common
If you start with the sacrifice and the altar without the background before you will lose the right message
should. Pay attention to the story accurately
The story begins after the flood. (8:15) And God said to Noah, “Get out of the ark.”ה
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The land was already dry, the crow had blossomed, and the dove had returned with olive leaves in its mouth to tell Noah that the trees were blooming.
But Noach and his family remained in the ark. The Talmud asks – why? If I were Noah, I would leave immediately!
It is not written why he refused. One can guess and say that he did not want to leave the ark where a wolf lived with a sheep and a tiger lay with a kid, to a world where the wolf eats the lamb and the tiger devours the goat.
But if the reason why he did not go out is not written, we can see it from God’s words to him.
Come out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
And “all the beasts that are with you will be brought out with you, and they will live in the land.”
And they shall be fruitful and multiply upon the land.”
God commands that Noah and his family begin to give birth and rebuild civilization
From God’s words, we see that Noach not only refused to go out, but also to have children and have offspring.
We still don’t know why.
Will he obey God’s command? Noach releases the animals and leaves, but not as God commanded.
And Noach went out with his sons, and his wife and the wives of his sons with him .
Men separately and women separately. In other words, Noah continues to refuse to give birth and renew civilization.
It is still not clear to us why exactly. What is clear is-
We have a new Noach before us. Before the flood it is written, “Noach is a righteous and innocent man, Noach walked with God.”
An innocent tzaddik – who did everything that God commanded without questions, for example, he built an ark even though they laughed at him
Now after the Flood, he has changed. He uses the right to free will and expresses his independent opinion. God commanded to have children, but He refuses
This is important because a covenant is made not between parents and children, but between independent bodies. Noach grew up.
It is still not clear to us why he persisted in his refusal – why he refused to have children, what was on his heart. But we can learn this from his actions
For it is immediately written-
And Noach built an altar to the Lord, and he took of all the pure beasts and of all the pure fowls, and brought up burnt offerings on the altar.
What is the purpose of the altar and the burnt offering? We will see this from the verses.
First, he built the altar on Mount Moriah. He and his family went from Ararat to Mount Moriah through settlements without humans and without animals, only terrible silence.
What is special about Mount Moriah? It was there that Adam and Eve moved to the land of Eden, like Noah and his family who moved from the ark to the land. The ark is likened to Eden because there was no angel of death in it either. In Eden they lived under the tree of life, and in the ark too, the attribute of mercy that is written and Jehovah closed for him prevailed.
Now that they have moved from the ark to the land where the angel of death is present, Noah identified with Adam and Eve, who also moved from Eden to the land where the angel of death rules
Why was this important to him?
This can be seen from the fact that he erected an altar over Moriah from the stones of the ancient altar of Cain and Abel. It was there that the first murder took place.
And now it is clear that there was a fear that moving from the Ark to the Land of Israel would again involve murder, as happened to Adam.
Now that they are moving from the ark to the land, and they will bring sons into the world, a new Cain will arise again and kill his brothers
And from the new Cain, humanity will once again slide into bloodshed as before.
So, why have children?
He was sure that it would happen again because the human heart is bloodthirsty by nature and he would slide back into murder as happened to Noah’s generations
His heart was filled with fears of the future, and he still refused to listen to the God who told him to have children, and in the process, he made sacrificial sacrifices.
Note that he did not bring an offering like Cain and Abel, but rather a burnt offering.
In the burnt offering, there is no confession of sin and no open request. You stand with the sacrifice and what is in your heart rises to heaven with the smoke. (Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai)
The sacrifice shows that you are not rebelling, that you are accepting the kingdom of heaven, and yet you have questions and complaints.
Therefore, you do not say what is in your heart, in your mouth and openly. You do not cry out to heaven, for you are careful about the glory of God.
Instead, you offer a burnt offering, and through the smoke, all the arguments in your heart ascend to heaven.
He poured out before the stomach what was in his heart – Rabbi Shimon.
This is the way to pray about a situation that you do not agree with, that you are asking for change.
What were the hidden arguments that Noach had in his heart to the point that he refused to obey God and have children?
The thoughts are not written openly, but the heavenly court answered Noah, and from their words we learn what was in his heart
Every word, every sentence in response is an answer to what Noach had in his heart
We will pay attention. The way in which the Beit Din appeared to Noach on Mount Moriah – first God and then God.
An important arrangement. He will repeat on Mount Sinai. From the words of the Beit Din we learn what was on his heart
YHVH’s wing, and then ELKM’s wing
YHVH’S Wing
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And God smelled the smell of the fragrance – confirmation that God had accepted His position – praying while protesting the situation
Smell of Fragrance – The Midrash says that Noah and his family stood next to the sacrifice for a while and waited.
The sky was covered with heavy clouds and the smoke from the altar remained on the mountain in a heavy stench
Which increased the difficult feelings of Noah and his family that perhaps his prayer was not answered? Perhaps he was considered a rebel?
But when he poured out what was in his heart, the clouds dispersed and the smoke rose from the altar straight to heaven
This was a sign that the court had confirmed the prayer and the claims. The smoke was received as a fragrant smell.
If it were not for this verse, there would be no place for prayer by sacrifices
Therefore, all the altars built on Mount Moriah throughout history – by Solomon and Ezra – were built according to the model of Noah’s altar. A square of stones filled with earth and a ram on the south side
Nor did they receive sacrifices from the sons of Noah, but burnt offerings
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And the Lord said to his heart, “The Midrash says:
The wicked are in the possession of their hearts – Esau, Nabal, Jeroboam, Haman
The righteous have their hearts in their possession – Chana, Daniel, David
Here God answers Noach that man has the power to change his heart.
God’s answer is – your fear that the human stage is that he inhales blood without correction is not true.
Speak to your heart. You are not a slave to the murderous inclination in nature. What exactly will the heart say? God will show this to Noach
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I will no longer curse man
Here YHVH accepts Noah’s prayer that in the future the court will show more patience and forgiveness and that the flood will not come as quickly as it did in the past.
And here he received a promise from the attribute of mercy
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For the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth
Noah had seen so much murder in his day and thought it would not change in the future.
G-d informs him that although a person’s heart is evil and inspires blood in these generations, in his youth, a person will change in the future
Because it was created in such a way that it would change.
Let us make man in our image and in our image – the Creator had the image of a very good ideal person to whom man will grow up in history.
Man was created to improve himself. To go up in history to be very good in order to enter Shabbat
And God saw all that He had done , and behold, it was very good. The whole world will improve with man.
The day will come when a wolf will dwell with a sheep, and a tiger with a kid together. Isaiah 11. What you saw in the ark will be repeated on the earth.
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They will not stop
The world is not resting now, but the day will come when it will sit as it is written in chapter 1. Then the world will enter Shabbat.
Let us remember that Noach merited to see two Shabbats – of the present day and of the world to come.
ELKM’s Wing
Now God’s wing comes in to speak to Noah. While Jehovah speaks of the heart, God will speak of the laws of murder
Hence, Noah thought that mitzvot had no power to change a person’s heart. Cain knew the law, and yet he murdered his brother.
God answers him about this. It is not enough to know the law of bloodshed in general, but it is necessary to know and discuss it privately over and over again in order for it to affect the heart
God presents Noah with the laws of the prohibition of bloodshed. We will see what he will say
1 And he blessed them… Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the land.
First of all, God does not retract His commandment to have children, and He blesses Noach and his sons
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כל רמש אשר הוא חי לכם יהיה לאכלה כירק השדה נתתי לכם כל
אלוקים מדבר על דיני הריגה. ומתחיל בהריגת בעלי חיים לשם אכילה.
נח דאג שאכילת בשר תשחית את לב האדם. אלוקים נותן לו רשות לאכול בשר בתנאי אחד –
אך בשר בנפשו דמו לא תאכלו
אסור אכילת דם ואבר מן החי – הוסיף לנח מצווה שביעית, אחת מעל השש של אדם
המצווה הזאת השביעית נועדה לחזק את המצווה השלישית של אדם
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SIX TYPES OF MURDER
From killing animals, ELKM moves to killing a person. ELKM will list six types:
1 But I will expound your blood for your souls – the prohibition of losing knowledge
2 Immediately we demanded that every animal be forbidden to kill indirectly, by stopping the medication or stopping the breathing machine.
3 And from the hand of a person – the prohibition of indirect killing by an employee
4 And from the hand of his brother – the prohibition of killing because of mercy
5 Who Spills Man’s Blood on a Man – Prohibition of Abortion
6 In a man his blood shall be shed – it is permitted to execute a murderer who has committed it deliberately.
The Punishment in the Hands of Heaven Other than Intentional Killing
Six categories of murder
In other words, it is not enough to know the general command of a person from Eden – you shall not murder.
It is necessary to study the law in detail over and over again and it will change the heart.
And that’s the secret of Torah study. You learn theoretically in order to change your mind and your heart. And that’s an assistant
This is also true of the other mitzvot. It is necessary to teach them in detail and by mouth so that they will affect the heart
This is the only way the Noahides can bring about change in the world and less wars and more peace
This is also true of the other mitzvot. Incest or idolatry or theft or justice.
Did this put Noah’s mind at ease? Did he agree to have children?
The Rainbow Covenant
And God said, Behold, I will establish My covenant with you, and your descendants after you.
And no more of the waters of the flood shall be cut off, and there shall be no more flood to destroy the land.
I put my bow in a cloud, and it became a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
First, we saw that the attribute of mercy agreed with Noach not to bring a flood
Now the attribute of judgment – God – agrees, and gives a sign in nature – the rainbow
Our sages say that there was a change in the attribute of justice
The attribute of judgment has become softer under the bow, in this world, but it is still harder than it is
Hence, Noah sought a change not only in the heart of man but also in the heart of the court.
Because immediately afterwards it is written
And there were the sons of Noah that came out of the ark there, and Ham and Japheth
And from these the whole earth will be compensated
Seventy Noahide nations were created