Shabbat Forshpeis
A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat
PARSHAT NOACH
THE THREE STAGES OF CREATION
OCTOBER 11-12, 2002/ 6 HESHVAN 5763
In many ways, the Noach and creation stories are parallel.
In both, water plays a central role. The deluge reminds the reader of that moment in
the beginning of the Genesis narrative when "the spirit of God hovered over the face
of the waters." (Genesis 1:2)
In both, similar commands are given by God. When Noach leaves the ark he is told
to be fruitful and multiply, remind that he has the potential to bave dominion over
the wolrd and givena diet (Genesis 9:1-3). This echoes what God told Adam at creation.
(Genesis 1:28,29)
In both, animals play a central role. In the Noach story many sentences describe
the entry of all the animals into the ark. This triggers, in the readers mind,
when God creates all forms of life.
In both, similar commands are given by God. When Noach leaves the ark he
is told to be fruitful and multiply, reminded that he has the potential
to have dominion over the world. (Genesis 9:1-3) This echoes the first
mitzvah that God told Adam at creation. (Genesis 1:28,29)
Noach is nothing less than a second story of creation. Humankind, having
failed once, is given a second chance by God.
Tragically, this experiment was also unsuccessful. The story of the tower
of dispersion (Genesis 11:1-9) becomes the segue to yet a third beginning
whose centerpiece is Gods election of Avraham and Sarah. Just like in the
case of the Creation and the Flood, there is strong parallel imagery
between the paragraph dealing with the tower of Bavel and what occurs
to the Jewish people.
Whereas the goal of the generation that built the tower was self-serving, to
"make us a name" ve-naaseh lahnu shaim (Genesis 11: 4)in the Avraham story
he builds an altar not for himself but for God (va-yikrah bshaim Hashem).
(Genesis 12:8) In the dispersion narrative there is a city, a language
and a tower. (Genesis 11:1,4) So too in the Jewish realm where there
would also be a city Jerusalem, a language Hebrew and a "tower"
the holy temple. (Menahem Liebtag of Yeshivat Har Etzion has pointed
out this parallel.) The first creation story begins with God creating
light. In the second, the story of the flood the light (tzohar)
helped sustain the ark. And in the end Avraham and Sarah are chosen
as father and mother of a people whose mandate is to become a light unto the nations.
In one word: the first eleven chapters of the Torah are universal.
God chose humankind over all other species He created. But humankind
did not fulfill the chosen role God had assigned to it on two separate
occasions. (Bereishit Rabbah 39:5)
And this begins the third story of creation where God chooses Avraham
and Sarah to be the father and mother of the Jewish people. Their
mandate was not to be insular, but to be a blessing for the entire
world. (Genesis 12:3) To redeem the Jewish people through which the
entire world will one day be redeemed.
Rabbi Avi Weiss
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