‘I will not continue to anymore curse the earth because of man, being that his inclination is evil from his youth; neither will I anymore punish all life, as I have done’. This statement of G-d’s, made in the aftermath of the flood, is one of the most puzzling in the Torah. Not only the understanding of the statement as it stands is difficult, but also the fact that a similar sentiment, concerning man’s evil inclination, is advanced at the end of last week’s Parshah as a justification for destroying all life! The different commentators throughout the ages have struggled with these verses, seeking to explain why after the flood G-d appears to accept what was intolerable before. One of the earliest commentators, Saadiah Gaon, interprets the verse in a strikingly different way. Rather than explaining the Hebrew word ki as meaning ‘because’, or ‘being that’, he comments that it here has the meaning of ‘although’ or ‘even though’. He thus explains the verse as saying that G-d will not curse the earth because of man, even though his inclination is evil. In other words despite man’s deserving to be punished by annihilation, G-d will not to so. This, while solving the etymological difficulties of the verse, still begs the question as to what has changed since before the flood. Yet I think Saadiah’s explanation gives us a clue. In allowing mankind’s existence, despite its propensity for evil, G-d appears to exude an air of resignation. ‘Even though you constantly misbehave, I suppose I will have to put up with you’. G-d, as it were, realises that the ante-deluvian standards he set for mankind were too high, and that in order for the continued existence of His human project, G-d will have to put up with second best. One sign of this, is in another change from the situation before the flood. Ante-deluvian man was forbidden from eating meat. After the flood, G-d makes animals as available for human consumption as vegetables. This change also appears to be a consequence of a lowering of standards. The original relationship between man and beast was no longer sustainable in a world were human life had ceased to be held as inviolable. Only by degrading the status of animals, could the sanctity of humanity be restored. This is clearly seen in the connection the Torah makes between the permission to eat meat and the prohibition of murder. One is the guarantor of the other. While vegetarianism may be an ideal, until the world is perfected for man, animals will have to wait.

 ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS

Parshat Noach

·               has  153  verses;

·               is the  2nd  in Genesis,  2nd  in the Torah

PAST PARSHAH PUZZLE

Named but not satisfied?

Adam names the animals but doesn’t find a mate.

PARSHAH PUZZLE

Fear of travel

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