THE GENERATION OF THE FLOOD

When God created humanity, He endowed them with a neshamá—the soul, intelligence, the capacity to think, and the freedom to choose. These faculties were described in the biblical text as being “in the image and likeness of God.” Humanity was not created as just another part of nature but as a supernatural being with the potential to choose between good and evil, to follow the Creator’s guidance, or to be swayed by earthly, insatiable desires.

Ten generations after creation, humanity, as a whole, chose the path of evil. Corruption and violence became normalized in that generation. The powerful—those who should have used their ability and power to lead, organize, and inspire—exploited their leadership for personal gain and to oppress the weak. The prevailing rule was “the survival of the fittest,” where the strong devoured the weak. Corruption is contagious, and human society degraded itself, sacrificing its divine image. Humanity transformed into an intelligent predator, driven solely by the satisfaction of animalistic instincts. This generation is known as Dor haMabbul, the generation deemed deserving of being wiped from the earth by the Flood.

One man, Noah, proved to be an exception to this rule. Compared to the rest of the world—or, according to another view, despite the widespread corruption—Noah conducted himself with integrity, living with an awareness of God’s existence, something that had become obsolete for the rest of humankind.

God saves Noah and grants humanity a second chance. Noah builds the ark, and he, his wife, his three sons, and their wives—a total of eight people—along with the animals, survive the devastating Flood.

THE FIRST LAW

After leaving the ark, God blesses Noah, urging him to be fruitful, multiply, and repopulate the earth. He presents a set of fundamental laws to educate humanity and prevent its moral decline. The first law pertains to animals. God permits Noah and his descendants to kill animals and consume their flesh (Genesis 9:3), something that was previously forbidden, as God had instructed Adam and Eve to consume only plants: seeds, vegetables, and fruits. Now, God allows humanity to take the lives of animals. This law reflects humanity’s new status: having once been the protector of the animal kingdom, humans would now be the predator at the top of the food chain.

Nevertheless, or perhaps because of this, God imposes one limitation to preserve, in some way, their humanity in this area: humans cannot mutilate a living animal and consume its flesh, as carnivorous predators do with live prey. Before consuming an animal’s flesh, it must first be sacrificed. This law is known in Hebrew as eber min hachay (prohibition against eating from a living animal).

THE SECOND LAW

The second law God commands Noah also pertains to killing, but this time about another human being. This law is formulated differently than the “You shall not kill” of the Ten Commandments and states: “Whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind” (Genesis 9:6). This law establishes capital punishment for the crime of murder. It is formulated primarily to prevent the impunity that characterized the previous generation’s widespread corruption. Here, it will not be God who enforces justice but humans themselves, who are tasked with punishing abuse and establishing that, regardless of position or wealth, every human being deserves respect, having been created in the image and likeness of God.

THE COVENANT BETWEEN GOD AND NOAH

In a sense, God entrusts humanity with the responsibility of enforcing punishment where it is due, which is why one of the seven Noahide laws—though not explicitly written—is the obligation to establish courts of justice that apply the law and punish criminals. For His part, God promises never to bring another flood or universal catastrophe to destroy humanity. The rainbow will serve as a reminder that the rain will eventually cease and that God will not erase humanity from the face of the earth.

These three basic laws are the foundation of what is known as the Seven Laws of Noah: 1. Do not murder. 2. Do not eat meat from a living animal. 3. Prohibition of idolatry, 4. Blasphemy, 5. Theft, and 6. Incest. 7. The obligation to establish courts of justice that will prevent impunity.

PREDILUVIAN THOUGHTS 

What caused the universal flood? A meteorite? A climate change event? The Tora is not an ordinary book: it is a Divine book. And as such, it demands an unconventional reading. This type of reading implies, among other things, reading the silences of the text, reading between its lines, and, particularly, knowing that nothing is there unnecessarily.

In the fifth chapter of Bereshit (Genesis) in last week’s Parasha, we read the first human genealogy: a seemingly unnecessary list of the years that each of the descendants of Adam, the first man, lived. The Tora mentions nine generations: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Yared, Hanokh, Metushelach, and Lemekh, Noach’s father. All lived a long life. The longevity record (so far …) is Metushelach’s, who lived 969 years.

The question remains: What does this lifespan registry teach us beyond satisfying our curiosity? Why do we need so much detail about the age of the first humans?

THE DEATH OF THE FIRST MORTAL

If we look carefully, we will discover something astonishing.

An extraordinary event took place in the year 930, counting from Creation. Adam, the first man, died. Humans, the thousands or hundreds of thousands of descendants of Adam, already knew that a human being could be “killed”, or die accidentally, like Abel. But now, seemingly for the first time, humans see death as inevitable. Men have discovered “natural” death. 

HaShem had already told Adam that he would not live forever. But that warning took more than nine centuries to materialize—enough time for humans to forget about mortality. Given their advanced age, Adam, Set, Enosh, etc., were seen as immortal. The natural death of Adam was an unprecedented event and provoked a state of shock and especially panic. The only thing that could alleviate this fear, the terrifying fear of death, was to assume that mortality would only affect Adam for having disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit.

HANOKH IS NO LONGER WITH US..

But in the year 987 (you have to calculate the years by yourself because this calculation is not explicit in the Tora!) the second natural death is recorded: Hanokh dies at the tender age of 365 years. This second death, which was not caused by accident, could no longer be attributed to disobedience. The Tora explicitly states that Hanokh was a righteous man who walked on the Divine Path (Gen. 5:24)… Hanokh’s death was an even more shattering event. The Tora describes the death of Hanokh with words that seem to reflect the widespread surprise, terror, and innocence of the men of that generation, coping with an event they did not quite understand. “Passing away” of natural death was so novel that men could not define it with conventional words. The text does not say that Hanokh “died”. Reproducing with exquisite sensitivity the feeling of awe of primitive men, the Tora copies their words that sound like the words we use to describe death to a child: “Hanokh is no longer with us because God took him.”

VIOLENCE AS A RESPONSE TO DEATH 

The third natural death was that of Set, the son of Adam. This traumatic event took place a few years later: in 1042. Now death is a fact. And it is here to stay.

Humanity’s reaction to the inevitability of death is seemingly described at the end of the last Parasha, and it is not very positive. This new awareness of mortality caused a panic that revealed the worst of the human race, like one of those Hollywood situations when people react with violence and desperation when learning about the imminent falling of a meteorite that will destroy the earth. When the men of that generation saw that they would die, no matter what, they focused on satisfying their material instincts as much as they could before dying. As Yesha’ayahu (22:13) said, quoting the philosophy of men with no Tora: אכול ושתה, כי מחר נמות, “Let us eat and drink [as much as we can], since tomorrow [anyways] we are going to die”.   

In addition, once humankind sees life as inevitably limited, it loses its sacred status for them. Their reasoning was: why should I not kill my neighbor if he is going to die anyways? Respect for other people’s life was now lost. Theft, rape, and murder (in biblical Hebrew, “hamas”) got normalized. A phrase in the text of the Tora reveals something about that new human condition: “And the powerful men saw the women [of other families, tribes. etc.] and took [by force] all they wanted.” Our rabbis added that the generation before the flood was guilty of sexual violence, corruption, oppression of the weak, widespread crime, and especially lack of law, order, and justice.

RESETTING HUMANKIND 

The Creator then decides to do two things in this situation: 1. Shortening human life. Something that, as we will see, will happen gradually. Ten generations after Noah’s lifespan reaches merely 150- 200 years, and in subsequent generations, it continues to decline. A shorter lifespan might help humankind better understand mortality and the need to live a purposeful life. 2. God also brings the flood to do a “reset” of human civilization.

Now we understand that for the Tora, what caused the flood was not a meteorite or climate change: it was that state of anarchy, chaos, and corruption of men reacting violently to the discovery of their inevitable mortality.

Noah, the protagonist of our Parasha, was born in 1056. He is the first man recorded to be born in a world of men aware of their mortality. At the end of the flood, Noach received the first code of laws condemning homicide, robbery, promiscuity, etc., and commanding the establishment of courts of justice to avoid anarchy and impunity. All this will bring a new climate of law and order.

But we will have to wait for another ten generations for another man, Abraham Abinu —and his descendants— to make a second discovery. 

1. Although limited and relatively short, life is the opportunity God gives us to get close to Him by our own choice and effort. 

2. We were not in this world to exploit our neighbor but to assist him, helping each other. “”The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”. 

3. And finally, that mortality affects man’s body. But our Divine spirit, the neshama, survives if we dedicate ourselves to nurturing it. 

BACK TO THE BEGINNING

This year,  Parashat Bereshit, Genesis, which contains the account of the creation of the world, left us with only one day to study it—this past Shabbat—so before saying goodbye to Bereshit until next year, I want to share with you a brief reflection on something new we can learn from this Parasha. About ten years ago, I published my book “Awesome Creation”, where I explained the story of the world’s creation based on a faithful reading of the Hebrew Bible. I showed that when this literal reading (peshat) is ignored—voluntarily or involuntarily—many critical aspects of Emuná (Jewish faith) are affected, and the Tora can be discredited, reducing it to the level of fables or, God forbid, a irrelevant text. Today, I will mention an example of a topic I have not yet published. This example, I believe, deserves the first prize for ignorance of biblical Hebrew and its unexpected consequences.

THE FIRST ANIMALS

The initial chapter of Bereshit (Genesis) mentions the creation of the first animals that appeared on our planet on the fifth day. The Hebrew text says: וַיִּבְרָ֣א אֱלֹקים אֶת־הַתַּנִּינִ֙ם֙ הַגְּדֹלִ֔ים וְאֵ֣ת כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֗ה הָֽרֹמֶשֶׂת֙

“And God created the  taninim gedolim and all [other] living creatures….”

What were the taninim gedolim?

Let’s begin with the first word. Tanin (singular of taninim) appears about 15 times in the Tanakh and describes a group of animals, including crocodiles, lizards, snakes, and vipers. In other words, in biblical Hebrew, tanin means “reptile.” The next word, gedolim, plural of gadol, does not necessarily mean “large” in size. Depending on the context, it can also mean “terrible,” “fearsome,” or “powerful.” In my book, I mention several examples of this connotation, such as when God punishes Pharaoh for taking Abraham’s wife. It says nega’im gedolim (Genesis 12:17), translated as “terrible” plagues or diseases. In our context, the best translation of the word gedolim, which expresses both size and the fear these animals inspired, could be “imposing or giant.”

Therefore, taninim gedolim should be translated as “great/giant reptiles,” but inexplicably, this translation almost doesn’t exist!

THE CONSEQUENCES OF IGNORANCE

Let’s look, for example, at a classic non-Jewish translation, the New American Standard Bible  from 1995

”God created the great sea monsters and every living creature”

Why translate taninim as “sea monsters,” two words that don’t appear in the original Hebrew text?

First, let’s clarify that in biblical Hebrew, the word “monster” does not exist (Note 1), simply because the Tora does not believe in monsters,  despite the fact that  ALL ancient civilizations believed in monsters and mentioned them regularly in their creation myths (see, for example, here: Tiamat). That’s is the reason why a translation that renders taninim as “monsters” instead of “reptiles” should be considered tendentious and even offensive, as it—voluntarily or involuntarily—equates the Tora with pagan mythological legends.

So, how should the expression taninim gedolim be translated?

IN GREEK AND HEBREW

Richard Owen (1804–1892) was a renowned British scientist and paleontologist known for his work in classifying fossil remains of prehistoric animals. In 1842, he coined the term dinosaur to describe a group of huge extinct reptiles. This term, dinosaur, is a combination of two words of Greek origin: deinos, which means gigantic, powerful, imposing, or fearsome (similar semantic field of gedolim) , and saurus, which means lizard or reptile. Thus, the term dinosaur means “the gigantic reptiles” of ancient times, the exact words that the Tora uses to describe the first creatures created by God on the fifth day!

MONSTERS OR MONSTROSITIES?

The word “monsters” found its way in the Bibles’s translations possibly from non-Jewish commentaries written before Owen classified these fossils as “dinosaurs.” Pagan cultures assumed that those giant fossils that appeared everywhere in the world, belonged to monsters or dragons, imaginary beings worthy of pagan mythology. This would explain why the word “monster” was used in the Middle Ages. But to translate taninim gedolim as “sea monsters” in the 20th or 21st century (Note 2) is unforgivable because it forces a mythological reading of the Tora and takes away its incredible historical credibility.

The translation of taninim gedolim as “dinosaurs”—or at least as “great reptiles”—should be the most literal translation, and a testimony that the Tora was the FIRST and ONLY ancient book that records the existence of these prehistoric creatures—the first animals created by God on earth—without legends or fictions worthy of Harry Potter.

Note 1: The word mifletzet, used in modern Hebrew for “monster,” describes a totem of pagan peoples, like pesilim, see Jeremiah 50:38.

Note 2: The word “sea” also does not appear in the text, which, by the way, does NOT describe only animals that inhabit the sea!

כי האדם עץ השדה

Debarim 20:19

Towards the end of this week’s Parasha, the Tora addresses the laws of war and teaches the Jewish soldier to behave with respect and dignity, even on the battlefield. One of the most notable details refers to not destroying the city or the fields without reason. Trees are specifically mentioned, suggesting they should not be seen and attacked as “the enemy.” The unusual language used by the Tora on this occasion lends itself to metaphorical interpretations that arise when comparing men and trees.

Today I would like to extend this comparison to the area of our children’s education (parenting) and reflect on the inexhaustible patience that this task demands.

At times, our children seem to stagnate, not maturing at the pace we hoped for. This concern intensifies when they have brothers or sisters who do seem to progress. Parents sometimes do not understand the influence of time on the development of our children and find themselves caught up in worries, suffering unnecessary tensions. We forget what an expert once mentioned: that most of the behavioral problems of children are resolved over time.

I remember certain students from our Talmud Torah: in fifth and sixth grade, they were a constant challenge. Restless, they kept talking and interrupting. They bothered their peers, disobeyed the teachers, and often the only solution was to send them out of the classroom. They spent more time with the principal than with their classmates. But, over time, after 15 years or more, I have seen many of these “unbearable” children transform into exemplary parents, successful entrepreneurs, brilliant professionals, or people with admirable religious discipline.

What happened?

They were maturing at their own pace or, as neurologists say, “the brain needed time to build and strengthen the connections between its areas and hemispheres”.

Having patience does not mean that we parents will sit around waiting —and praying— for our children to mature. It is essential that we are always there to talk, guide, and encourage our children. We must never stop doing it.

To better understand the growth process many of our children go through and understand our role as parents in this process, I would like to share with you the story of the growth of the bamboo tree.

Initially, it is essential to prepare the soil, choose an optimal location with enough light and moisture. Then one sows the seeds. During the first year, the soil with the seeds is constantly watered, but nothing visible happens. In the second year, it is watered and fertilized, but still, not a single shoot sprouts. The third year continues watering and taking care of the area, hoping to see some change, but there are still no signs of bamboo. In the fourth year, you look at the ground and see no progress. The fifth-year comes, and, seeing no results, one might think they have failed in their attempt to grow bamboo. However, surprisingly, in the middle of that year, the bamboo starts to grow rapidly and, in just six months, reaches an impressive height of up to 30 meters!

The million-dollar question is: How long did it take the bamboo to grow? The immediate answer seems to be “six months”. But in reality, it took the bamboo five and a half years to grow. That is, to break through the ground, literally, and begin to grow. And once it started, nothing can stop it.

It should also be noted that, although the progress was not noticeable, during those five and a half years, the bamboo was growing downwards: it was forming a robust root system capable of supporting its great size.

Our children often experience a process similar to bamboo. Their growth requires constant care, “even if the results are not noticeable”, with inexhaustible patience. Remember the bamboo: if, during the first five years, one had given up and stopped watering or protecting the bamboo, that tree would never have emerged.

Every word of encouragement we give them, even in their moments of rebellion or immaturity, is uplifting. They are like water to the bamboo. Our children grow and develop in ways we don’t see. We don’t know when that internal growth will begin to manifest outwardly and reach surprising heights, sometimes even surpassing their siblings, who seemed to develop more quickly.

Like bamboo trees, our children need us to nurture them with love and care constantly.

Over time, and with divine help, they will mature and flourish.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton

~ Open your hands and satisfy all creatures according to Your will ~

There is a well known verse of Tehillim (Psalms) which we say three times a day.
This pasuq contains a particularity; it must be said with kavana- we must pay attention to the meaning, and internalize the message within it. Found in psalm 145, Tehila LeDavid (Ashre’), it is the 16th pasuq and reads, “Poteach ‘et yadecha, Umasbia lekhol chai ratson…” The conventional translation is: [You, HaShem,] Open Your hands, and satisfy all creatures according to Your will.” It seems to be that the pasuq here is referring to the hands of God- an obvious metaphor- and indicates that our Creator permanently “opens His hands,” providing the food and sustenance which all living beings need.
Within the animal kingdom, HaShem designed a highly sophisticated, miraculous mechanism. Scientists like to refer to it as the “food chain.” This ecological mechanism allows each creature of the forest, jungle, and sea alike, to have what to eat.

Similar to the other living creators, human beings also find our sustenance within plants and other animals. But there is one particular element corresponding exclusively to the human race; those who have food, or those who have extra; feed those who do not have food, or those who have less.
Not only do we not eat eachother, but we also have the capacity, which no other living being has, for solidarity and altruism.
So, returning to our verse, what role does our Creator play in the human food chain?

As we know, the Tora in its overall Text allows us (or rather, requires us) to multiple interpretations. There are literal interpretations (peshat), and non literal ones (derash). In this case, we will obtain an interpretation strictly conforming to the literal meaning of the Text that will provide us with an answer to our question.
In Hebrew vocabulary, verbs in the present tense are issued in the same form for first, second, or third person- singular. For example, “I write,” “you write,” or “he writes” are all translated into Hebrew as, “koteb.” In our case, the first word of our verse, “poteach,” can then be read as we did previously “[You, HaShem,] open Your hands and satisfy all creatures according to Your will.”
However, the first three words of this verse can be given a different interpretation, without violating its literal meaning. Let me suggest an alternate translation: “[HaShem] opens your (the readers) hand, and thus satisfies all creators according to His will.”
In this second reading, using “poteach,” as a transitive verb, the Creator opens our hands to satisfy the hunger of other human beings. HaShem opens our hands to help those who do not have what to eat.

How does God open our hands?
The answer is found in this week’s Perasha, Re-e. In 15:7, the Text mentions the misva of Tsedaqa. HaShem asks us not to close our hands when our fellow Israelite is in need, “לא תקפוץ את ידך מאחיך האביון.” And the words used in the next verse, 15:8, are impossible to not associate with our verse in Tehillim.
The eighth pasuq reads, “For you must open your hand… [to your brother in need] and you will provide him with all that he needs” (פתוח תפתח את ידך לו). According to our interpretation, HaShem is opening our hands through the misva of Tsedaqa; and by opening our hands, grants each person with the food that they need.
Through the misva of tzedaqa, we become an instrument of God in part of the human-chain. The chain of hessed, that HaShem has implemented through our hands so everyone has what to eat…
And thus, His will is fulfilled.
Shabbat Shalom.

This week’s Parasha, Va’etchanan, contains two cardinal texts of the Jewish faith: the Ten Commandments and the first part of the Shema Israel. Today, we will briefly analyze the Shema’s first verse. (To learn more about the Ten Commandments, consult the link below.)

To begin with, let us remember that the Shema Israel is not formally a prayer. It is not a text in which we praise God or ask for His help. The Shema we recite daily contains our declaration of faith in God’s existence and unGod, educates us to love God, urges us to fulfill His commandments, and exhorts us to behave with morality and decency.

HOW DO YOU SAY “GOD EXISTS” IN HEBREW?

The first verse of the Shema Israel contains the three ideas that constitute the principles of our faith:

שמע ישראל ה אלוקינו ה אחד

“Hear, O Israel, HaShem is our God, HaShem is one.”

• That God exists.
• That we are the only witnesses of His revelation.
• That God is one.

Ironically, the most significant word in this theme is not explicitly written in the verse (biblical verse). Our verse literally says, “Hear, O Israel, HaShem our God, HaShem one.” But the correct translation is: “Hear, O Israel, HaShem IS our God, HaShem IS one.” Why are these two verbs not explicitly included in this verse? Because in biblical Hebrew, verbs are not conjugated in the present tense like in other languages. To indicate the present, Hebrew uses only the pronoun and the noun. When I say, for example, ANI QORE, which is generally translated as “I read,” I am actually saying, “At this moment, ‘I am’ a reader.” That is why when one wants to say the verb “to be” in the present, “is,” or “am,” nothing is said! If I want to say, “This chair IS white,” I will say, “hakisé laban” = “The chair… white.” And when I want to say “HaShem IS our God,” I will say “HaShem… our God.”

Ironically, the idea of “BEING” that is hidden between the word “HaShem” and the word “our” conveys the main message of the entire Shema Israel: the affirmation that God “IS,” that is, that God “EXISTS,” which constitutes the number one principle of the Jewish faith.

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT GOD EXISTS?

The answer to this question is presented in the second part of this verse: “HaShem is ‘our God‘.” Here, the emphasis is not on the word “is“ but on the word “our.”

In Judaism, belief in God is based, first and foremost, on the fact that Jews are the only witnesses of Divine Revelation (אתם עדי). At Mount Sinai, when God chose us among all the nations and gave us His Torah, He revealed Himself to our ancestors, transmitting the first two commandments. The Divine revelation did not manifest through images. In fact, the Tora seriously warns us against creating imaginary visual images of Divine revelation, as other religions do. God’s revelation (in Hebrew: ma’amad har Sinai) is described thus: “and all the people saw the voices [that came from God].“ The Torah uses exceptional language, “seeing the voices,“ to indicate an extrasensory, supernatural event, a kind of prophetic telepathy. This “shocking“ (even “traumatic”) event was imprinted in our genetic memory, and we thus became the only human group to have directly and collectively experienced Divine Revelation. Rabbi Yehuda haLevi mentioned about 1,000 years ago that other religions have not even falsely claimed to have experienced a collective revelation, a myth impossible to sustain. Gentile religions claim, instead, supposed “private“ revelations to individuals like Yeshu, Muhammad, or Joseph Smith.

Now we can better understand the second message of the Shema Israel: “HaShem is OUR God.“ God revealed Himself to us, the entire people of Israel, and this experience of divine revelation has transformed us to this day into the privileged witnesses of His existence.

Of course, we must develop this genetic faith by seeking a more personal knowledge of God, which is increased through studying His Torah and observing and admiring His creation. Both “books“—the Torah and Creation—reveal a Wisdom that is not human and thus direct our minds and hearts towards a deeper recognition of the Author/Creator of both works.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT GOD IS ONE?

Jewish monotheism, the belief that there is only one God and that there is no other power independent of Him, is probably the most revolutionary idea of the Torah. Why? Because monotheism was a totally counter-intuitive idea. Let us see. For ancient man, it was impossible to think that there was only one God. Human beings naturally perceive reality in terms of conflicting and opposing events: life and death, war and peace, joy and pain, etc. For the pagan mind, it was impossible to conceive that the complex spectrum of this reality comes from just one God! The most normal, intuitive, and logical conclusion is that the world is governed by multiple gods, each in charge of a particular power: this is the god of good and the god of evil, the god of light and the god of darkness. And those gods are in permanent conflict and fight against each other to overcome one another. From a psychological perspective, polytheism is also the most natural way of projecting the most violent aspects of human reality: the gods possess the same conflicts, interests, and appetites as the human beings who fight each other to impose themselves on one another.

Conceiving ONE GOD from whom all the contradictory and opposing aspects of our complex human reality derive is revolutionary and almost “insane.”

It may be difficult for us to perceive today the magnitude and incredible impact of monotheism on humanity simply because most of the civilized world has rejected polytheism and adopted the principle established in Shema Israel.

To summarize: The first verse of the Shema Israel is not a prayer that we recite to God. It is a biblical text directed towards us (Hear, O Israel). It reminds us of the three most essential principles of Judaism and exhorts us to remember them every day, reciting them as a proclamation of loyalty to our God.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton