Noach | פרשת נח

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Sefer Bereshit | ספר בראשית

 Bereshit 6:9-11:32 [Hebcal] [על-התורה] בראשית ו ט – יא לב

Haftarah: Yeshayahu 54:1-54:10 (Sefardi) | Yeshayahu 54:1-55:5 (Ashkenazi) | Yeshayahu 54:1-55:3 (Teimani)

הפטרה: ישעיהו נד א – נד י (ספרדים) | ישעיהו נד א – נה ה (אשכנזים) | ישעיהו נד א – נה ד (תימנים) [על-התורה]

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Parashat Noach is full of iconic stories that serve as constant cultural referents: from that nursery staple, Noah’s ark, to the the dove of peace bearing an olive branch; from the arrogance symbolized by the tower of Babel to the archetypal nations of the world associated with the sons of Noach: Shem, Cham, and Yefet, or as they are known in their anglicized versions, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Shem, for instance, gives his name to the group of languages, which includes Hebrew and Arabic, known as Semitic⁠—”of Shem”). The discomfiting story of Noach’s drunkenness results in the cursing of Cham’s son Canaan, an enmity between nations with enduring consequences. By the parsha’s end, we have followed Shem’s lineage and come to meet Avram (later to be renamed Avraham), the first of the three avot, forefathers or patriarchs of the Jewish people.

The Antediluvian World

[Bereshit 6:9]

Things we know about Noach: from the end of the previous parsha, Bereshit, we know that he has “found favor with Hashem” (נֹחַ מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי ה’), seemingly alone among the people of a degenerate world. Now, at the opening of our parsha, we are told three additional significant things about Noach: that he is a righteous man (ish tzaddik – אִישׁ צַדִּיק), that he is tamim—innocent, or blameless, or perfect—in his generation (תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו), and that he “walked with G-d” (אֶת הָאֱלֹקים הִתְהַלֶּךְ-נֹחַ). In the thought of Chazal, as brought down in Rashi, there is debate about whether this description indicates that Noach was indeed fully righteous, or whether the modifier “in his generation” implies that Noach’s righteousness is only relative to the total degeneration of the antediluvian population (“antediluvian” is a handy adjectival term drawn from Latin, meaning “before the flood”).

Things only go downhill from there, however: the land “becomes corrupted” (וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ) and is “filled with violence” (וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס). Hashem decides to “put an end to all flesh” (קֵץ כׇּל בָּשָׂר) and “destroy the land” (וְהִנְנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ).

The Ark (tevah – הַתֵּבָה)

[Bereshit 6:13]

Noting Noach’s righteousness (be it as it may), Hashem informs him that He is about to destroy all life on earth on account of its tendency towards evil. However, Hashem instructs Noach to construct an ark (תֵּבָה), sparing his life.1 The Torah takes notable care in describing the specifics of the tevah: it’s supposed to be made of a type of wood called gofer (עֲצֵי גֹפֶר), to have compartments (kinim – קִנִּים) inside, and be covered in tar (כֹּפֶר) inside and out. It also has specific dimensions: it has to 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high (a cubit is called an amah in Hebrew – אַמָּה). In addition, the ark is to have a special opening (tzohar – צֹהַר) in the top to allow daylight to enter, an opening on the side, and three decks.

It is at this point in the narrative that Hashem reveals to Noach that the means of near-total destruction will be a massive, all-encompassing flood. However, He declares to Noach: “But I will establish My covenant with you” (וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתָּךְ). Noach is to bring two of every kind of living thing, one male and one female, into the ark, along with provisions for the animals and himself. Noach does precisely as he is instructed: וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֹתוֹ אֱלֹקים כֵּן עָשָׂה.

Next, Noach is told to enter the ark along with his entire family, because, Hashem says, “I have found a righteous one before Me in this generation” (כִּי אֹתְךָ רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק לְפָנַי בַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה). (We are told slightly later, in Bereshit 7:7 and 7:13, that Noach’s family includes his wife, his three sons, and his sons’ three wives.) He then elaborates that of the pure domesticated animals (הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה) and also the birds of the sky (עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם), Noach is actually to take seven pairs while only two of the other kinds of living creatures. Hashem adds that the flood will start in seven days and last for 40 days and 40 nights, a number and time period which will prove significant in subsequent Jewish history. Once again, Noach does precisely as told.

The Flood (mabul – מבול)

[Bereshit 7:6]

The flood, indeed, comes—when Noach is 600 years old. We are told a relatively robust amount of information about the timing of the flood:

בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה לְחַיֵּי נֹחַ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִבְקְעוּ כָּל מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם נִפְתָּחוּ:

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst apart and the floodgates of the sky broke open.

Bereshit 7:11

The traditional consensus tends towards the view that this date is the 17th of Cheshvan. In Mikra, Nisan is usually known as “the first month,”2 so “the second month” generally indicates Iyar, though that is not the case here.3 Seder Olam, the standard rabbinic Midrash on chronology, places this in the year 1656 AM,4 which corresponds to 2105 BCE. The significance of this date is not extensively discussed by the commentators, and may be mostly important in that it clarifies the length of the flood: while the rains fall for 40 days and nights, the actual flood takes longer to recede such that Noach and the rest of the crew can exit the ark.

The language used to describe the nature of the flood’s beginning is notably lyrical, and the phrase “windows (or channels) of the sky” (אֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם), translated above per JPS as “floodgates,” is instantly evocative of the mabul. G-d Himself shuts Noach, his family, and all the living things according to their specified representatives into the ark (וַיִּסְגֹּר ה’ בַּעֲדוֹ). The water swells, covering the tops of the highest mountains by 15 cubits, so that the known world is thoroughly engulfed with water from the heavens. After 40 days and nights, the rain stops, which puts us in Kislev (more below).

Another 150 days after this, Hashem remembers Noach in the ark and causes a wind to blow, dispersing the waters so that they recede, though not entirely. The Torah then gives us another explicit date:

ג) וַיָּשֻׁבוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ הָלוֹךְ וָשׁוֹב וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם. (ד) וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ עַל הָרֵי אֲרָרָט. (ה) וְהַמַּיִם הָיוּ הָלוֹךְ וְחָסוֹר עַד הַחֹדֶשׁ הָעֲשִׂירִי בָּעֲשִׂירִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ נִרְאוּ רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים:

At the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters diminished, so that in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (אֲרָרָט). The waters went on diminishing until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

Bereshit 8:3-5

According to Rashi on Bereshit 8:4, based on Bereshit Rabba 33:7, the “seventh month” refers to the seventh month after the month in which the rain stopped falling, meaning that the ark comes to a rest in Ararat on 17 Sivan.5 This makes the month in which the rain stopped Kislev and Sivan as the month the waters begin to recede. The water continues to recede until the mountaintops become visible on the first day of the “tenth month,” and here, again according to Rashi and following Midrash Rabba, the count switches back to counting from the time that the rain started to fall (i.e. Cheshvan).6 This makes “the tenth month” Av and means that the mountaintops become visible on 1 Av.

The location of “the mountains of Ararat” is subject to debate; Ararat is also mentioned in Melachim Bet 19:37 and echoed in Yeshayahu 37:38. It is often identified with eastern Anatolia (present-day Turkey) where there is a Mt. Ararat. However, rabbinic tradition considers it to refer to Armenia.7

The Dove (yonah – היונה)

[Bereshit 8:6]

Noach then sends out a bird from the ark, trying to determine if dry land was available for it to land on:

וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וַיִּפְתַּח נֹחַ אֶת חַלּוֹן הַתֵּבָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה: וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת הָעֹרֵב וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב עַד יְבֹשֶׁת הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ:

At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven (orev – עֹרֵב); it went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.

Bereshit 8:6-7

This next set of 40 days, explains Rashi, is from the time that the mountaintops became visible.8 This makes the date 40 days from 1 Sivan, or 10 Elul. The raven flies to and fro. Noach then sends out the famous dove (yonah – יּוֹנָה), which finds no dry land upon which to land and returns tot he ark.9 Noach puts out his hand and takes the dove back into the ark; seven days later, on the 24 Elul, he sends the dove out once more.

This time, the dove returns bearing an olive branch in its beak, ever after a symbol of peace and goodwill. This indicates to Noach that dry land, with vegetation, has returned to the earth. He waits another seven days to send the dove again, at which point it doesn’t return, meaning that it is able to thrive on earth again. This day is 1 Tishrei, better known to us as Rosh Hashanah.

We are again given chronological information by the Torah:

יג) וַיְהִי בְּאַחַת וְשֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה בָּרִאשׁוֹן בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ חָרְבוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ וַיָּסַר נֹחַ אֶת מִכְסֵה הַתֵּבָה וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה חָרְבוּ פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. יד וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ יָבְשָׁה הָאָרֶץ: {ס}   (טו) וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹקים :אֶל נֹחַ לֵאמֹר: (טז) צֵא מִן הַתֵּבָה אַתָּה וְאִשְׁתְּךָ וּבָנֶיךָ וּנְשֵׁי בָנֶיךָ אִתָּךְ (יז) כָּל הַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר אִתְּךָ מִכָּל בָּשָׂר בָּעוֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ הוצא [הַיְצֵא] אִתָּךְ וְשָׁרְצוּ בָאָרֶץ וּפָרוּ וְרָבוּ עַל הָאָרֶץ:

In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the waters began to dry from the earth; and when Noah removed the covering of the ark, he saw that the surface of the ground was drying. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. G-d spoke to Noah, saying, “Come out of the ark, together with your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and everything that creeps on earth; and let them swarm on the earth and be fertile and increase on earth.”10

Bereshit 8:13-17

The 27th day of the second month of the following year is 28 Cheshvan, meaning that Noach was in the ark for a full solar year, or one lunar year and 11 days (from 17 Cheshvan of the year prior).11

The Brit (Covenant) with Noach

[Bereshit 8:20]

After disembarking, Noach builds an altar and makes an offering to G-d, upon which G-d pledges to never destroy all life again. He is then instructed that he may eat meat, but never the blood. In addition, anyone who murders should be put to death. This is because “in the image of G-d (be-tzelem Elokim) is the human being created (כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹקים עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם).

Hashem says to Noach: “I now establish My covenant (brit) with you and your offspring to come” (וַאֲנִי הִנְנִי מֵקִים אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם וְאֶת זַרְעֲכֶם אַחֲרֵיכֶם). This is sometimes thought of as a key source of the seven laws of Bnei Noach, incumbent upon all human beings.12 However, Noachide law is a complex area of the halacha and there is robust disagreement about the sources and scope of these laws. Some authorities attribute the source of Noachide laws to commands given to Adam or Avraham rather than Noach (seeing bnei Noach, “the children of Noach,” as a general term connoting all human beings).13

The Rainbow (keshet ba-anan – הקשת בענן)

[Bereshit 9:12]

Hashem emphatically chooses the rainbow as the symbol of the covenant he makes with Noach on behalf of all humanity. The description of the rainbow and its significance spans Bereshit 9:12-17, six verses total, a robust amount of space in the Torah. Its function as an instigator of memory and promise is stressed. The bracha that we say upon seeing a rainbow reflects this: זוֹכֵר הַבְּרִית וְנֶאֱמָן בִּבְרִיתוֹ וְקַיָם בְּמַאֲמָרוֹ, “Who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise.”

The Drunkenness of Noach

[Bereshit 9:18]

We are next told that Noach’s three sons are to become the ancestors of all human beings, from whom the entire earth was populated. Then, curiously, it is observed that Noach himself became a farmer and initiated viniculture. This last detail is salient because the next thing that happens is that Noach becomes drunk and “uncovers himself inside his tent” (וַיִּתְגַּל בְּתוֹךְ אָהֳלֹה). What happens next is subject to debate, but changes everything: what we are told is the Cham, who is identified here as the father of the Canaanites, “saw his father’s nakedness” (וַיַּרְא חָם אֲבִי כְנַעַן אֵת עֶרְוַת אָבִיו). Apparently, some sort of sexual impropriety happened, or possibly castration:14 “Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him” – וַיִּיקֶץ נֹחַ מִיֵּינוֹ וַיֵּדַע אֵת אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לוֹ בְּנוֹ הַקָּטָן. Canaan, whose descendants are destined to lose Eretz Yisrael to Bnei Yisrael, is cursed by his grandfather, Noach. Noach lives on for some time (350 years after the flood) and dies at the age of 950.

The Nations the Issue from Yefet, Cham & Shem

[Bereshit 10:1]

Both for Yefet and Cham, long lists of names are given. Of these, several are notable: Yefet’s sons Magog (ancestor of the the nation from which Gog of Magog will wage end-time war)15, Madai (i.e. Media, an important region in what is today Iran), Tiras (which Rashi identifies with Persia), Ashkenaz (later the name used for Germany and, writ large, for European Jews), Togarma (later used for Turkey), and Tarshish (a place-name which makes several notable appearances in Tanach); and Cham’s sons Cush (Sudan), Mitzrayim (Egypt), Canaan (from whom Bnei Yisrael would have to conquer the Land), Chavila (in Africa, familiar from the description of the rivers that branch out from Eden; Shem also has a son of this name), and Sheba (in south Arabia).

One of the sons of Cush who is singled out is Nimrod, a brawny hunter who conquers, among others, Bavel (Babylonia), Akkad (the Akkadians), and the land of Shinar (southern Mesopotamia, what is today Iraq). From this region, Ashur (Assyria) goes out to build Nineveh; from Mitzrayim come the Philistines. Nimrod is not exactly looked upon with favor by tradition: he incited widespread rebellion against Hashem.16

Various subgroups of Canaan issue from him, notably the Yebusi (Jebusites, who settled in the area of what would become Jerusalem) and the Amorites, who Bnei Yisrael would encounter on the way to establishing themselves in their Land. Importantly, we are given the parameters of ancient Canaan here: “from Sidon as far as Gerar, near Gaza, and as far as Sodom, Amora (Gomorrah), Admah, and Tzvoim, near Lasha” (וַיְהִי גְּבוּל הַכְּנַעֲנִי מִצִּידֹן בֹּאֲכָה גְרָרָה עַד עַזָּה בֹּאֲכָה סְדֹמָה וַעֲמֹרָה וְאַדְמָה וּצְבֹיִם עַד לָשַׁע).

Last up is Shem, whose notable children include Ashur and Chavila (mentioned earlier in connection with Yefet), Aram, and Utz (the birthplace of Iyov (Job) and much, much later utilized as a stand-in for “Oz” in The Wizard of Oz). A little later on in the parsha, we are given a more precise, generational lineage from Shem’s son Arpachshad down to Avraham.

The Tower of Babel (migdal Bavel – מגדל בבל)

[Bereshit 11:1]

At this point we’ve seen the humans who survived the flood be fruitful, multiply, spread out across the known world, all speaking one, unified ur-language (Rashi explains that this was Hebrew). We turn our focus to one region, in the east, to one telltale valley in Shinar (Mesopotamia). There, the people figure out how to make sturdy, kiln-fired bricks and fine mortar, making them apt builders. Charmed by their own abilities, they say: “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scattered all over the world” (וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה לָּנוּ עִיר וּמִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם וְנַעֲשֶׂה לָּנוּ שֵׁם פֶּן נָפוּץ עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ).

Hashem views this as a concerning development: “If, as one people with one language for all, this is how they have begun to act, then nothing that they may propose to do will be out of their reach” (הֵן עַם אֶחָד וְשָׂפָה אַחַת לְכֻלָּם וְזֶה הַחִלָּם לַעֲשׂוֹת וְעַתָּה לֹא יִבָּצֵר מֵהֶם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר יָזְמוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת). Ibn Ezra explains that they were so effective because they had a unified language, law, and religion, without the differences among people that cause jealousy and hatred, implying that this renders them dangerously powerful. Rashi suggests that the power of a unified language was causing them to engaging in problematic behavior.

In response, human language is confounded into the archetypical seventy languages of humankind (“seventy” connoting a large number). The people are stymied and cease from building their city, which is thereafter known as Bavel (Babel, as in “babble,” the eponymous capital of Babylonia). This generation is known as dor ha-palaga (דוֹר הַפַּלָּגָה, “the generation of division,” more commonly pronounced dor ha-flaga).

The Lineage of Shem

[Bereshit 11:10]

Just as there are ten generations between Adam and Noach, there are ten generations between Shem and Avraham (or Avram, as he is known in the beginning).

  1. Shem – שֵׁם – is 100 years old when he has Arpachshad two years after the flood, and dies at age 600
  2. Arpachshad – אַרְפַּכְשַׁד – is 35 years old when his son is born and dies at age 438
  3. Shelach – שֶׁלַח – is 30 years old when he has his son and dies at age 433
  4. Ever – עֵבֶר – is 34 years old when his son is born and dies at age 464
  5. Peleg – פֶלֶג – is 30 years old when his son is born and dies at age 239
  6. Reu – רְעוּ – is 32 years old when his son is born and dies at age 239
  7. Srug – שְׂרוּג – is 30 years old when his son is born and dies at age 230
  8. Nachor – נָחוֹר – is 29 years old when his son is born and dies at age 148
  9. Terach – תָּרַח – is 70 years old when his sons are born and he dies at age 205
  10. Avram – אַבְרָם (and Nachor – נָחוֹר , like the grandfather, and Haran – הָרָן)

Note that the ages jump here numerically to ranges we are more familiar with: having children in one’s thirties (though still living to very old age by our reckoning).

From Ur-Kasdim to Canaan

Of Avram’s two brothers, one, Haran, predeceases his father; Haran’s son Lot (לוֹט), Avram’s nephew, would come into his care. Avram and Nachor marry; Avram’s wife is called Sarai (שָׂרַי, later, Sarah), and it is noted that she, sadly, suffers from infertility.

Terach takes his son Avram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his grandson Lot and together they leave their birthplace of Ur-Kasdim (אוּר כַּשְׂדִּים, “Ur of the Chaldeans”).17 They are headed to the Land of Canaan, later to be known as the Land of Israel, but only get as far as the Anatolian city of Harran (חָרָן). Terach dies in the city of Haran.

Haftarah Summary – רני עקרה

Yeshayahu 54:1-54:10 (Sefardi) | Yeshayahu 54:1-55:5 (Ashkenazi) | Yeshayahu 54:1-55:3 (Teimani)18

The themes of the haftarah are destruction and exile balanced by redemption and restoration, reflecting the narrative of the generation of the flood (dor ha-mabul – דור המבול). In Yeshayahu 54:9 there is a direct reference to Noach, the flood, and Hashem’s promise to never again destroy life on earth:

כִּי מֵי נֹחַ זֹאת לִי אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי מֵעֲבֹר מֵי נֹחַ עוֹד עַל הָאָרֶץ כֵּן נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי מִקְּצֹף עָלַיִךְ וּמִגְּעָר בָּךְ:

For this to Me is like the waters of Noah: As I swore that the waters of Noah nevermore would flood the earth, so I swear that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.

Yeshayahu 54:9

The metaphor employed throughout the haftarah is that of Israel as Hashem’s beloved, if estranged, wife, who, though barren, will yet rejoice at the sounds of her children playing in her own house. This haftarah includes the iconic image of Israel as “the unfortunate storm-tossed one” (עֲנִיָּה סֹעֲרָה – a play on אניה סערה, a storm-tossed ship), which also begins the haftarah of Parashat Re’eh (Yeshayahu 54:11).

Image: “boy meets ark” by .ash is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Notes

  1. Midrash notes that Sichon and Og, two kings that would prove fateful to Jewish history, and who reputedly were of gigantic physical proportions, and were not drowned in the flood. See Devarim Rabba 11:10 and Niddah 61a.
  2. I have a source sheet on this here.
  3. According to Rashi, this is a matter of dispute between two Tannaim: Rabbi Yehoshua, who maintains that the world was created in Nisan and thus thinks that the second month is Iyar, and Rabbi Eliezer, who maintains that the world was created in Tishrei and thus would count Marcheshvan as the second month; see the baraita in Rosh Hashanah 10b. Interestingly, in the supercommentary on Rashi attributed to Bartenura, it is suggested that the date of the flood is the 17th of Cheshvan, and that this constitutes early support for the idea that the year begins in Tishrei. See also the Gur Aryeh on Bereshit 7:11 for a long and fascinating excursus on this topic.
  4. AM is an acronym for anno mundi, the Latin equivalent of מבריאת עולם, “from creation.”
  5. רש”י: בחדש השביעי – סִיוָן, וְהוּא שְׁבִיעִי לְכִסְלֵו שֶׁבּוֹ פָּסְקוּ הַגְּשָׁמִים
  6. See Rashi on Bereshit 8:6
  7. See Targum Yerushalmi (pseudo-Yonatan) to Bereshit 8:4.
  8. See Rashi on Bereshit 8:7.
  9. Rashi explains that this occurs seven days later, i.e. 17 Elul, on the analogy of the next verse, which notes that Noach waits seven days between sending the dove the first and second time. See Rashi on Bereshit 8:8.
  10. Noach is commanded pru u-rvu (be fruitful and multiply) three times in close succession: here in Bereshit 8:17, again in Bereshit 9:1, and another time in Bereshit 9:7. According to Sefer ha-Chinuch 1:1, the biblical mitzvah of having children derives not from here but comes from the command to Adam and Chava; he does not list any mitzvot for Parashat Noach. According to Rambam, it is from Bereshit 9:7.
  11. See again Bereshit Rabba 33:7.
  12. See Bereshit Rabba 34 and Sanhedrin 59b.
  13. For example, to Adam in Bereshit 2:16.
  14. See Rashi on Bereshit 9:22, citing Sanhedrin 70a.
  15. See Yechezkel 38:2
  16. Rashi on Bereshit 10:8.
  17. There is some controversy about the location of this Ur, but it is traditionally placed in southern Mesopotamia, or present-day Iraq.
  18. Unless it is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, making it a Shabbat Rosh Chodesh with its special maftir and haftarah.
Tamar Ron Marvin is a scholar, writer, and Jewish educator. She holds a Ph.D. in Medieval & Early Modern Jewish Studies and is currently a student at Yeshivat Maharat.
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