Noah

print   

Why was Noah called Noah? 

Noah's father had a prophecy that Noah would make life easier for people. One of the translations of Noah is easy. How did Noah make life easier for people? Until the time of Noah working a field was very difficult, because there weren't many tools. Noah invented the plow, making a field easier to work. 

How big was Noah's Ark? 

The Torah tells us that it was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. 

How big is a cubit? 

The normal cubit is 5 hands (a hand is approximately 4 inches) so it is approximately 20 inches (50 cm). 

In the Temple in Jerusalem, a cubit was 6 hands, approximately 2 feet (60 cm).

We are told that on the Ark the light of Moshiach shined, it was a holy and miraculous place like the Temple. So perhaps the cubits were Temple cubits. 

If so the Ark was approximately 600 feet (180 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) wide, and 60 feet (18 m) high. It was about as long as two football fields. It was very big. 

The Ark had three floors. On the top floor lived Noah's family. On the middle floor were the animals. And on the bottom floor was food storage and waste. There was enough room for every floor to be almost 20 feet (6 m) high, tall enough for a giraffe. 

On the Ark, Hashem commanded Noah, his family and the animals not to have reproductive relations, so no animals or people were born on the Ark. The raven disobeyed the command, that is why Noah sent the raven out of the Ark first, he banished the raven from the Ark because of his sin. Being that the female raven was already expecting, Noah didn't fear for the species. However, Hashem commanded Noah to continue taking care of the raven, because the raven would prove its usefulness in the future. In fact, when Elijah the prophet was hiding from the wicked king Ahab and Queen jezebel, who wanted to kill him, in the cave on Mount Sinai, ravens would bring him food. 

On the Ark the light of Moshiach shined bright, therefore the animals got along. The animals of prey didn't attack other animals, as it says about the time of Moshiach, "The wolf will dwell with the lamb." 

Rashi tells us that one time, Noah was late to feed the lion, and it took a swipe at him, and hurt him. 

Lighting on the Ark 

The Ark had a stone called a tzoar, which gave off a bright light. Maybe the Arkenstone from the Hobbit, I find it amusing that he called it the ARKenstone. 

Question. tongue in cheek: Why didn't Noah allow the unicorns onto the Ark? 

Funny you ask. When the Jewish people were in the desert, they built the Mishkan (Tabernacle). One of the coverings of the Mishkan were made of tachash skin which was colorful. The animal is now extinct, some people say that it was a unicorn. So maybe he did let them on the Ark.  

Life on the Ark 

There is a conversation recorded in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 108b) between Eliezer the servant of Avraham and Shem son of Noah, where he asked Shem about life on the Ark. 

Eliezer asked him, "Where were you and what did you do to care for them while they were in the ark?” 

Shem said to him, "We experienced great suffering in the ark caring for the animals. Where there was a creature that one typically feeds during the day, we fed it during the day, and where there was a creature that one typically feeds at night, we fed it at night. 

"With regard to that chameleon, my father did not know what it eats. One day, my father was sitting and peeling a pomegranate. A worm fell from it and the chameleon ate it. From that point forward my father would knead bran with water, and when it became overrun with worms, the chameleon would eat it.” 

How about the Phoenix? 

Eliezer asked him, "Where were you and what did you do to care for them while they were in the ark?” 

Shem said to him, "We experienced great suffering in the ark caring for the animals. Where there was a creature that one typically feeds during the day, we fed it during the day, and where there was a creature that one typically feeds at night, we fed it at night. 

"With regard to that chameleon, my father did not know what it eats. One day, my father was sitting and peeling a pomegranate. A worm fell from it and the chameleon ate it. From that point forward my father would knead bran with water, and when it became overrun with worms, the chameleon would eat it.” 

How about the Phoenix? 

"Shem continued: With regard to the phoenix, my father found it lying in its compartment on the side of the ark. He said to the bird: Do you not want food? The bird said to him: I saw that you were busy, and I said I would not trouble you by requesting food. Noah said to the bird: May it be God’s will that you shall not die, and through that bird the verse was fulfilled, as it is stated: “And I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the phoenix” (Job 29:18 )." 

In Iyov (Job ad loc) the commentaries explain that when Chava ate from the tree of knowledge she had all the animals eat from it too. However, the phoenix was the only creature that refused to eat from the tree of knowledge. Therefore it lives forever. It also explains how it lives for a thousand years and the process of how it's reborn from its ashes.