Noah - A New Creation Story with Rabbi Levin [ENCORE]

Often you are invited to introduce us to the Torah as a commentator on Parashah Bereshit, the first Torah portion.

But this year I thought we'd change it up and allow you to offer your wisdom on another fairly well-known story, and that's the story of Noah.

I've offered our listeners an outline of it, but where shall we begin our conversation? With Noah, with the ark, with the animals, with the flood, with God's seemingly frustration with humanity?

That's a good place to start.

That's

a very

good place to start.

Because first, from a scholarly perspective, the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis are, of course, primeval history.

Afterwards, as you pointed out with Abram, which actually begins towards the end of chapter 11 rather than waiting for chapter 12.

We see from chapters 12 through 50, the end of the book of Genesis, we have the establishment of the tribes of Israel, the tribes of the Hebrew people.

And then in Exodus, we're going to get the establishment of the people, Israel, rather than the tribes.

So here we have a primeval history.

Now, what is this primeval history about? Well, obviously, in Genesis 1, God has created the world.

But there are limits to the ability of those people in the creation to go against God's will.

So you have in the Garden of Eden, you have Eve, who knows what she's doing, perverts or lies about the instruction that God has given her, and goes against God's will and eats from the fruit.

So then they're punished.

What is their punishment? They're put out of the garden.

So we see here that there are limits put on creation.

Now, in our parasha, we see that there are 10 generations of humanity, and they are sinning.

They are acting with violence.

They are not acting, and this is important, according to the morality that God intends for human beings in his creation of the world.

But I want to follow up on something you alluded to, and that is that the commandment that Eve and then Adam violate is a direct commandment.

But the violence between Cain and Abel that distresses the eternal God is violence that he does not yet have commanded them a prohibition.

Of course.

And therefore, it seems to be implicit.

Often you are invited to introduce us to the Torah as a commentator on Parashah Bereshit, the first Torah portion.

But this year I thought we'd change it up and allow you to offer your wisdom on another fairly well-known story, and that's the story of Noah.

I've offered our listeners an outline of it, but where shall we begin our conversation? With Noah, with the ark, with the animals, with the flood, with God's seemingly frustration with humanity?

That's a good place to start.

That's

a very

good place to start.

Because first, from a scholarly perspective, the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis are, of course, primeval history.

Afterwards, as you pointed out with Abram, which actually begins towards the end of chapter 11 rather than waiting for chapter 12.

We see from chapters 12 through 50, the end of the book of Genesis, we have the establishment of the tribes of Israel, the tribes of the Hebrew people.

And then in Exodus, we're going to get the establishment of the people, Israel, rather than the tribes.

So here we have a primeval history.

Now, what is this primeval history about? Well, obviously, in Genesis 1, God has created the world.

But there are limits to the ability of those people in the creation to go against God's will.

So you have in the Garden of Eden, you have Eve, who knows what she's doing, perverts or lies about the instruction that God has given her, and goes against God's will and eats from the fruit.

So then they're punished.

What is their punishment? They're put out of the garden.

So we see here that there are limits put on creation.

Now, in our parasha, we see that there are 10 generations of humanity, and they are sinning.

They are acting with violence.

They are not acting, and this is important, according to the morality that God intends for human beings in his creation of the world.

But I want to follow up on something you alluded to, and that is that the commandment that Eve and then Adam violate is a direct commandment.

But the violence between Cain and Abel that distresses the eternal God is violence that he does not yet have commanded them a prohibition.

Of course.

And therefore, it seems to be implicit.