לקוטי שיחות חלק כ״ה - נח ב

Parshas Noach

1. Regarding the first forty days of the Flood there are two verses that seemingly contradict each other. First it says^[1], “And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights,” but afterwards it says^[2], “And the Flood was forty days upon the earth” (meaning that already during the forty days there was not merely rain but also a “mabul”^[3] — that which “wore away everything, etc.”^[4]).

Our Sages explain^[5] — and Rashi brings it in his commentary on the Torah^[6]: “When the Holy One, blessed be He, brought down the waters, He brought them down at first with mercy… so that if they would return, they would be rains of blessing; they did not return — it became a flood.”

As this is simply understood, the intent of this answer is that the two verses speak of separate times. “And the rain was” speaks of the time when the waters first began to come down, when it was in a manner that “if they would return, they would be rains of blessing”; and “And the Flood was” speaks of the later time, after it became clear that “they did not return” and the rain was transformed into a flood. And this took place right on the first day (of the forty days), as it says explicitly, “And the Flood was forty days” [for since the waters of the Flood were scalding^[7], it was not possible for anyone to remain alive even for a short time. It follows that the opportunity for teshuvah lasted only a short time^[8]].

This is puzzling, however: the verse states explicitly, “And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights” — that all forty days (and not only at the beginning of the descent) there was rain?!

— Had the verse “And the rain was” not said “upon the earth,” one could have answered^[9] that the existence of the Flood — “which wore away everything, etc.” — came about when the waters arrived “upon the earth.” That is, while coming down from “heaven” (all forty days) — “when the Holy One, blessed be He, brought down, etc.” — it was rain (rains of blessing); but upon reaching “the earth,” since on the earth below there was a state of “and the earth was corrupt… all flesh had corrupted… upon the earth”^[10], there^[11] the “rain” became a “flood.”

The verse, however, says “And the rain was upon the earth” — that not only was the descent from heaven with mercy, but also upon reaching the earth it was “rain”^[12], and this lasted forty days, as mentioned above.

2. The explanation of this may be said to be as follows:

On the verse^[13], “For in another seven days I will cause it to rain… forty days and forty nights,” our Sages say^[14] — and Rashi brings it (with changes) in his commentary on the Torah^[15] — that the reason it was specifically in the number forty is: “corresponding to^[16] the formation of the fetus, for they corrupted [their ways], troubling their Creator to form [the illegitimate offspring], etc.”

From this it is understood that the fact that the waters of the Flood came down for forty days means (not that each day another punishment was added, another day of flood, but) that this was one punishment which extended over forty days. In other words, all forty days are (in the language of the Rogatchover regarding a number of matters^[17]) a single point.

This is similar to the forty days of the formation of the fetus, which are a single matter — one formation that lasts forty days. In the time after the forty days until the end of the nine months of pregnancy, the details of the fetus are created — the form of its limbs and sinews — and this is accomplished step by step, each of them a matter unto itself. For example: the general form of the hand, then its division into fingers, then each finger into joints, then the nails, and only at the very end of the period are “its nails completed”^[18]. During the first forty days, by contrast, only one thing is accomplished — the general formation of the fetus^[19].

Accordingly it is understood that there is no contradiction between the two verses. For even according to the above interpretation, that “And the rain was” refers to the beginning of the descent of the waters (“He brought them down at first”) — that the descent was in a manner of “if they would return, they would be rains of blessing” — it included the waters of all forty days. For G‑d’s “bringing them down” was one descent that included the entire quantity of water, all the water which came down upon the earth (as rains of blessing) during the forty days (as explained above).

But immediately after the descent, when it became clear that “they did not return,” then “the Flood was forty days” — the waters of each of the forty days became (instead of rains of blessing) flood waters^[20].

3. According to this explanation, the difference in wording between the two verses will also be resolved. In the first verse it says, “And the rain was upon the earth (and only afterwards come the words) forty days and forty nights,” whereas in the second verse (regarding the Flood) it says, “And the Flood was forty days upon the earth” —

because according to the above, the meaning of the words “forty days” in the second verse is different from that in the first:

The verse “And the Flood was…” comes to say how long the Flood lasted, and therefore the words “forty days” come immediately adjacent to “And the Flood was” — “And the Flood was forty days (upon the earth)” — which means, plainly, that the Flood extended (in actuality) for forty days (upon the earth).

The verse “And the rain was…,” however, comes (not to relate how long the rain lasted — for the matter of “rain” (i.e., the possibility of rains of blessing) existed only at the beginning of the descent (and immediately afterwards it turned into a flood), as explained above — but the verse aims) to say “And the rain was upon the earth”: the waters “upon the earth” were in a manner of “and the rain was” — “if they would return, they would be rains of blessing” — and it adds^[21]: (not only the waters of the first period, but) of all the forty days and forty nights; already then, at the beginning of the descent, the rain contained the quantity of water of forty days (rains of blessing).

4. This still requires explanation, however:

The matter of “forty days corresponding to the formation of the fetus” is only a reason why the forty days of the Flood (as a punishment) are a single point (like the forty days of the formation of the fetus). But what connection does the number of forty days have to the “rains of blessing,” that because of it they too were in the number forty and as a single point?

This will be understood from the (inner) explanation of the Flood, that “the Flood came to purify the earth… for the earth was filled with violence and became greatly corrupted, and it needed to be purified, and for this the Flood came… like the mikveh of forty se’ah, which purifies the impure”^[22].

And therefore the Flood itself is called “the waters of Noach”^[23], the name “Noach” deriving from nay’cha, satisfaction — “satisfaction for the higher beings, satisfaction for the lower beings”^[24] — because the Flood’s being a matter of punishment, etc., is only from the standpoint of the people of the generation of the Flood; but from the standpoint of (itself it is “the waters of Noach” — as from the standpoint of) Noach it is a matter of satisfaction^[25], the purification of the earth.

Accordingly one can interpret “And the rain was upon the earth forty days…” plainly — that the rain (rains of blessing) extended (in actuality) for forty days — and nevertheless there is no contradiction in the fact that during the same forty days there was a flood, because the Flood in its inner dimension is rains of blessing (“satisfaction”) for the world.

Moreover, it may be said: each day the waters did two things — they purified the earth^[26], and they “wore away everything.”

[And this is also alluded to in the word “mabul” itself: “mabul” comes from the word “bul” (with the addition of a mem at its beginning)^[27], and the word “bul” indicates (rains of) blessing, as our Sages say^[28] on the verse^[29] “in the month of Bul” (which refers to the month of Cheshvan, when rains of blessing fall) — “at the time when the earth produces abundant yield”^[30].]

And this is also the reason why the forty days of rains of blessing are a single point — because the number of forty days of the purification of the earth corresponds to the forty se’ah of a mikveh, and the measure of forty se’ah is (as the Rogatchover elaborates^[31]) “one essence.”

5. This blessing within the Flood — that through it the purification of the earth came about — is also alluded to in the above-mentioned saying of our Sages: “When the Holy One, blessed be He, brought down the waters, He brought them down at first with mercy, in order to show the world that if they would repent He would accept them… so that if they would return, they would be rains of blessing”:

The corruption of the earth^[32] before the Flood had brought the world to such a low state that “refinement was not possible”^[33], which is why the generation of the Flood did not do teshuvah^[34]. And this was what the Flood accomplished — “to purify the earth”: it instilled in the world the power for teshuvah, “to show the world^[35] that if they would repent He would accept them.”

And this is the allusion and intent of the verse “And the rain was upon the earth”: although the people of the generation of the Flood “did not return” (and for them it became a flood), the “rains of blessing” which “the Holy One, blessed be He, brought down… with mercy” did not remain above (not actually coming down here below); rather, they accomplished an effect upon the earth (“And the rain was upon the earth”) — that there is the power for teshuvah.

And through this one nullifies the flood (within the waters — the scalding heat and the like), and it becomes “rains of blessing” in the simple sense^[36].

And as our Sages^[37] say concerning the forty days, that “for forty days every year those days would leave an impression on the world, until Shlomo arose and built the Beis HaMikdash, and those forty days ceased”; and therefore the month (of Cheshvan) is called “the month of Bul” — “mabul… is written without the mem, corresponding to the forty days that ceased,” and thus it became “bul” — “when the earth produces abundant yield,” rains of blessing in the simple sense.

For through the building of the Beis HaMikdash, which effected a change and refinement in the world, a radiance of the Sanctuary — through the “windows, wide outside and narrow inside”^[38] — the “impression” that had remained from the Flood was nullified, until it became rains of blessing in the simple sense, “bul.”

And the completeness of the purification of the earth will be in the Time to Come, when we will have not only the “bul,” but the mem of “mabul” too will be transformed to good.

For the forty days of the purification of the earth — “like the mikveh of forty se’ah” — are the aspect of the closed mem [like a mikveh and the forty se’ah of a mikveh, which are the aspect of the closed mem^[39]], and this shone openly in Noach’s Ark^[40].

And from this we have the power to transform the mem of mabul — the open mem, which alludes^[41] to exile — so that it becomes a closed mem, which alludes^[42] to redemption, “For the increase of the dominion and for peace without end”^[43],

in the true and complete Redemption through our righteous Moshiach, speedily in our days, truly.

(From a talk of Shabbos Parshas Noach, 5743)

Key Lesson

The Flood was in its inner dimension a purification of the world, like a mikveh of forty se’ah, and the rains G‑d first sent with mercy — which could have been rains of blessing had the generation returned — did not remain unrealized: they left the world permanently endowed with the power of teshuvah. That is why the Torah can say “the rain was upon the earth forty days” even while the Flood raged. The “mabul” was softened into “bul,” rains of blessing, by the Beis HaMikdash, and the closed mem of the Ark points to the Redemption, when even the mem of the Flood will be turned to good.