Murder Can’t Be Left To The Human Mind The Torah warns us (Noach 9:6) that someone who spills the blood of another human, should be killed. Why? The Torah continues, “Ki Btzelem Elokim Asah Es HaAdam; Because in the image of Hashem man was made.” Killing a person is tantamount to destroying the image of Hashem Himself.
“This is an amazing thing,” notes Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky. “Murder is the most heinous crime known to man of any persuasion. Why does the Torah need to give a reason that you are destroying a Tzelem Elokim? Do we need to be so philosophical about forbidding such an act that even the most corrupt mind can comprehend on it own?”
“Indeed,” says Rav Yaakov. “left to human logic and barest morality, people will murder. They will surely come up with reasons and justifications for why this is different. The Torah needed to give us a reason that stands beyond human reproach, it is laying a hand on the image of Hashem for which there is no excuse. From here we see,” says Rav Yaakov, “that without Yiras Shamayim nothing is sacred and nothing will escape the corruption and perversion of human logic.”
Why Seven Pairs Of Kosher Animals? Noach took one pair of each non kosher animal specie in order to keep the specie alive after the Mabul. He also took seven pairs of each kosher animal so that he could offer them as korbanos after the mabul ended. Why did he need fourteen of each?
The Maskil L’Dovid answers that when a Nes happens to a person he must thank Hashem for saving him in the past and also daven for the future. SImilarly, after the Mabul, each person needed two animals of each for a korban. One for his salvation from the Mabul and one for the future. Noach, his sons, and their wives, were a total of eight people. From the fourteen animals one pair was needed to be let free and multiply in the land. That left 12 animals for eight people.
Since Cham and his wife were Reshaim, as they disobeyed the command not to have relations on the Teivah, they did not need any Korban because Zevach Resha’im To’eivah. The six remaining people took two each for a total of twelve.
The Rainbow, Its Symbolism, And Why It Didn’t Exist Before The Mabul The rainbow is shaped like an archer’s bow. The Nevi’im tell us that when Moshiach comes, the Keshet or bow will no longer be an instrument of battle and death, it will be used to help mankind sustain life by working the ground. “Similarly,” says Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz, “when Hashem is battling us, Chas V’Shalom, the bow would be facing downwards to the earth, to shoot arrows. His promise after the Mabul is that if He wants to battle us, he will flip the bow upside down. This shows that we are the ones fighting Hashem but in his mercy he will not punish us.”
“The rainbow,” says Rav Yehonoson Eibushitz, “is a natural phenomenon made up of dirty cloudy air, struck by the rays of the sun. These two element symbolize a human being’s two main excuses for failure to live up to his mission in life of keeping Torah and mitzvos. First, is that we are made of earth which dirties and clouds our pure and clean neshama. Our second excuse is that we were born with bad mazal. Our inborn traits prevent us from doing Hashem’s will. Mazal is represented by the sun. Therefore, when Hashem is angry, He looks at the rainbow and consoles himself over human failings and does not vent His wrath upon us.”
Before the Mabul the air was always crisp and clear. A rainbow was not possible. Only after the Mabul, when the atmosphere became less pure. was a natural rainbow possible.
The Animals Did Not Deserve To Die “Vayimach Es Kol HaYikum MeiAl Pnei HaAdama MeiAdam Ad Beheima.” (Parshas Noach, 7:23) In the Mabul everything was wiped out starting with the people, and only after that, the animals according to the Gemara (Brachos 61a). Why did the animals dies?
The Vilna Gaon says that it wasn’t because of their sins. Although even the animals behaved in a corrupt way, they were not guilty since it was the influence of man. “If the animals really deserved to die,” says the Gra, “they should have died first, since when it comes to punishment, we start with the least important one first.”
The reason why the animals died was that the animals were only created to complete the world for mankind, who is the purpose of creation. The Mabul was meant to punish man for his aveiros. However, once there was no mankind left, the animal lost their purpose, and therefore, they died as well.
Mount Everest Vs. Har Ararat, Which Is The Tallest? “Chamaish Esrey Amah Milmalah Govru HaMayim Vayichusu HeHarim;The waters of the Mabul were 15 Amos taller than the tallest mountain.” The pasuk continues by telling us that when the waters went down 15 Amos, the Tayvah landed on Har Ararat. This seems to be telling us that Har Ararat was the tallest mountain. Can this be? We know that Mt. Everest in the Himalayas and Mt McKinley in Alaska are both taller than Ararat. How does the Torah say that Ararat was the tallest?
The Netziv answers that in those days Har Ararat was actually the tallest mountain. It was only due to the change of the earth’s surface after the Mabul that caused certain mountains to shrink and others to become taller. That is how these other mountains attained greater heights than Ararat.
Why Noach Did Not Die As A Kapara For The Generation Parshas Bireishis ends with the Torah telling us that Noach found favor in Hashem’s eyes. Parshas Noach begins by telling us the children of Noach. The Chasam Sofer explains the connection as follows.

The Gemara in Shabbos (33b) tells us that a Tzaddik is taken from us as a kapara for the generation. The tzadik is the Korban that helps us avert disaster. The Chasam Sofer says that this, however, is not the case if the tzadik is destined to have worthy children. In that case, the tzadik must live and cannot save the generation.
In Parshas Bireishis the Torah told us how the generation was very evil, and Noach was a Tzadik. In Parshas Noach, Hashem pays them for their bad ways with a Mabul. Why wouldn’t Noach’s petira be the perfect solution to save the world? To answer this question the Torah tells us, “Eileh Toldos Noach,” Noach had three children whom he needed to guide on the good path and wasn’t a viable option for a korban.

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