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ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם

Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. (9:20)

The Midrash comments: Vayichal Noach, “He (Noach) was nischalleil, profaned. Why? Vayita kerem, ‘He planted a vine.’” He should have planted something else. Chazal are teaching us that, from the get-go, planting the vineyard was a disgraceful, baneful act. The fact that Noach later drank from the fruits of the vine and became inebriated is merely the consequence of his earlier chillul, profanation. Elsewhere, Chazal state; Vayichal Noach ish ha’adamah, “Since he (Noach) required the earth, he became profaned.”  Originally, he was referred to as Noach ish tzaddik, “the righteous man.” Now that he planted a vineyard, he was transformed…

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ואני הנני מביא את המבול מים על הארץ לשחת כל בשר

And as for Me – Behold, I am about to bring the Flood-waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh. (6:17)

The Flood was the greatest destruction of all time in the sense that it destroyed almost the entire world. It came as a Heavenly punishment to a generation of human beings that had gone totally awry. Evil was rampant; immorality was a way of life; idol worship was their mode of religious belief. Hashem gave them 120 years to repent, while Noach, his righteous emissary, labored strenuously building an Ark to save those who would repent. Then He gave them a seven-day reprieve to observe the seven-day shivah, mourning period, for Mesushelach. Perhaps the passing of this righteous person would…

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וזה אשר תעשה אתה שלש מאות אמה ארך התבה חמשים אמה רחבה ושלשים אמה קומתה

This is how you shall make it: The length of the Ark shall be 300 Amos, its width 50 Amos, and its height 30 Amos. (6:15)

We should not overlook the fact that the Torah records the details of the Ark’s measurements, nor should we fail to notice the Torah’s repeated mention of the fact that Noach follows every detail. Noach’s compliance with every instruction is noted with the words, kein asah, “so he did.” Horav S. R. Hirsch, zl, derives an important lesson from Hashem’s entire act of saving Noach with a select group of representatives of the world’s creatures. Hashem chose one man who was to save himself, his family and the animal world for the future, but that this man would be able…

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כי מלאה הארץ חמס מפניהם

For the earth is filled with robbery through them. (6:13)

The Midrash teaches that the members of that generation were no ordinary thieves. They made sure to steal less than a shavah perutah, value of a penny, which, according to Jewish law, is not accorded judgment in bais din. Therefore, they were punished by Heaven as a bnei Noach, who are treated differently by law. A ben Noach has seven Noachidic commandments. One of them is the prohibition against stealing. A ben Noach, however, is punished even for stealing less than the value of a perutah. A Jew must steal a perutah in order to be punished. Why is this?…

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כי השחית כל בשר את דרכו על הארץ

For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. (6:12)

The people must have been extremely evil if Hashem saw no resolution to their sins other than destroying them all – literally putting an end to the world as it existed. How bad actually were they? We know they were immoral; bloodshed meant nothing to them; and we can throw in idol-worship for good measure. Did this warrant an end to society? Was there no one other than Noach that acted in a redeemable manner? The Torah writes, Ki hishchis kol basar, “Everyone – everything had become corrupt.”  How bad was their level of corruption? Targum Yonasan ben Uziel gives…

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