Noach: The Flood Curriculum

Education is not merely a means for earning a living or an instrument for the acquisition of wealth. It is an initiation into life of spirit, a training of the human soul in the pursuit of truth and the practice of virtue. — Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit

The biblical account of Noah’s Flood is mirrored in the literature of a number of ancient civilizations. While there is much that is unique about the Torah’s telling of the flood, one of the aspects which stands out in particular, is that the Torah relates the flood as a punishment for man’s misdeeds. The earth, its human and animal denizens had become so corrupt that God had no other option but to literally wipe them all off the map and restart almost from scratch, using Noah, his family and all the animals that he saved on his ark as the starting material for rebuilding the world.

The Meshech Chochma wonders as to why Noah and the ark passengers needed to be on the ark for a year. The job of wiping the slate clean was accomplished after the first days of the deluge. In theory, the flood survivors could have gotten off the ark the next day and started the arduous and vital work of repopulating the earth without waiting a year.

The Meshech Chochma answers that the year-long confinement to the ark wasn’t because of what needed to happen to the planet outside the ark, but rather was needed by all those inside the ark. They needed a year-long curriculum to rectify themselves.

All of creation, not just humans, but even animals, had become so vile, so distorted and corrupt that God had no choice but to start over. Now even though those who made it onto the ark were the best of the best, they were still heavily influenced by their environment. They too had a measure of corruption and vileness. They needed their own cleansing, their own deprogramming, their own re-education.

That was the purpose of the twelve months on the ark. It was to educate the flood’s survivors as to how to behave. It was to curb their sexual appetite; calm their gluttony and cravings. The animals needed to be fed by the hands of humans and learn to respect humans again and not attack wildly. After twelve months of such instruction and practice, after both humans and animals had learned to control themselves, then they were allowed out to the clean air of a new world, ready to lead more correct, virtuous lives, with a second chance to start over again.

May our educational efforts lead us and those we impact to more moral and honorable lives.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To our children on the beginning of their new educational paths.