That’s so Punny! (A Dvar Torah for Parshat Noach)

We are all familiar with the overall story of Parshat Noach; good, bad, boat, animals, rain, dead, dumb bird, good bird, good bird with olive branch, unload, sacrifices, rainbow, vineyard, people, people, tower, people, Abraham. But how familiar are you with the biblical poetry that makes up the haftorah?

There is a very special type of nerd scholar who is interested in the haftorah, and since you’re still reading, I’m guessing you’re one of us.

As you probably know, after the Torah reading service there is a short reading from the prophets section of the bible, we call the Haftorah, which is kind of the dessert of the Torah service. Sometimes these selections are from the narrative parts of the Tanach, but more frequently than not, they are from the sections of the Navi that are poetry. And as much as people love poetry in English, they love it even more in biblical Hebrew. And it doesn’t help that besides the translation being hard, the textual allusions are hard because we don’t live in the same culture as the prophets. That’s why the prophets talk about fig trees and plowshares and we’re supposed to understand even though what might make more sense to us are promises of manicured lawns and ample parking.

One of the fun bits of exploration is to notice why we have attached certain haftorah readings to certain Parshiyot. Sometimes, there is an obvious linguistic connection – a turn of phrase or allusion that echoes in both the Torah and prophet selections. Sometimes, it’s more of a thematic connection. This week, the first connection is pretty obvious.

For this to Me is like the waters of Noah:
As I swore that the waters of Noah
Nevermore would flood the earth,
So I swear that I will not
Be angry with you or rebuke you.

For the mountains may move
And the hills be shaken,
But my loyalty shall never move from you,
Nor My covenant of friendship be shaken
—said GOD, who takes you back in love.

Isaiah is telling the Jewish nation that even though things looked bleak, and they did, it was a very dark time, nonetheless, the wave of despair had crested and good times were ahead. A beautiful image and beautiful promise.

There is another linguistic note that connects the parsha to the haftorah, and actually, I think it’s a pun. I think the prophet was being punny.  The very next verse reads,

עֲנִיָּ֥ה סֹעֲרָ֖ה לֹ֣א נֻחָ֑מָה הִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י מַרְבִּ֤יץ בַּפּוּךְ֙ אֲבָנַ֔יִךְ וִֽיסַדְתִּ֖יךְ בַּסַּפִּירִֽים׃

Tortured, storm-tossed one, uncomforted!
I will lay gems as your building stones
And make your foundations of sapphires.

The description of Israel is עֲנִיָּ֥ה סֹעֲרָ֖ה. סֹעֲרָ֖ה means, storm-tossed and עֲנִיָּ֥ה either comes from the word עני which means poor, or עונה which means tortured or troubled. But I think it’s a pun because עֲנִיָּ֥ה with an ע is basically a homonym for אֳנִיָּ֔ה with an א – that means boat (as in Jonah 1:4 when his אניה is in a סער גדול.) So even though in writing Isaiah is saying that Israel is a tortured, storm-tossed and unfortunate soul, what the listener would have heard is that immediately after promising that like the water of Noach won’t return, Israel is described as a storm-tossed boat. And by the way, Israel is being described as an עֲנִיָּ֥ה סֹעֲרָ֖ה לֹ֣א נֻחָ֑מָה and לֹ֣א נֻחָ֑מָה  means “uncomforted” or “un-consoled”, but right there in the beginning of נֻחָ֑מָה is נח, so it kind of also means “un-Noachafied.”  (And I probably don’t have to tell you that in Bereishit 5:29 we’re told that נח’s name is specifically because “he will bring comfort to us.”) There is a double-entendre. Israel is a storm-tossed ship without a Noach.  It’s a pun. Isaiah is being punny.

In that context, it occurs to me there might be one more thing going on. The prophet continues with the stanza –

Ho, all who are thirsty,
Come for water,
Even if you have no money;
Come, buy food and eat:
Buy food without money,
Wine and milk without cost.

The Sages tell us that water can be a symbol for Torah. The sages say (Taanis 7a) that just like water always flows down, so too Torah stays with those who hold themselves low and humble. And certainly, both water and Torah revive, vivify, and refresh. That said, we know that water in this week’s parsha is anything but life-giving.

All of this underscores an idea I think we sometimes lose in the study of Tanach – Isaiah is a real person. He was tasked with bringing Hashem’s word to His people, and to do that, he was empowered to use whatever rhetorical tools he had available. Flowery poetry, scriptural allusions, and although we don’t usually think of it this way, humor and puns. Is it so hard to imagine that our hero was sent to bring words of encouragement to Israel, and it was a cold rainy day, right in the middle of a cold rainy month, and the roads had all turned to mud, the roofs were leaking, gloom was hanging over everyone’s head wondering if people had survived the Assyrians just to drown in their own homes? Everyone was talking about Noach, floods, and the destructive power of water. So, Isaiah steps up with a message of hope, filled with Noach overtones. I know we can’t really know if that’s what happened, but how cool would that be?

And speaking of biblical characters being real, I have no doubt that many people will be writing about the exciting news that maybe Noah’s Ark has been found on the top of, wait for it, Mt. Ararat in Turkey. And you can find that story here, or here, or here or wherever. And while that’s all fine and good, our faith in the Torah’s narrative is independent of whatever does or doesn’t show up there. Still, if we find a 300-cubit-long boat made out of gopher wood at the top of Mt. Ararat, it’s going to feel like the ark was real, and so Noach must also have been real.

But I don’t need archaeologists to find a signet ring with the name Isaiah ben Amotz on it to remind me that he was real. I just need to imagine him standing in the rain, delivering a message of hope to a frightened people, and making them smile.

Because apparently, Isaiah was punny.