Parashat Noah 5785

וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃

The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with hamas. Gen. 6:11

I cannot believe that a year has passed since I was invited to lead a Torah study session on this week’s Torah portion – Noah. Just two weeks after the jarring and heinous attack by Hamas on Israel, I could not imagine what I could teach that would bring comfort and strength to the people seated around the Torah study table. And yet… as we explored the various meanings of hamas, and the role of the keshet – the rainbow, it seemed to lift us; well, maybe just a little.

And now, a year has passed and many of us still feel quite adrift in the sea of despair. Perhaps taking a look at interpretations of hamas and the rainbow, will afford us a bit of an anchor.

The Hebrew word hamas appears a number of times in the Bible, with its basic meaning centering on violence: through action – as in our portion (Gen. 6:11-13), injurious language or harsh treatment – as in Sarah’s perception of Hagar’s treatment of her when Hagar becomes pregnant (Gen. 16:5). It can be used to describe a city whose wealthy are filled with villainy, as they commit acts of injustice and extortion that are not subject to the jurisdiction of the law (Micah 6:12). In his final blessing of his sons, Jacob castigates his sons Simeon and Levi as “klei hamas – tools of lawlessness” (Gen. 49:5) for their vengeful murder spree of the men of Shechem, after their sister Dina was raped. Psalm 25 speaks of hatred characterized by injustice, or unlawfulness (see Rashi on Ps. 25:19).

Back to our portion. With regards to the hamas at the time of Noah, Ibn Ezra chillingly understood hamas as “theft, oppression, and taking women against their will.” (See Ibn Ezra on Gen. 6:11:3)

The Hizkuni understands hamas as “… the moral disintegration of humankind. It started at the top, because the b’nei ha’elohim – the high-ranking individuals*, mentioned in Genesis 2:6, had set an example of depravity; it did not take long for them to be copied by the people at large. Noah was the only one who ‘swam against the stream.’” (see Chizkuni on Gen. 6:11) [Hizkuni did not see the b’nei elohim as celestial beings, but as strong men who dominated society and wanted to be seen as gods. Hmmm…]

In his Blog for the Times of Israel, Jean Pierre Braun points out the teaching of Rabbi Elie Munk (1900–1981), a German-born French rabbi and rabbinic scholar, as he equates hamas with not only violence, but also the absence of moral values… and how it can be successful:

“חמס (Hamas) is the iniquity that leads society to its ruin. חמס is in and of itself a crime but not only. It is accompanied by cunning or malice which the justice of men has no means to prosecute, but which only the voice of our conscience can prevent. But this voice is stifled when society sinks into perversity and then nothing can stop the catastrophe.”

In the presence of silence, nothing can stop catastrophe. Even Noah, as righteous as he was for his time, said nothing… society had sunk into perversity.

In his Blog for The Times of Israel, David Walk shared a response of Rabbi Abraham Kook to the savagery of World War I:

“The Torah’s description on the negative human behavior that led to the MABUL (flood) is unflinching:

‘The earth became corrupt…and was filled with crime (CHAMAS)…all flesh had corrupted its way on earth…’the earth is filled with lawlessness (CHAMAS)’.

It is frighteningly current and accurate. The world continues to be flooded with corruption, crime and destruction. War is the major activity in terms of commitment and resources.”

David Walk continues with Rav Kook’s words of hope:

“The hearts and minds of so much of humankind are deeply troubled and locked in hatred and fear. The Torah’s call to transform all the evil into good is more critical now than ever. May we be blessed to become powerful agents of goodness, righteousness and repair for the sake of our generations and all humankind.”

Indeed, in the face of hamas – all forms of violence and lawlessness – we are called upon to be forces for change, forces for good in the world. And that can feel like an insurmountable task.

And yet… perhaps our Torah portion speaks to that.

After the flood, God then promises never again to destroy the world by flood and establishes the rainbow as a sign of that promise:

“… I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the b’rit olam – everlasting covenant – between God and all living creatures, all flesh that is on earth. That,” God said to Noah, “shall be the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on earth.” (Genesis 9:13-17)

A bow in the clouds – looking like an archer’s bow – a symbol of violence that is pointed away from the earth, has become a symbol of peace.

Noticing that the rainbow is half of a circle, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (a prominent American-born Orthodox rabbi in Israel) wrote:

“The rainbow is a half-picture, lacking a second half to complete the circle of wholeness. God can pledge not to destroy humanity, but since God created humanity with freedom of choice, God cannot guarantee that humanity will not destroy itself.”

[A rainbow is a half-picture? Yes. A full rainbow is actually a complete circle, but from the ground we see only part of it. From an airplane, in the right conditions, one can see an entire circular rainbow.]

Note that God’s promise is with humanity. God will take care of God’s part of the rainbow, but we – all of us – have to do our part, to be God’s partners in this very special b’rit – covenant. We all have to speak up to violence. We all have to speak up to lawlessness. We all have to stand up to senseless hatred.

Our Torah portion ends with the listing of genealogies, and in the midst of the listing, is the story of the Tower of Babel. “Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words…” (Gen. 11:1) and they seek to build a sky-high tower and to make a name for themselves. Suffice it to say, their building project is not seen in a favorable way by God, resulting in the confounding of their language and their being scattered around the world.

As this story gives us an explanation for the variety of languages around the world, it also points out how homophones can occur in the languages of peoples, especially those who live near each other. Hence, the word “hamas” – as we know all too well – is also an Arabic word. The Arabic word ḥamās means “zeal”, “strength”, or “bravery,” and is the acronym of the Arabic phrase Ḥarakah al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement”.

Violence or zeal? Injustice or bravery? Lawlessness or strength?

It’s time to focus on the words and meanings we do have in common, starting with shalom/salaam – peace, and work together from there.
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Enid Lader (AJR ’10) is the Rabbi Emerita at Beth Israel – The West Temple in Cleveland, Ohio. She serves on the AJR and ARC Board of Directors, and is the visiting rabbi for the Jewish residents of Kendal at Oberlin, a senior community. She and her husband, Harry, enjoy the blessings of grandchildren and retirement.