The cosmic secret of how Noah was able to survive the Flood (and save the planet's life), and what the Torah is teaching that is applicable to our own situation

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What is our task when many are dying far away and we cannot prevent it?

One answer, implied in the Torah, is: (besides political support, prayer and consciousness-raising etc) take care of the needy in your vicinity, feed the hungry.

This was the cosmic secret of how Noah was able to survive the Flood (and save the planet's life)

There is a deeper meaning to what the Torah tells us about Noah and why he was saved from the flood. The Torah states that it was because he was so righteous, but what does that mean?

What did he do or nor do that made him so righteous, and why did that make him exempt from the Flood's destruction?

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Tradition supplies the answer: God knew he would work around the clock in the ark to feed the animals and clean up after they did their needs, ie this is what God considered true righteousness!

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[More explanation: The source is a Midrash. The Torah refers to Noah before the story of the Flood, he is introduced as a 'tzadik' (righteous), however the midrash explains that the Torah refers to him as tzadik at that earlier point due to his later feeding of the animals during the flood (see specific sources further below).]

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Planet Ark: Feed the world to save it (and yourself)

Noah was exactly what was required, not just rightoueus but righteous in a certain way. He worked for many years to build the ark that would save the planet's life, and in the ark he was busy constantly feeding the animals, so his was very much not a passive righteousness, or just relying on past good deeds or engaging in 'spiritual activities'.

Only this type of practical selfless dedication on an ongoing basis was deserving of sufficient merit for all in the ark to be transitioned to the new world awaiting them after the flood.

And it was only because God knew that Noah would be this type of 'tzadik' that he could be deserving of being saved, and thus saving humanity from complete obliteration, and in this way too the animal life could be preserved (they too had partaken in the degeneration which led to the Flood).

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Three ideas related to the above:

1) Righteousness = tending to the physical needs of others: Examples:

a. Adam and Eve were the pinnacle of creation but then were tasked with "working and caring for" the garden they were placed it. b. Abraham the incredibly righteous man, who instead of engaging only in holy spiritual meditation spent most of his time running out to find guests to feed.

c. So too Noah - the most righteous on the planet at his time - was tasked with 100 years of building the ark, and then the arduous task of feeding the animals and cleaning up after them.

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2. During a time of destruction special merit is required feven for those not meant to be harmed. See further below for more Torah examples of this notion.

Relatedly: To save the world at the time of the flood it was not enough that there be a righteous person like Noah. Rather, in order that all those in the ark merit surviving the terrible destruction there was a need for an ongoing rightousness, eg feeding the animals daily

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3. The relation between spirituality, ego & feeding others: A special message encoded in the stories of the Torah is the relation between these three elements: The way to greatest spiritual growth is via lowering ego in order to work for the simple physical needs of others, eg feeding them, even those who might be considered as much 'beneath' one's status, and this is a central message of all these stories, of Adam, of Noah, and of Abraham - and in the case of Noah, it saved the life of the planet.

How Noah's actions inspired Abraham: A Midrash teaches that when Abraham met Malkitzedek (who Traditionally is Shem, son of Noah), he asked by what merit they were able to survive the flood, and Shem responded that they did tzedaka...but Abraham asked what tzedakah was necessary in the ark, there were no poor peple there? So Malkitzedek replied: To feed all the animals; they worked day and night to feed them. When Abraham heard this, he decided that he would dedicate his life to feeding the hungry(in this case, humans).

May all humanity be inspired by Noah (and Abraham) to act as they did, and be blessed with the wisdom to save our Ark, and the strength to enable any self-sacrifice and ego-reduction which the required actions call for.

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True rightousness (an example via a bit of self-deprecation)

Imagine God appeared to me and said "Avi, I plan to destroy the whole world in a flood because it is wicked - except for you, you are such an amazing tzadik (rightous person). And I'll save a few of each animal species in an ark.

And being very rightous I would answer: "Ok, cool".

And then my great righteousness would cause my face to glow, and I would add: "Oh...and God, let me add this before You go: when we are in the ark and the flood begins, I'll make sure to pray to You an hour a day for the souls of the dying people and animals outside, and for an hour a day I'll do deep spiritual meditation to get closer to You, and an hour of teaching deep intellectual/spiritual messages about You to my family and to the animals too. And then I'll rest for a while, and enjoy the cruise".

But then God says: No Avi, I want you to spend many years building this huge ark, you're going to work hard to chop down the trees, and cut them to size, and actually construct the ark.

So Avi says: But God, I'm so righteous, surely that's not a job for me, that sounds like the job description for a lumberjack! And 'years'!? You've gotta be kidding.

So God says, "Oh, and another thing: during the flood you're going to be the caretaker of the animals, feeding them every day, and cleaning up after the disgusting mess they make afterwards."

And I am so insulted by this demeaning task - imagine a holy person like me being a zookeeper and animal-sewage plumber - that I just walk away.

And that's why God gave the job to Noah.

He was the right kind of righteous. 

A related topic, somewhat 'topical'(ie related to current events):

Does a time of death signify that everyone who died is somehow to blame? And the others who are not targeted, if they have to hide does this mean they are also to blame?

​There is an entire book of the Tanach directed partly to answer this quesiton, the book of Job. His friends assure him that he cannot be such a tzadik if these tragedies occurred to him, but God assures us that THEY WERE WRONG! He NEVER had sinned. So one important message of the book is that we CANNOT assume that the victim of a tragedy somehow deserves it - indeed as in the case of Job, the tragedy happened specifically to the most absolutely BLAMELESS person.

Also: Abraham accepted on himself the ten 'tests', and each was harder than the previous one. From the outside one could say "see Abraham, what a wicked man, look what God did to him: he was made to wander to a foreign land, and then endure a fmaine, and then his wife made him exile one of his sons, and God told him to sacrifice another son, his nephew was captured, his wife was barren, she was kidnapped...." etc. But of course the reverse is the truth.

On the other hand, the Torah teaches that if a person is at work on a ladder and accidentally falls and kills someone, they have to run away to a 'city of shelter', even though they are not to blame. Somehow, if God arranged that the vicitim would die as a result of this worker falling on them, then it is meant as a sign to the worker that they need to do some improving - not that they are to blame for the death, it was decreed in Heaven, but they can take their own involvement as a sign that it would be appropriate to take some step.

So in a time of death and destruction, even when we are not at all directly involved (as the worker in the example was) we can nevertheless decide to take upon ourselves willingly - not because we are to blame - some elevating action, for example being extra considerate of others, etc, and perhaps being more careful in a particular observance.

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Conclusion: May we be blessed that in times of destruction we will ​find the moral determination and strength of will to overcome our ego​, so that via appropriate selfless action to benefit others​ we can dispel some of the darkness, and by our actions (rather than preaching) inspire others to the same.

May we all merit!

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How Noah's actions inspired Abraham: A Midrash teaches that when Abraham met Malkitzedek (who Traditionally is Shem, son of Noah), he asked by what merit they were able to survive the flood, and Shem responded that they did tzedaka...but Abraham asked what tzedakah was necessary in the ark, there were no poor peple there? So Malkitzedek replied: To feed all the animals; they worked day and night to feed them. When Abraham heard this, he decided that he would dedicate his life to feeding the hungry(in this case, humans).

May all humanity be inspired by Noah (and Abraham) and be blessed with the wisdom to save our Ark, and the strength to enable any self-sacrifice and ego-reduction it calls for.

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The Cosmic Secret of how to survive general destruction

(This was referred to briefly above)

EXAMPLES:

1. S'dom and 'Amora: LOT'S WIFE: When they were being destroyed, it was urgent that the actual destruction not be witnessed by those meant to survive, but Lot's wife turned to see and was smitten.

Also: The very few good people of Sodom and 'Amora died along with the wicked.

The cosmic secret to survival being taught here in these stories is that it isn't enough to be a righteous person when the angel of death, the destroyer, is loose - even if the righteous are not directly on the target list, perhaps because they didn't actively fight against the evil there, which Lot did, by offering a counter-example to the actions of the wicked, taking action at the risk of capital punishment - Lot was engaged in helping strangers with shelter and food even though it was so very dangerous to do so, and thus he was able to escape the destruction - but his wife unfortunately didn't sufficiently hermetically seal herself in the sense that she turned to witness the actual destruction. And though Lot offered hospitality to strangers always, it was necessary that this happen during the time of destruction, to provide merit in real time, where the very angels arranging the destruction were those being being hosted and protected by Lot. [en 19:13 for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.'.....15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying: 'Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here; lest thou be swept away in the iniquity of the city.']

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2. During the plague of the firstborn in Egypt: the Children Of Israel were of course not meant to be targeted, but they were nevertheless constrained to stay inside their homes, otherwise they could fall prey to the destruction at that time even if it was not actually directed at them. And in addition, to acquire merit during the actual time of the destruction, they were commanded to participate in a unique ritual - the "pascal lamb" with its unusual strictures and practice.

Source: According to tradition, God let the angel of death loose to kill the Egyptians [https://forum.otzar.org/viewtopic.php?t=4538], and when the angel of death is loose then even if you are not on the official list of targets it is best to keep a low profile.

And, I would add: it is necessary to engage in a "life-deserving" action.

Source: Mechilta re the Jewish People needing to stay indoors during the plague: the destructive force "the mashkhit" = the destroyer, was let loose: : ואתם לא תצאו - מגיד משנתנה רשות למשחית לחבל אינו מבחין בין צדיק לרשע, שנאמר, לך עמי בא בחדריך וסגור דלתך בעדך וגו'... (בא פרשה יא)).

Alsheikh: חצות הלילה - הקדמנו לעיל בנח, כי במשפט הנעשה על ידי משחית לא יבחין בין צדיק לרשע, ב' אפילו בפקידה הנעשית על ידו ימצאו כחות חיצוניים שמשחיתים,

http://www.aspaklaria.info/.../%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%97%D7%99...Exodus 12:

כב וּלְקַחְתֶּם אֲגֻדַּת אֵזוֹב, וּטְבַלְתֶּם בַּדָּם אֲשֶׁר-בַּסַּף, וְהִגַּעְתֶּם אֶל-הַמַּשְׁקוֹף וְאֶל-שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת, מִן-הַדָּם אֲשֶׁר בַּסָּף; וְאַתֶּם, לֹא תֵצְאוּ אִישׁ מִפֶּתַח-בֵּיתוֹ--עַד-בֹּקֶר.22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.כג וְעָבַר יְהוָה, לִנְגֹּף אֶת-מִצְרַיִם, וְרָאָה אֶת-הַדָּם עַל-הַמַּשְׁקוֹף, וְעַל שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת; וּפָסַח יְהוָה, עַל-הַפֶּתַח, וְלֹא יִתֵּן הַמַּשְׁחִית, לָבֹא אֶל-בָּתֵּיכֶם לִנְגֹּף.23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

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3. When the Egyptians were drowning in the sea: We see a similar message in this context: Tradition tells us that the angels sang praise to God but God quieted them, saying "my handiwork (humans, who I created) are drowning in the sea and you are singing praises?!

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4. Similarly at the time of the Flood: while the entire human population, and all the animals, are drowning, gasping for breath, dying, it is necessary for those who were spared to have an appropriate mindset, and to engage in "life-deserving" activity.

This I think is the secret behind the strange notion of Noah's task.

God could have placed all the animals in the Ark directly, miraculously, or created them after the flood etc, but instead enacts a wondrous open miracle, all across the world animals of various unique types indigenous to that location start marching on their own towards the ark, 2 x 2 and 7 x 7. Surely an incredible sight.

And God brings more water than can be possible naturally to cover the planet, also a clearly miraculous action.

But the open miracles seem to be missing in some respects - God asks Noah to actually physically construct the ark - to chop the wood and to build this huge vessel. Why not make a miracle that the ark will appear magically or they will survive without one or etc?

And then God has Noah (and family) feed the animals and clean up after them. Why not miraculously have them survive without food and water, etc?

The flood was decreed because all life had engaged in what the Torah refers to as "hishkhit et darko" from the root "lehashchit", to destroy or corrupt, and that's why God says "הִנְנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ" I will 'mashkhit the Earth".

The Zohar states that in order to survive when all were dying, it was necessary that Noah's family 'hide', to remain in the specially-crafted ark the entire time - for a similar reason to the time of the firstborn plague, that the "angel of death" was loose and the entire Jewish People had to 'hide' indoors, and that's why Noah was commanded to be inside the ark the whole time.

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[Note: Perhaps this is why there was a window only near the top (he used them to let out the raven and then the dove at the end) or skylight in the roof for light/air, ie it seems there were no windows on the sides at human-head-level for spectating, to avoid what later happened to Lot's wife.]

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Also, it was vital for Noah and his family to continue every day to merit escaping the destruction outside, and even for the animals to so merit to be spared along with him, it was vital that he engage constantly, daily, in truly holy activity - where truly-holy means ego-lowering physical activity which physically benefits others: animals (Noah), vegetation (Adam/Eve) and humans(Abraham).

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MORE ADVANCED MATERIAL

Some relevant sources:

תָּא חֲזֵי, אוּף קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא אָמַר לֵיהּ לְנֹחַ קֵץ כָּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי. מָאן אִיהוּ. דָּא קֵץ דְּאַחְשַׁךְ אַפַּיְיהוּ דִּבְרִיָּיתָא דְּאִיהוּ קֵץ כָּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי. מִכָּאן אוֹלִיפְנָא חַיָּיבֵי עָלְמָא מַקְדִּימִין לֵיהּ וּמָשְׁכָן לֵיהּ עֲלַיְיהוּ לְאַחְשָׁכָא לוֹן. דְּכֵיוָן דְּיָהֲבֵי לֵיהּ רְשׁוּתָא נָטִיל נִשְׁמָתָא. וְלָא נָטִיל עַד דְּיָהֲבֵי לֵיהּ רְשׁוּתָא. וְעַל דָּא בָּא לְפָנַי לְמֵיטַל רְשׁוּ לְאַחְשָׁכָא אַפַּיְיהוּ דִּבְנֵי עָלְמָא. וּבְגִינֵי כָךְ וְהִנְּנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ. וְעַל דָּא עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי גוֹפֶר בְּגִין לְאִשְׁתְּזָבָא וְלָא יָכִיל לְשַׁלְטָאָה עֲלָךְ.

English: https://www.scribd.com/.../98372886/Zohar-Toldoth-Noah-63b

Hebrew translation: http://www.toratemetfreeware.com/online/f_01776_part_2.html, https://www.scribd.com/.../98372886/Zohar-Toldoth-Noah-63b : http://www.toratemetfreeware.com/online/f_01776_part_2.html

תָּא חֲזֵי, תָּנִינָן בְּזִמְנָא דְמוֹתָא אִית בְּמָתָא אוֹ בְּעָלְמָא (נ''א דאתייהיב רשו למלאך המות לחבלא). לָא יִתְחֲזֵי בַּר נָשׁ בְּשׁוּקָא. בְּגִין דְּאִית לֵיהּ רְשׁוּ לִמְחַבְּלָא לְחַבָּלָא כֹּלָּא. בְּגִינֵי כָךְ אָמַר לֵיהּ קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא בָּעֵי לָךְ לְאִסְתַּמְרָא וְלָא תֶחזֵי גַרְמָךְ קַמֵּי דִמְחַבְּלָא דְּלָא יִשְׁלוֹט עֲלָךְ.

see also url "aspeklaria" above.

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More development of the above thoughts:

Introduction:

On the one hand, we believe God is all powerful and sees all and knows all and acts according to an individual's merit or bad deeds plus mercy, but on the other hand it seems almost like there are not-directly-God actions via the heavenly equivalent of algorithms, machines (even the analogy of the 'scale' weghing sins against merits seems a little too automatic and not the action of a God who intimately knows each person, their thoughts and actions all throughout the year) and beaureaucrats in charge eg God tells the Jewish People re the Exodus "ani velo mal'ach" = "I (will take you out) not an angel" so sometimes it IS via mal'ach;

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On the one hand we believe everyone should get the good or bad they deserve, with added mercy, but on the other hand there seems to be ways to escape justice or to be hit with what seems a punishment that wasn't deserved, eg when as we noted in the preious post, the mal'ach ha'mavet (angel of death) is unleashed and seems to be able to wreak havoc even on those not on the intended list, and there are various other examples.

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However actually there are other aspects which need to be considered:

i) what a person deserves but was deferred in case they improve (or because of mercy), or not judging someone now based on it being known that later they will be less-good (see eg re Yishamel 'ba'asher hu sham') etc;

ii) also: the power of groups vs individuals - see below.

iii) other larger consideration eg God did not want to destroy humanity completely via the flood so someone - or at least one couple who had or could have children - had to be saved, and so whether or not they would individually have deserved it , they could be spared.

But then we see that Noah and family were tasked with a way of deserving it - or at least humbling themselves not to self-aggrandize as "oh I am more righteous than all others who are dying"etc.

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iv) re the Jewish People who left Egypt, we are told a few times in the Torah that God says "it is not that you are so righteous that you inherit the Land, but it is because I loved your forefathers" or "because of the sins of the present inhabitants who will be spit out". So sometimes the dynamics is such as to give an 'undeserved' pass.

Examples of ii):

a. There are 70 root nations which have their individual nation-destiny etc, and can inherit a land or be ejected from it, as a nation, with the concomitant "seeming-punishment" to various individuals in that nation, whether deserved or not as individual;

b. A city like sdom can deserve complete destruction , an extreme punishment of a group, if as a city they are wicked, in this case eg they had evil city-customs and also acted together to enforce it as they did against Lot, surrounding his house. In that case the city as a whole was judged for destruction, and then if there were a few individuals who did not deserve it (the fewer than ten rightous people in Abraham's bargaining with God attempt to save them) and they got caught up in the genral destruction. Except Lot and family - either we count him and his family as a fewer-than-ten who God nevertheless saved, or more likely because Lot acted proactively against the city - as clearl indicate din the story - and thus was not judged as part of it.

However, unfortunately his wife - against the orders of the extraction team of angels - turned to see, and thus was switched into the judgement, not being counted for safety as Lot's wife but as an individual, and unfortunately one who did not have sufifcient merit to both see the destruction and escape it nevertheless (especially since it is inevitable that there was a decrease in merit by violating the warning not to look, and perhas by what she felt in reaction to what she saw.).

c. And the reverse can also be a way to be spared, to attach yourself to good people, and a good group/city.

d. An interesting situation is the power of a complete population vs a group within it, as per a story of a hasidic master: On YomKippur eve right before services he went to he bars and rounded up the drunken ews and theives etc and paid them to come to snagogue. When they arived, they laughed and drank and made fun all throughout the service. Afterwards the Rebbe's disciples insisted on learnign the reason for their rebbes seeming-naive and disastrous act. So he explained: the people assembed in the synagogue may or may not have desreved God's mercy that year, and they would be judged individually, and also as members of that prayer-group in the synagogue, for better or worse. However if the entire Jewish community without exception was present in a synagogue, a diffferent system of justice was exercized by the heavenly courts, one that is more leneint! and everyone thereby benefitted.

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e. Noah and his family acted as a unit to create the ark and to feed and clean the animals, the lowest-level work, and this basic chessed (loving kindness) of helping those 'lower on the scale' with their physical needs is what enabled the humans in the ark to evade the general destruction of the civilization as a whole (and even of the animals). And by acting in a way opposite to the problem which led to the flood ('khamas'), by dedicated action to help others building the ark publicly to warn people, and then the feeding and cleaning (God's attribute of ("poteach et yadecha umasbeah lechol chai ratzon" "you open your hand, and give all life what they need")), in this way they were able to not be counted in the general population which was being destroyed as they were in the ark

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f) And extra benefit can accrue due to being part of the descendants of a loved person with very great merit who worked with self-sacrifice to produce that descendant-group and give it a right path, as God tells the Jewish people he acts to them due to his love for their forefathers..

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g) The action of one person can affect a group: Zimri catalyzed the situation which brought plague to the group, and the aciton of Pinchas in opposition which brought about the cessation of the plague to the group.

May we all merit on our own, but also know to attach ourselves to rightous groups (maybe FB groups count! , and to know how to lower our ego to provide needed physical sustenance to all who need it, and thereby catalyze God's presence to shine forth and to enable escaping even deserved wrath.

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Some more sources:

Only Noah is called "tzadik" in the Torah. Tradiionally, also Joseph is called tzadik, but this is not in the Written Torah itself, however in Amos 2 the passage "for they sold a tzadik for money" refers to Joseph. Why was he a tzadik? There are several reasons given by Tradition, one is that during the time of famine he made sure his brothers had food, he "fed them". And so too with Noah, the midrash (Pesikta 27?) says he was considerd a tzadik because of his later actions in feeding the animals.

Midrash Tanchuma teaches that he was a tzadik for feeding God's creations:

צַדִּיק, עַל שֶׁזָּן בְּרִיּוֹתָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא נִקְרָא צַדִּיק. שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם נִקְרְאוּ צַדִּיקִים עַל שֶׁזָּנוּ אֶת הַבְּרִיוֹת, נֹחַ וְיוֹסֵף. שֶׁכָּךְ כְּתִיב בּוֹ, עַל מִכְרָם בַּכֶּסֶף צַדִּיק (עמוס ב, ו). וּכְתִיב בּוֹ, וַיְכַלְכֵּל יוֹסֵף (בראשית מז, יב).

מדרש תנחומא

, נח ה׳ https://www.sefaria.org.il/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Noach.5.2...

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https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14127&st=&pgnum=182

Midrash thilim psalms 37.2 https://www.sefaria.org.il/Midrash_Tehillim.37.2?lang=he

שאלמלא הקנאה שקינא אברהם להקב"ה לא היה קונה שמים וארץ. ואימתי קינא. כשאמר למלכי צדק כיצד יצאתם מן התיבה. אמר לו בצדקה שהיינו עושים. אמר לו וכי מה צדקה היה לכם לעשות וכי עניים היו שם והלא לא היה אלא נח ובניו ועל מי הייתם עושים צדקה. אמר לו על החיה והבהמה והעוף. לא היינו ישנים כל הלילה אלא היינו נותנין לפני זה ולפני זה. פעם אחת איחרנו את עצמנו ויצא אבי משובר. אותה שעה אמר אברהם מה אלו אלולא שעשו צדקה עם בהמה חיה ועוף לא היו יוצאין משם ובשביל שאיחר עצמו כמעט קיבל שכרו ונשבר. אני אם אעשה עם בני אדם שהם בדמות וצלם של המלאכים על אחת כמה וכמה שאנצל מן הפגעים. מיד (בראשית כא לג) ויטע אש"ל. אכילה שתיה לויה.

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R Arbit's book:

ו˙ור˙ך ˘ע˘עי

וכפי

שעשה בנו יצחק שחפר בארות מים לזכות את באי העולם לשתיה, יעקב אבינו

שנטע ארזים למען כלל ישראל שיוכלו לבנות את בית הבחירה, יוסף הצדיק שכלכל

את העולם, משה רבנו כאמור שדאג לכלל ישראל ושאר האבות הקדושים ואכמ"ל.

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approximate sources: פסיקתא רבתי    https://www.sefaria.org.il/Pesikta_Rabbati.17.1?lang=he&with=Midrash&lang2=he

 פסיקתא זוטרתא     מדרש לקח טוב  נח   https://he.wikipedia.org › wiki › מדר...מדרש לקח טוב, המכונה גם פסיקתא זוטרתא, הוא ביאור על חמשת חומשי תורה ועל חמש מגילות על פי מדרשי התלמוד: מכילתא, ספרא, ספרי ויתר המדרשים הקדומים

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DUP DELETE

The Cosmic Secret of how to survive general destruction

(This was referred to briefly above)

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EXAMPLES:

S'dom and 'Amora: LOT'S WIFE: When they were being destroyed, it was urgent that the actual destruction not be witnessed by those meant to survive, but Lot's wife turned to see and was smitten.

Also: The very few good people of Sodom and 'Amora died along with the wicked.

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The cosmic secret to survival being taught here in these stories is that it isn't enough to be a righteous person when the angel of death, the destroyer, is loose - even if the righteous are not directly on the target list, perhaps because they didn't actively fight against the evil there, which Lot did, by offering a counter-example to the actions of the wicked, taking action at the risk of capital punishment - Lot was engaged in helping strangers with shelter and food even though it was so very dangerous to do so, and thus he was able to escape the destruction - but his wife unfortunately didn't sufficiently hermetically seal herself in the sense that she turned to witness the actual destruction. And though Lot offered hospitality to strangers always, it was necessary that this happen during the time of destruction, to provide merit in real time, where the very angels arranging the destruction were those being being hosted and protected by Lot. [en 19:13 for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.'.....15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying: 'Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here; lest thou be swept away in the iniquity of the city.']

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During the plague of the firstborn in Egypt: the Children Of Israel were of course not meant to be targeted, but they were nevertheless constrained to stay inside their homes, otherwise they could fall prey to the destruction at that time even if it was not actually directed at them. And in addition, to acquire merit during the actual time of the destruction, they were commanded to participate in a unique ritual - the "pascal lamb" with its unusual strictures and practice.

Source: According to tradition, God let the angel of death loose to kill the Egyptians [https://forum.otzar.org/viewtopic.php?t=4538], and when the angel of death is loose then even if you are not on the official list of targets it is best to keep a low profile.

And, I would add: it is necessary to engage in a "life-deserving" action.

Source: Mechilta re the Jewish People needing to stay indoors during the plague: the destructive force "the mashkhit" = the destroyer, was let loose: : ואתם לא תצאו - מגיד משנתנה רשות למשחית לחבל אינו מבחין בין צדיק לרשע, שנאמר, לך עמי בא בחדריך וסגור דלתך בעדך וגו'... (בא פרשה יא)).

Alsheikh: חצות הלילה - הקדמנו לעיל בנח, כי במשפט הנעשה על ידי משחית לא יבחין בין צדיק לרשע, ב' אפילו בפקידה הנעשית על ידו ימצאו כחות חיצוניים שמשחיתים,

http://www.aspaklaria.info/.../%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%97%D7%99...Exodus 12:

כב וּלְקַחְתֶּם אֲגֻדַּת אֵזוֹב, וּטְבַלְתֶּם בַּדָּם אֲשֶׁר-בַּסַּף, וְהִגַּעְתֶּם אֶל-הַמַּשְׁקוֹף וְאֶל-שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת, מִן-הַדָּם אֲשֶׁר בַּסָּף; וְאַתֶּם, לֹא תֵצְאוּ אִישׁ מִפֶּתַח-בֵּיתוֹ--עַד-בֹּקֶר.22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.כג וְעָבַר יְהוָה, לִנְגֹּף אֶת-מִצְרַיִם, וְרָאָה אֶת-הַדָּם עַל-הַמַּשְׁקוֹף, וְעַל שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת; וּפָסַח יְהוָה, עַל-הַפֶּתַח, וְלֹא יִתֵּן הַמַּשְׁחִית, לָבֹא אֶל-בָּתֵּיכֶם לִנְגֹּף.23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

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When the Egyptians were drowning in the sea: We see a similar message in this context: Tradition tells us that the angels sang praise to God but God quieted them, saying "my handiwork (humans, who I created) are drowning in the sea and you are singing praises?!

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Similarly at the time of the Flood: while the entire human population, and all the animals, are drowning, gasping for breath, dying, it is necessary for those who were spared to have an appropriate mindset, and to engage in "life-deserving" activity.

This I think is the secret behind the strange notion of Noah's task.

God could have placed all the animals in the Ark directly, miraculously, or created them after the flood etc, but instead enacts a wondrous open miracle, all across the world animals of various unique types indigenous to that location start marching on their own towards the ark, 2 x 2 and 7 x 7. Surely an incredible sight.

And God brings more water than can be possible naturally to cover the planet, also a clearly miraculous action.

But the open miracles seem to be missing in some respects - God asks Noah to actually physically construct the ark - to chop the wood and to build this huge vessel. Why not make a miracle that the ark will appear magically or they will survive without one or etc?

And then God has Noah (and family) feed the animals and clean up after them. Why not miraculously have them survive without food and water, etc?

The flood was decreed because all life had engaged in what the Torah refers to as "hishkhit et darko" from the root "lehashchit", to destroy or corrupt, and that's why God says "הִנְנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ" I will 'mashkhit the Earth".

The Zohar states that in order to survive when all were dying, it was necessary that Noah's family 'hide', to remain in the specially-crafted ark the entire time - for a similar reason to the time of the firstborn plague, that the "angel of death" was loose and the entire Jewish People had to 'hide' indoors, and that's why Noah was commanded to be inside the ark the whole time.

.[Perhaps this is why there was a window only near the top (he used them to let out the raven and then the dove at the end) or skylight in the roof for light/air, ie it seems there were no windows on the sides at human-head-level for spectating, to avoid what later happened to Lot's wife.]

Also, it was vital for him and his family to continue every day to merit escaping the destruction outside, and even for the animals to so merit to be spared along with him, it was vital that he engage constantly, daily, in truly holy activity - where truly-holy means ego-lowering physical activity which physically benefits others: animals (Noah), vegetation (Adam/Eve) and humans(Abraham).

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