דור המבול

דור המבול

And The Re-Creation Of the World

There was something terrible about the people in the generation of the flood. That is why Hashem decided that there was no other choice but to start all over. 

Hashem created everyone Betzelem Elokim with the assumption that everyone should know basic wrongs (like killing people=wrong) and basic rights. However, He was sorely mistaken (cue: Cian incident). After clarifying that people aren't allowed to go around killing people and such, one would assume people would understand morals. (And after the whole Adam and Chava incident, you'd think people would understand religious commandments). This is not the case. In Noah's generation, people's behavior has gotten out of control, downright disgusting. The world was filled with violence and everyone had bad thoughts. They were all truly corrupt people.They didn't respect the hierarchy and treated animals like they were humans, even though Hashem definitely made it clear that an animal could never be Adam's ezer kenegdo (cue: Chava). They lacked the understanding that they were created B'tzelem elokim and animals weren't. Additionally, they were acting like animals and being very violent and beastly. 

(This should remind you of the people of Sedom. Also, their sins were a lot like Cian's; these were moral sins.) This is totally against Hashem's plan for the world, which is why...

Hashem creates a flood that wipes out the entire world except for  Noah and his family and the animals he takes. By sending out the flood, it is basically the equivalent of getting a clean slate. Hahsem is starting over, creating a new world. 

This time, when He creates the world, he is much more specific. Not only did Hashem tell the people to multiply and that they were created btzelem elokim (see: first few perakim) but this time he specifies some other things. Hashem flat out says that people have to respect each other and prohibits murder. This time, if somebody killed, they would know that it had been forbidden. God's not taking any chances with implications this time. Everything is going to be made perfectly clear. They are commandments that seem natural but now Hashem realizes that they need to be put out there. Commandments like no adultery,  and the need for court systems.  This time, maybe, people will get it. There are no expectations, there are rules. Now humans are allowed to eat animals, maybe this will help them recognize the hierarchy. However, humans aren't permitted to eat blood. This shows us that although eating animals establishes the hierarchy and shows that humans are above animals, humans aren't allowed to behave in beastly manners and eat blood.  This is all still a universal system, by the way. All humans need to keep these rules. With this new blueprint, you would assume that the world can now run smoothly. This universal system looks great!

All of this is formalized by the Brit. Hashem promised never to destroy the world. The brit is symbolized by a rainbow. The rainbow is an אות and a remembrance that Hashem destroyed the world once, but He will not do it again. The Brit is a contract and binding. This Brit is between Noah and Hashem, but also includes all of mankind and animals. Human's end of the brit is to follow the 7 mitzvoth b'nai Noach. Seems like a good deal!

What do you guys think of this whole situation? Do you think it's okay for Hashem to just go and destroy the world?