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One time Eliezer the servant of Abraham met with Noach’s son Shem.
Eliezer asked Shem: “What did your family do all day on the ark?”
Shem responded that since some animals were up all day and other animals were up all night, his family was therefore required to feed animals all day and all night.
Noach knew how feed all the animals except the chameleon. Noach tried mightily but couldn’t figure out what the chameleon liked to eat. Then one time Noach was peeling a pomegranate and a worm fell out of the fruit. The chameleon jumped and devoured the worm. So then Noach understood that the chameleon liked worms.
All the animals came to Noach with their picky requests and Noach accommodated them. There was, however, one exception. Noach noticed that there was a bird called the avarshina bird that stayed in the corner and didn’t ask for any type of food. Noach asked the avarshina: “What do you like to eat?” The avarshina responed: “I saw that you were so busy feeding all the animals and I decided not to bother you.” Noach was so moved by the avarshina’s sensitivity that he blessed the bird with eternal life. The avarshina is the only creature that never dies.
The lion had a different relationship with Noach. It’s hard to feed a lion on an ark. So the lion would get a long fever and only eat every twelve days. Still every twelfth day the lion would need to be fed. One time Noach was late feeding the lion and the lion attacked Noach and wounded him.
Noach was in such pain that the entire time he was on the ark he was groaning and spiting out blood.
When it came time to see if he could leave the ark Noach first sent out the raven to see if there was any dry land? The raven got very upset at Noach? The raven said I have only one other bird like me in the whole world. Since you brought onto the ark seven male and seven female kosher birds, why didn’t you choose to send out a kosher bird?
Then Noach sent out a dove. The dove flew back near the ark with an olive branch in its mouth. The dove said, “I would rather eat this bitter olive branch then have to be fed by you.” (Based upon Sanhedrin, 108-109a and Rashi 7:23.)
“Cush also begot Nimrod, who was the first man of might on earth. He was a mighty hunter by the grace of the LORD; hence the saying, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter by the grace of the LORD” (10:8-9) Nimrod was a mighty hunter who thought he was more powerful than Hashem. He gathered everyone together and told them: “It is not fair that Hashem chooses to live in the glorious heavens while we are stuck on earth below. Let’s build a tower and overtake Hashem.” He said, “We can be more powerful than the heavens! On top of the tower we will build a statue with a sword and we will strike the heavens with axes.”
Abraham urged people not to listen to Nimrod but they did not listen to him. They shot arrows into the sky which fell back to earth dripping with blood. This encouraged them to believe that they could defeat the heavans. They set out at once to build a giant tower.
Hashem punished the people building the tower by causing them to speak different languages and scattered them all over the earth. Nimrod was very upset with Abraham for disagreeing with him. He commanded Abraham to worship fire. Abraham said: “Why not water which is stronger than fire?” Nimrod said: “Worship water!” Abraham said: “Why not the clouds which carry the water?” Nimrod said: “Then worship the clouds!” Abraham said: “Why not the wind which moves the clouds?” Nimrod said: “Worship the wind!” Abraham said: “Why not man who can withstand a wind?” Nimrod said: “You are tricking me with words. I will throw you into a fiery furnace and we shall see what happens to you.” He took Abraham and threw him into a fire. Hashem made a miracle and Abraham survived the fire. (Based upon chullin, 89a; and Bereishit Rabbah: 38.)
The headlines are terrifying. Rising sea levels and once in forever storms threaten destruction to life and property. Mass extinctions will occur to a degree never before seen. Questions if major metropolises will ever be habitable again. Global leaders warn the world about what is to come. Forward-thinking individuals encourage humanity to change their ways before it's too late. People ignore the warnings, and the worst case scenarios increasingly become inevitable.
Also, Noach and the flood.
Yoni Friedman
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