Hurricanes can bring a storm surge that floods our homes. Cold fronts can create tornadoes that rip through the landscape. Melting snow can cause rivers to flood hundreds of miles away. Natural disasters are a common occurrence all over the globe and in light of the Biblical destruction found in this week’s Torah Portion of Noach, it is hard to keep thoughts of these things at bay. Even with the best of preparations, there is no guarantee that our possessions will survive an event unscathed and our bodies left unharmed. Though these events are blips on the screen of global weather patterns, it can feel to us like our entire world gets shattered. It can feel as if we are on the verge of being drowned off the face of the earth. Noah, a righteous man in his generation, survived a tough weather event, and showed us that after we make it through the trauma, we have the ability to resurge. The Torah shows us this both in the closing and the opening of the ark.

We read in Genesis how Noah successfully loaded an appropriate amount of supplies, strapped the animals in their places, and had a vessel big enough to survive the onslaught of water. Just after he completed his task, a perplexing phrase appears in the text regarding how the ark is finally secured. We read the following: “And those who came, male and female of all flesh they came, as God had commanded him, and then Adonai shut him in/vayisgor Adonai b’ado.[i] What does it mean, “God shut him in?” Can it be that this short sentence could contain great significance?

The answer to these questions can be found by looking at the verb and preposition in the sentence. First, the verb we read, vayisgor, contains the root ר ג ס (samech, gimel, resh). It is used throughout the TaNaKh in situations where doors are closed, usually by persons.[ii] [iii] [iv] Rashi pays attention to the verb when it is used in conjunction b’ado. He said b’ado can be explained as, “God shut the ark, b’ado, in front of him.” In other words, Noah waited so long, and the pressure from the rising waters was so great, that he needed physical assistance from God. Imagine trying to shut a door while millions of gallons of water rush at you. What a tough task for one human being?

However, while Rashi understands this only as God assisting, the use of b’ado found in the book of Job affirms a deeper, more metaphorical sense of God’s sheltering presence.[v] The Israeli author Nechama Leibowitz noted that Noah needed an extra level of support.[vi] Overwhelmed by being singled out for survival, Noah needed God to close the door for him in order to save the population on the ark. This point, that God is responsible for protecting life on earth, is hammered home by taking a look at parallel flood narratives from Mesopotamia. There are many similarities between all the flood stories, but in the non-Biblical versions the people shut the door themselves! The inclusion of the preposition b’ado in the Biblical text highlights that the salvation of all the creatures on the ark, including Noah, is due entirely to God.

This element of dependence can seem frightening, for no matter how hard one prepares, there are many unknown factors that may impinge upon our lives. While this may seem scary, further on in the text we are given a bright light to shine in this darkness. In the literary structure of the story, the closing of the ark is mirrored by its opening. “And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made.”[vii] It is not God, but Noah – a human – who opened the window and began the process of going home, the process of rebuilding what was destroyed, the process of replenishing that which was lost. The world rose from near destruction to become a greater version than its previous self. This happens through the effort of the human race. We may not control when the storm surge will hit, nor what our surroundings will look like afterwards, but we do have the ability to choose how we emerge from our protective shelter. We can make the choice to open the window and take on the task of making a better, bolder, and more beautiful tomorrow.

[i] Genesis 7:16

[ii] In Genesis 19:6 Lot (Abraham’s nephew) closes the door of his home behind him when he comes out to meet the crowd that has appeared to investigate who his guests are.

[iii] In Judges 3:23 Ehud (an Israelite Judge) shuts porch doors to conceal his murder of a Moabite king.

[iv] In 2 Kings 4:4 Elisha (A prophet and disciple of Elijah) advised a woman on how to keep her children out of slavery which included closing doors behind her.

[v] Job 1:10

[vi] Nechama Leibowitz, New Studies in Bereshit (Genesis) (Israel: Maor Wallach Press, 1996), p.63.

[vii] Genesis 8:6