Posted on 11/20/2006 11:58:53 AM PST by Zionist Conspirator
It was the first Holocaust. Nothing before or after rivaled its devastation. Only one man and his immediate family survived.
For forty days and nights the rains fell and submerged the world. For 150 days the waters prevailed over the land before they began to recede. For 365 days Noah and his family survived aboard the ark, with the animals they had saved, before they emerged to walk again beneath the sunlight.
It was the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvon that the Great Flood came to an end and the survivors disembarked to set foot upon a desolate but newly purified planet.
Yet Noah felt neither relief nor elation on that extraordinary day. The awful weight of responsibility crushed his spirit, and feelings of futility haunted his mind. Despite the miracles he had witnessed and the personal salvation he had experienced, he could not put to rest his fear that mankind was destined to repeat its sins and again bring about its own destruction.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
For your interest.
AM 1656
No secret there.
There are traditional Jewish chronologies online that give the dates of many of the Biblical events.
Wasn't revealing any secrets. One of my many pursuits is Young Earth Chronology. And I am interested in the Anno Mundi dating of events. :-)
After the Flood, however, the Almighty altered nature itself, tilting the world on its axis to create the familiar patterns of climatic change. In this new world, Noah and his family exited the ark to discover the phenomena of changing temperatures, of rain and snow, of summer heat, of annual seasons for sowing and reaping.
Question 1: I'd never heard this angle before...that the meteorological laws of the earth changed at the flood. Does anyone have a source for this?
Question 2: I know ZC, you are committed to literalism of the Hebrew text, so I'm curious...do the rabbinic commentators comment upon the extent of the "eretz" covered by the flood? In other words, is there any support in Jewish traditional interpretation for a Flood that is *anthropologically* universal but not necessarily *geographically* so--i.e., it killed all men but those in the ark, but did not necessarily cover all the lands where no humans lived.
Then you might enjoy this.
And this.
I'm not familiar with the classical sources, though Rabbi Shlomo Rotenberg in Volume I of `Am `Olam (available now in English translation) says the laws of nature were altered both after the Flood and after the Haflagah (the division of tongues). And that's not even taking the "fall" into consideration!
Question 2: I know ZC, you are committed to literalism of the Hebrew text, so I'm curious...do the rabbinic commentators comment upon the extent of the "eretz" covered by the flood? In other words, is there any support in Jewish traditional interpretation for a Flood that is *anthropologically* universal but not necessarily *geographically* so--i.e., it killed all men but those in the ark, but did not necessarily cover all the lands where no humans lived.
I have never heard of a "local flood" being taught anywhere in Jewish tradition. The flood was geographically universal and covered the tops of the highest mountains. The waters came from both the heavens and the depths and was hot and boiling. However (and I can't give you the source here) 'Eretz Yisra'el was exempted from the Flood and its inhabitants killed by the heat alone. This was so that afterwards the bodies could be buried correctly in order to prevent the Holy Land from being defiled by the dead bodies. The Prophet Ezekiel, I believe, refers to this somewhere.
In addition to the eight people in the Ark `Og (one of the giants descended from the two fallen angels) survived the Flood by clinging to the outside. Noah provided him with food through an aperture and required him to take an oath to serve his descendants. This is how `Og (an antedeluvian giant) survived into the days of Moses.
***It was the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvon that the Great Flood came to an end and the survivors disembarked to set foot upon a desolate but newly purified planet. ***
Nothing like going on a good drunk to start anew!
Very interesting. I also enjoyed the links your provided. Thanks.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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