Shabbat Shalom,
Parashat נח was always one of my favorite stories from the Bible. Therefore I was very happy to find out that this will be the parasha for my bar mitzvah.
When I was little, my parents used to read to me out of a children’s book called "מבול, נחש ושתי תיבות" or in English: "A flood, a snake and two arks" by a great Israeli writer מאיר שליו. As you may guess, those were bible stories for children, starting with the tale about Adam, Eve and the snake, and ending with משה בתיבה, Moshe in the basket. The story that I liked most was the one about the great flood and the ark. Sailing in a huge ark with your family and a private Zoo over the wild waters into the unknown always has fascinated me and stimulated my imagination. True, it was a bit rainy, but still, what a cruise!!!
In preparation for my bar mitzvah I read the parasha with a completely different view than what I was able to think about when I was little or even when I studied it in the elementary school in Israel. The story has a lot of very interesting and very different aspects in it. Today I chose to concentrate on the special names in the parasha and their meaning.
If you know Hebrew, the meaning of many names in the תנ"ך can be easily understood. For example: יהואחז means held by God, or יהושפט is judged by God. In our parasha we find simple and very short names: נח, שם, חם, יפת. Three of them have two letters in Hebrew, and יפת has three – very short. So I started to wonder about their meaning and what they tell us about the people bearing them. And while thinking, I drifted to think about my own name – רועי.
In Midrash Tanchuma Vayakhel we find the following
שלושה שמות נקראו לו לאדם:
אחד - מה שקוראים לו אביו ואמו,
ואחד - מה שקוראין לו בני אדם,
ואחד - מה שקונה הוא לעצמו.
By this midrash you have three names: the name your parents bestowed on you, the name by which others call you, and the name you earn yourself through your conduct.
When I was born my parents named me רועי. Here, in the US, my friends call me Rowee – but this is because they don’t know how to pronounce properly some of our Hebrew language sounds. רועי is used in the Mikra many times to designate a leader, minister or even a King of Israel.
The well known verse from the Book of תהילים, Psalms, reads:
ה' רועי לא אחסר
The first part of this verse means God is my shepherd. In Hebrew, רועי means my shepherd. From the second part of the verse we learn that if you follow God and His ways – your needs will be met. Being called a shepherd of a flock often implies leadership over others. But this is only one meaning or interpretation. I think that it is also appropriate to connect this quality with yourself: to lead and control your behavior, your deeds, your beliefs and your wishes. And this is how I prefer to connect the name רועי to me.
Now back to today’s parasha. What can we learn about נח from his name? What does it tell us about the person and his role in the story?
Looking in the dictionary, נח is translated as comfortable, convenient, kind, pleasant, pleasing, easygoing. So which one is it? Or is there another translation that better describes our נח?
Often we understand a word better by examining its opposite, like hot and cold, or strong and weak. In Hebrew, the opposite of נח is לא נח, like in English the opposite of comfortable is uncomfortable. Hmmm, at least for me no much help with antonyms in this case.
Lets then try another approach. In Hebrew the word נח is related to the word נחמה. In the previous parasha בראשית we read that Lamech named his son נח
וַיִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ נֹחַ לֵאמֹר זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ מִמַּעֲשֵׂנוּ וּמֵעִצְּבוֹן יָדֵינוּ
This verse relates the name נח to נחמה. We see a similar and even stronger relation between comfortable and comfort in English.
The way I see it, נח, comfort, is a condition where I have my own, restful, and peaceful place in the world. When I am comfortable, I am happy to stay, rest, enjoy myself. When I feel לא נח, uncomfortable, I have this urge to move, to change posture, to do something about my discomfort.
It is said that נח מִתְהַלֵּךְ את האלהים, which means that he strolls with God in a passive meaning of the word. נח is like his ark, that is heading nowhere in specific, just wandering over the wild waters that take him from one place to another, resting completely on God’s will and guidance. נח is making no special individual effort. He just follows God’s instructions, does not oppose God, and takes no initiative or a personal stand of his own.
It is interesting to compareנח with אברהם אבינו.אברהם also wonders around, מִתְהַלֵּךְ with God. However he is not passive as נח, but he exerts himself, faces challenges and tests.
When אברהם is informed about the destruction of סדום, he talks to God, trying desperately to change the verdict. When נח is informed about the destruction of the entire human race, he presents no opposition. He accepts the verdict and turns to building the ark. It is so much easier נח, comfortable for him. He may be a great ship builder. He probably has impressive organizational skills too – he did manage to gather all the animals in one place and sailed with them for 40 days. But a leader? I don’t know. He is definitely not משה.
It is also very interesting to look at the names of Noach’s sons and learn what those names tell about Noach. However, this is a topic for yet another drasha.
Our parasha circles around four central players with four short and simple names: נח, שם, חם, ויפת. Although short and simple, it is amazing how much we can learn from them!
שלושה שמות נקראו לו לאדם:
אחד - מה שקוראים לו אביו ואמו,
ואחד - מה שקוראין לו בני אדם,
ואחד - מה שקונה הוא לעצמו.
While preparing for this Drasha I examined the names in the parasha and also drifted to think about my name. I talked to my parents about their choice. I thought about the way my friends call me. But mostly I thought about what my name means to me.
Can you think about the meaning of your name and what does it tell you about yourself? Which of those meanings do you choose as
השם שקונה הוא לעצמו
What is the name you earn for yourself through your conduct?
שבת שלום