From the Sources

This week’s Parsha tells the famous story of Noach and the Ark. Hashem tells Noach to build the Ark. He does, for 120 years. He is told to take two of each animal, and seven pairs of each kosher animal, into the ark, to re-inhabit the world after the flood. Then the rains come. It rains for 40 days and 40 nights. The waters take a full year to recede. Noach and his family leave the ark and he plants a vineyard.

The parsha finishes in shvi’i with the story of Migdal Bavel, the Tower of Bavel. The generation of the dispersion (dor haflaga) tries to rebel against Hashem by building an enormous tower. Hashem punishes them by mixing up their languages and scattering them all over the world.

How to eat it

There are some very obvious food choices here. Any cake can be decorated to look like Noach’s Ark. Think chocolate bars “glued” on with icing to look like the gopher wood beams. Animal biscuits coming on two by two, with seven by seven for the kosher animals.

You can see in the photo our fabulous home-made Noah’s Ark cake. Note the three levels, (animals should only be on middle level, but they didn’t fit!)  Fish in the water.

It’s just a simple chocolate cake cut in three and glued together with store bought chocolate spread.  That represents the “tar” with which Noach covered the Ark from inside and out.The animals are a simple packet of animal biscuits.  On the top is a lollipop to represent the window/light source at the top of the Ark.  The sea is made of lemon jelly with some blue food colouring added to make it a blue-green sea colour.  Inside there are gummy fish to find.  Yum!  It looks very “home made” and that’s because it is!  All the kids helped.  We had fun.  It does not matter that it does not look perfect.  What does matter is that it helps us have a focus that can lead to discussing the Torah.

Other ideas you could use for the basic story include: something to represent the rainbow, like a very colourful salad, a rainbow cake, or, more simply, “fairy bread sprinkles” on challah.  Or you could do a whole lot of small square cakes on top of each other represent the tower.

From the Sources

אמר רב חנא בר ביזנא אמר ליה אליעזר לשם רבא כתיב למשפחותיהם יצאו מן התיבה אתון היכן הויתון א”ל צער גדול היה לנו בתיבה בריה שדרכה להאכילה ביום האכלנוה ביום שדרכה להאכילה בלילה האכלנוה בלילה האי זקיתא לא הוה ידע אבא מה אכלה יומא חד הוה יתיב וקא פאלי רמונא נפל תולעתא מינה אכלה מיכן ואילך הוה גביל לה חיזרא כי מתלע אכלה

Rav Ḥana bar Bizna says: Eliezer, servant of Abraham, said to Shem the Great, son of Noah: It is written: “After their kinds, they emerged from the ark,” indicating that the different types of animals were not intermingled while in the ark. Where were you and what did you do to care for them while they were in the ark? Shem said to him: We experienced great suffering in the ark caring for the animals. Where there was a creature that one typically feeds during the day, we fed it during the day, and where there was a creature that one typically feeds at night, we fed it at night. With regard to that Zikis, my father did not know what it eats. One day, my father was sitting and peeling a pomegranate. A worm fell from it and the Zikis ate it. From that point forward my father would knead bran with water, and when it became overrun with worms, the Zikis would eat it. (Gemara Sanhedrin 108B)

The Gemara in Sanhedrin 108B explains that it was Noach’s job whilst on the Ark to feed all of the animals. Some needed food in the day, and some at night. The whole year that Noach was in the Ark, he did not get one night where he could have a full sleep.

There was an animal called the Zikis and Noach did not know what to feed it. Then one day he cut open a pomegranate and a worm crawled out. The Zikis ate the worm. From then on, Noach was able to feed it worms.

How to eat it

Cut a pomegranate in half and serve with gummy worms. Remember the whole point is just to use the
food to get people to talk about the Parsha. It is a good opportunity to talk about the need to check fruits and vegetables for worms as we are not allowed to eat these creatures.

From the Sources

וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם׃

Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 

וַיֵּ֥שְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּ֖יִן וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר וַיִּתְגַּ֖ל בְּת֥וֹךְ אָהֳלֹֽה׃

He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. (Bereishit Chapter 9:20-21)

When Noach came out of the ark after a year of destruction, he saw a world that had been completely obliterated and he did not recognise at all. He was sad. He planted a vineyard, and it grew on the same day, and he harvested it, made wine, drank the wine, and became intoxicated.

There is a Midrash (Aggada 9:21 – referred in The Midrash Says: The Book of Bereishis p104, footnote 146) that states that Noach had help from the Satan and that is why the vine grew so fast. The Satan fertilised the vine first with the blood of a lamb, and then a lion, and then a monkey, and finally a pig. Because of this, excessive drinking, or any drinking done for unholy purposes, affects a person like these animals. One cup of wine makes a person quiet like a lamb, two cups makes the drinker arrogant and loud, like a lion. After three cups a person becomes silly and dance like a monkey. And after four cups the drinker gets sick, vomits, and rolls around on the ground, like a pig.

How to eat it

Perhaps this is a good week to make kiddush on grape juice rather than wine. (Remember that I am NOT an halachic authority and this is just a suggestion).

Serve vine leaves (see below). I found a recipe here. You can also buy these in a tin if you are feeling lazy.

From the Sources

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב אדם הראשון לא הותר לו בשר לאכילה דכתיב (בראשית א, כט) לכם יהיה לאכלה ולכל חית הארץ ולא חית הארץ לכם

Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: Meat was not permitted to Adam, the first man, for consumption, as it is written: “And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb that brings forth seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree that gives forth seed; for you it shall be for food, and for every animal of the earth, and for every fowl of the air, and for everything that creeps upon the earth, in which there is a living soul, every green herb for food. And it was so” (Genesis 1:29–30). It is derived God told Adam: Eating vegetation is permitted to people and animals, but eating the animals of the earth is not permitted to you. (Sanhedrin 59B)

In last’s week’s Parsha we learned that Adam was given permission to eat from all fruits, vegetables and grasses on the earth, except for the Eitz HaDa’at Tov v’Ra, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But people were NOT given permission to eat meat. Only after the flood was permission granted to mankind to eat meat.

כָּל־רֶ֙מֶשׂ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הוּא־חַ֔י לָכֶ֥ם יִהְיֶ֖ה לְאָכְלָ֑ה כְּיֶ֣רֶק עֵ֔שֶׂב נָתַ֥תִּי לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־כֹּֽל׃

Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these. (Bereishit 9:3)

There are several reasons given for why Noach was allowed to eat meat. Firstly, before the flood, man and animals were “equal” in that both of them had been created by Hashem. However, after the parsha, the status of animals was lowered as they had been continued in creation, (or “recreated”) by Noach. For this reason, people were given permission to use animals for food. It is stated that before the Mabul, people were much healthier. The air was purer. We can see that from the fact that they lived much longer before the flood than after the flood. Before the flood they did not need meat to be strong. After the flood they did. This is another reason given for why permission was granted to eat meat after the flood.

It is also stated that the moral standard that Hashem expected of people after the flood was lowered, as Hashem had seen the depravity of people. This was another reason given to eat meat. In fact, it was the evil king Nimrod who was the first to actually eat meat, and he persuaded other people to also do the same. These ideas are discussed in an ‘Ask the Rabbi’ on Aish HaTorah’s website, here.

How to eat it

Two ways, really. Either, make a point of being vegetarian last week, for Bereishit, and then eating meat. On the other hand, acknowledge that it was Nimrod who was the first to actually eat meat, acknowledge that he was a “bad guy”, and remain vegetarian for another week.

From the Sources

רַבִּי לֵוִי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר אֲפִלּוּ אִסְטְרוֹבִּלִּין שֶׁל רֵחַיִּים נִמְחֶה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בַּר סִימוֹן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר אֲפִלּוּ עֲפָרוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן נִמְחֶה. כַּד דָּרְשָׁה רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בְּצִפּוֹרִי בְּצִבּוּרָא וְלֹא קִבְּלוּ מִינֵיהּ. רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יְהוֹצָדָק אָמַר אֲפִלּוּ לוּז שֶׁל שִׁדְרָה, שֶׁמִּמֶּנוּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מֵצִיץ אֶת הָאָדָם לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא, נִמְחָה. אַדְרִיָּאנוֹס שְׁחִיק עֲצָמוֹת שָׁאַל אֶת רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָא אָמַר לוֹ מֵהֵיכָן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מֵצִיץ אֶת הָאָדָם לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא, אָמַר לוֹ מִלּוּז שֶׁל שִׁדְרָה, אָמַר לוֹ מִנַּיִן אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַיְתִיתֵיהּ לְיָדִי וַאֲנָא מוֹדַע לָךְ, טָחֲנוֹ בָּרֵחַיִם וְלֹא נִטְחַן, שְׂרָפוֹ בָּאֵשׁ וְלֹא נִשְׂרַף, נְתָנוֹ בְּמַיִם וְלֹא נִמְחֶה, נְתָנוֹ עַל הַסַּדָּן וְהִתְחִיל מַכֶּה עָלָיו בְּפַטִּישׁ, נֶחְלַק הַסַּדָּן וְנִבְקַע הַפַּטִּישׁ וְלֹא חָסַר כְּלוּם. (Bereishit Rabba 28:3)

R. Levi said in the Name of R. Yochanan: Even the nether stone of a millstone was dissolved. R. Yehudah b. R. Simon said: Even the dust of Adam was dissolved. R. Yehudah said this, but the congregation would not accept it. R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon b. Yehotzadak: even the luz of the spinal column, from which Hakadosh Baruch Hu, will cause man to blossom forth in the future, was dissolved.

Hadrian (may his bones rot) asked R. Yehoshua b. Chanania: ‘From what part will Hakadosh Baruch Hu causde man to blossom forth in the future?’ ‘From the luz of the spinal column,’ he replied. ‘How do you know that?’ he asked. ‘Bring me one and I will prove it to you,’ he replied. He threw in into the fire, yet it was not burnt; he put it in water, but it did not dissolve; he ground it between millstones, but it was not crushed; he placed it on an anvil and hit it with a hammer; the anvil broke and the hammer split, yet it remained intact. (Bereishit Rabba 28:3)

The Mabul was so destructive that every human being was pulverized into nothing. Even the luz bone did not survive. The luz bone is the bone at the base of the spine.  Other opinions say that it is at the top of the spine, ie the base of the skull.  My friend DD in the UK informs me that this is why people sometimes like to dab a little havdalah wine on their neck, – it is in order to strengthen the luz bone. It is the strongest bone in the human body. The midrash expains how it does not burn, and cannot be ground down. The luz bone is preserved after someone dies and in the future Hashem will use this bone to bring about Techiat HaMeitim, resurrection of the dead. The Generation of the Flood (dor HaMabul) were so wicked, however, that they will not be resurrected at techiat hameitim. There is only one meal that feeds the luz bone, it is the meal that is eaten after Shabbat goes out on Saturday Night, Malave Malka (Source: Mishna Berura 300:2)

We did a search on Sefaria.org and found this really cool source sheet about the luz bone: https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/50299

How to Eat it

This is a good week to make a big deal about Malave Malka in order to feed the luz bone. It is good really to do this every week. Set the table nicely, wash and eat bread. Eat a nice meal of something new that you did not eat at the three Shabbat Seudot.