There is nothing intellectually
tastier than realizing that a series of small and inconsequential details that
have stared you in the face for nine years, largely unnoticed, are actually a framework
for a deep idea. Let me explain.
To learn Torah we use two major rules: things should make sense and
conservation of information- the less that can be said the better. Therefore,
any detail that seems superfluous or unnecessary should raise a wisdom flag- there
may be a life changing idea here. Here
we have what appears to be unnecessary and uninteresting information; the Torah
starts to give precise numbers for the dimensions of the ark, 300 by 50 by 30
amos. The ark was divided to three levels,
so each level was 150,000 cubic amos.[1] Later, it says that the
water-level reached 15 amos over the mountains [2], but who cares how high
over the peaks it was? And it also says that the water strengthened over the
land for 150 days. These three disparate aspects all seem to be
connected to the number 15. Further, this number appears in several places
throughout Jewish literature- fifteen morning blessings as well as fifteen
steps to the Courtyard of the temple, and also fifteen Songs of Ascent. What does
the number 15 teach us about life and about the flood?
Numerically, it represents the
first two letters of G-d’s name, the yud and hey. Why is this important? This is
the divine aspect that dwells with a couple in marriage as a man is an איש and a
woman is an אשה- the man brings the י and the woman brings the ה creating
a union not only among themselves but also elevating their relationship with
G-d in the process.[3]
The flood happened because there was rampant sexual immorality- there was a loss
of this holy union between man and woman- we lost the י and the ה, the fifteen.
Consequences for behavior in the Torah are not to inflict pain but to inflict
learning about what needs to be changed and so peppered in the flood is a hint
to what needs fixing.
[1] Genesis
6:15 insight from the כלי יקר
[2]
Genesis 7:20
[3] Marriage
makes us into givers, and consequently, more similar to G-d- the more similar
to G-d the closer we are to him.
