Questions on Sefer Bereishis
Q. When God sees the evil of humanity, God is grieved in his heart (Genesis 6:6) and destroys humanity in a flood, but then changes his mind. God takes a new approach by promising that he will never destroy humanity again. What is this new approach and why does God change his mind?
A. Thanks for your question. First, let's address the question of God "regretting" something or "changing His mind." God is unchanging, so He doesn't literally regret or change His mind. When the Torah ascribes emotion to God, it's basically anthropomorphizing Him so that people can understand things in human terms. For example, if you or I are angry, we'll snap at everyone, whether they deserve it or not. God, however, can simultaneously be "angry" with one person and "pleased" with another. What this means is that He treats one person as a human would when angry, and He treats another person as a human would when pleased. So He never really "changed His mind," His actions are just those that a human would perform when changing His mind.
That having been said, the Sforno explains that people from the time of Adam until the time of Noah were on a high level and it was reasonable to expect a certain degree of spiritual perfection from them. They fell far short of the mark and were punished for it. After the flood, however, people were on a lower level and it was no longer realistic to expect the same degree of spiritual perfection. Accordingly, God would not punish mankind en masse for their failure to meet this standard. This is the intention of Gen. 8:21: "Hashem resolved, 'Never again will I curse the earth because of man, since the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth.'"
------------------------------------
Q. In Parashas Noach, it says that the world was destroyed because of thievery. How come no one stole Noach's ark? And after it started to rain, did no one do any teshuva/did anyone else try to come onto the ark? Was no one else able to build a smaller boat to just save themselves?
A. Thanks for your questions. The Midrash describes how people pilfered small amounts that were not legally actionable, so someone could be robbed blind a penny at a time but there was no one from whom he could recover it. Putting that aside, there are any number of reasons that no one stole the ark. These could include: no one happened to want it (it was, after all, a boat nowhere near water); it was guarded; it enjoyed Divine protection; it was impossible to steal (try stealing an aircraft carrier sitting on land).
When it started to rain, that was probably not too noteworthy. After all, it's just rain! It probably took a while for people to realize that it was a flood. So I doubt they did teshuvah when it started to rain. Maybe they did later, but by that time it was too late – the die had already been cast.
People may have tried to board the ark, but they weren't able to do so.
By the time the flood was underway, it was too late to start building boats, but even if people already had boats, it wouldn't have done them any good. God would simply have capsized them.
---------------------------------------
Q. Why does Sarah suffer in Pharaoh's palace and Abram is rewarded?
A. You don't think Abraham suffered? I assure you, if your spouse is abducted, you suffer! And you don't think Sarah was rewarded? Again, when he benefits, she benefits. They're a team and they share their ups and downs.
Rabbi Jack's book Ask Rabbi Jack is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.