Possibility of good intentions

Let us pick up the story where we left it – Noah and his family survived the flood, while looking after the animals. Once the ordeal was over and the Almighty said it was time to get off the ark, they all obeyed.

Now on the dry land, Noah and his family have received the affirmation of safety and security as well as a blessing to build up their families. At this point, it is very interesting to note that we know the names of all the male characters of the story – Noah and his three sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth. We do not really know the order in which they were born or much about their lives prior to the flood itself.

Furthermore, we know that the sons were married prior to the flood, because the description of them coming into the ark clearly says that sons and their wives came into the ark, as well as disembarking, described as couples coming into the drying land. This describes the order of things, showing the importance of each family unit. No wonder the Almighty commands them to be fruitful and multiply – this is another reassurance of stability and therefore safety for the children.

As we know, each and every word in the story is important, and all the critical information is recorded for us in the story itself. Our sages were able to derive a lot of lessons based on it. From that point of view, we see that the order of birth of Noah’s sons, as well as the names of Noah’s daughters-in-law were not mentioned.

This sounds strange. As we are reading and studying the Biblical stories, we see many women in them. Plus, we can clearly see how history is impacted by women. So, questions of the role of Noah’s daughters-in-law are puzzling to me. They sound obedient enough to go to the ark once the rain starts falling. Even more likely, they helped to look after animals during the flood itself, and obviously, they were strong enough to hold their husbands’ interest, as we read that once the flood is finished, everyone disembarks as a part of the couple.

Yet we are noticing something else. It is more than just names that are missing. None of them had any children prior to the flood. Why is the question that we can speculate about? Was it a choice? After all, we are reading about knowledge and, in some cases, a practice of making this kind of choice. It is unclear, but we know that once on the dry land, Noah and his sons received the blessing to be fruitful and multiply.

All we know for sure is that Ham had a son named Canaan. Why is the mention of the name Canaan important to us? Because all the stories of the Bible are interconnected and we will see the name coming up time and time again. It is very important to know the origin of certain families, names, and their roles.

And here we are – Noah is planting a vineyard and getting drunk. Why a vineyard? It is not obvious at first glance. Not grapes, wine. This is more than just sweet fruit or even fruit that is left over in the sun to dry and be preserved; this is the process that requires one to forgo the instant pleasure and gratification of eating grapes, allowing it to go into the “funny” stage of bubbling and becoming something else. The clue might come from the suggestion of our sages that the original sin was connected to wine.

This often gets a lot of questions, but let us be clear about something – we know that the Tree of Knowledge had a fruit. The nature of the fruit itself is unknown. Was it a single fruit or were there more than one? What was its size? What about the colour or taste? No description except the way it appeared to look pleasant to Eve. Our sages had reasons to believe in the possibility that the fruit to be a grape or even wine. If this is the case, then it is not too hard to imagine that Noah knew about it (after all, he is just the 10th generation from Adam and Eve). As such, it is possible that Noah had a good intention to rectify the misuse of the fruit. If the first couple misused the gift after the creation, Noah and his wife can
become a better example, right?

Noah had to work to get things started; he became the master of the soil. He had to plant and grow grapes as well as make wine. Now he can try to do his best. Did he do it? Let’s continue to learn the story of Noah together.