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Torah Table Talk –  A New PaRDeS  The Meaning of the Rainbow: Conflict and Covenant

 Parshat Noah, Genesis, 6:9 – 11:32 

This week’s Torah Table Talk is sponsored by Rabbi Moshe Edelman

In honor of Rabbi Philip and Rebecca Weintraub on the occasion of his Installation

As rabbi of Agudas Israel in Newburg, New York

October 29-30, 2011/ Rosh Hodesh Heshvan 5772 

Ten generations after the creation of the world, things had gone terribly wrong. The world was corrupt

and full of violence. God regrets having created the world and its human caretakers and decides to start

over by flooding the earth and “putting an end to all flesh.” After setting aside Noah and his family aswell as a selection of all the creatures of the earth in a teivah/ark, God returns the earth to a state of pre-

creation. Now, with a single family, He can start over in creating the ideal world he had imagined. When

the waters recede, Noah leaves his ark and offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving. God makes a promisenever to destroy the earth with a flood again, (even if the earth deserves it) and offers a symbol of his

new covenant with the world. Though human beings are “evil from their youth,” God will not flood the

earth again. The keshet, rainbow, is a symbol of this new beginning and promise. But what is themeaning of this symbol. Professor Nahum Sarna writes, “This conception has no parallel in the biblical

literature; no other celestial body is similarly endowed.” What is it about the keshet  that makes it

different?

Genesis 9:12-17 God further said: "This is a sign that I set for the covenant between me and you, andevery living creature with you, for all ages to come. I have set My bow in the clouds and it shall serve asa sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bowappears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between Me and you and every living creatureamong all flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bowis in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all livingcreatures, all flesh that is on the earth," God said to Noah, "That shall be the sign of the covenant that I

have established between Me and all flesh that is on earth."Ezekiel 1:28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the clouds on the day of the rain, so was theappearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of theLord. And when I saw it I fell on my face and I heard the voice of the One speaking.

PaRDeS  1.  P’shat – Understanding the plain sense meaning of the text 

My bow: Apart from the present passage and Ezekiel 1:28, where the rainbow is emblematic of the

radiance of the Divine Presence, Hebrew keshet  invariably means "a bow." The weapon is frequently

featured in ancient Near Eastern mythology. In the Mesopotamian creation myth,  Enuma Elish, Marduk suspended in the sky and set as a constellation the victorious bow with which he had defeated Tiamat. In

Babylonian astronomy, a group of stars in the shape of a bow was mythologicaly identified with the

accoutrements of the war goddess. In Ugaritic myth dealing with the relationship of Aqhat and the  bellicose goddess Anat, a bow plays a prominent role. In the Bible itself, numerous poetic textsfiguratively refer to God's bow and arrows and probably echoes of some lost ancient Hebrew epic.

Against this background the rainbow, in our narrative, takes on added significance as a departure from

 Near Eastern notions. The symbol of divine bellicosity and hostility has been transformed into a token of reconciliation between God and man. (Nahum Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary) 

My Commentary: Professor Sarna points out that the same word (keshet ) is used both for the weapon (as

in bow and arrow) and for the rainbow. In mythology a series of stars in the sky are often seen as thegod’s bow in the heavens. The Bible uses this image as a symbol of disarmament. God places His bow

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down in the sky as a sign of His promise never to destroy the earth again. It’s not so much that human

kind has learned its lesson. The creator comes to a kind of impasse with His creations. He realizes thathuman beings have a mind of their own. The “devising of man’s mind are evil from his youth.” If 

human beings are to survive they must learn to live by some fundamental moral rules of life. It is

interesting to note the ways in which the mythological imagery is different from the biblical imagery.The examples which Sarna gives are all night-time images while the rainbow is a day-time image. There

is no attempt in the Bible to draw a connection between the divine weapon and the rainbow. The Bible,then, appears to draw on mythological images but it distances itself from them at the same time. Insteadof a symbol of war, the rainbow becomes a symbol of peace.

2. Remez – Allusions: Finding meanings hidden in the textI have set My bow (kashti) in the clouds (Genesis 9:13). That means, ‘My likeness’ (kishuti), somethingthat is comparable to Me. Is that really possible? In truth, the bow resembles God as straw resembles the

grain. (Bereishit Rabbah 35:3) 

Our Rabbis taught: Once Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai was riding on an ass when going on a journey,

and Rabbi Eleazar ben ‘Arak was driving the ass from behind. [R. Eleazar] said to him: Master, teachme a chapter of the ‘Work of the Chariot’…Now when these things were told Rabbi Joshua, he and

Rabbi Jose the priest  were going on a journey. They said: Let us also  expound the ‘Work of the

Chariot’; so Rabbi Joshua began an exposition. Now that day was the summer solstice; nevertheless, the

heavens became overcast with clouds and a kind of rainbow  appeared in the cloud, and the ministeringangels assembled and came to listen like people who assemble and come to watch the entertainments  of 

a bridegroom and bride. Thereupon, Rabbi Jose the priest went and related what happened before

Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai; and [the latter] said: Happy are ye, and happy is she that bore you; happyare my eyes that have seen thus. (Talmud, Hagigah 14b) 

My Commentary: There is only one other reference to the rainbow in the Bible; it happens to appear in the

opening chapter of Ezekiel which contains his famous ‘mystical’ vision. In discussing Ma’asei

Merkavah, the Works of the Chariot,’ then, early mystics saw great significance in this divine

apparition. Ma’asei Merkavah refers to the study of the prophetic revelations in the Books of Ezekiel

and Isaiah. Some of the sages believed that through deep meditation and contemplation, one could

ascend through the levels of heaven and ultimately bear witness to the divine throne. The earliestMerkavah mystics are found in the Talmudic period; this brand of mysticism continued to develop

through the Middle Ages. In Bereshit Rabbah the bow is said to be like God, much as Ezekiel’s strange

visions are said to be God-like (and not God, Himself). The sages explored the mysteries of the divinechariot through exposition and study – often while traveling from place to place. In the Talmud we find

a story in which the angels actually gathered to listen to the sages discuss the divine mysteries. Why is

the summer solstice so significant? Remember that it does not rain in the land of Israel in the summer months, so the appearance of a cloudy day and a rainbow in the summer was considered to be

miraculous!

3.  Din – Law: Applying the text to life Rabbi Alexandri said in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi: "One who sees the rainbow in the clouds

should fall on his face, as it says, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud, and when I saw it I

fell upon my face.” (Ezekiel 1:28) In the West (in the land of Israel), they cursed anyone who did this,  because it looks as if he was bowing down to the rainbow; but he certainly makes a blessing. What

  blessing does he say? ‘Blessed is He who remembers the Covenant’. In a baraita it was taught: R.

Ishmael the son of Rabbi Johanan ben Beroka says: He says: Who is faithful with His Covenant andfulfils His promise. (Talmud Berachot, 59a; note: a baraita is a rabbinic text not included in the

authoritative Mishnah but from the same period)

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Praised are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who remembers the covenant, and is

faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise. (Traditional blessing recited upon seeing a rainbow)My Commentary: The appearance of the rainbow was apparently a mystical phenomenon. Among Jews in

Babylonia, it was an occasion to prostrate oneself in the presence of God, commemorating the verse

from Ezekiel. In the West (in the land of Israel, which is West of Babylonia) this practice wasdiscouraged since appeared to be too pagan. Still the practice of reciting a blessing when witnessing a

rainbow became a normative Jewish practice. This blessing appears in most Siddurim. The sages oftencombined variant traditions when they had differing opinions. Since there were two different versions of what the blessing should be the practice of combining them became the norm. God not only remembers

the covenant but keeps His promise to humankind.

4.  Sod – The Meaning and Mystery of Faith When does a rainbow become more than just an illusion of light and particles in the air? The moment werecite a blessing acknowledging that God remembers His covenant with us, that he is faithful to His

 promise, the miracle becomes a symbol of God’s presence in the world. We see in the sources above that

the rainbow has been a source of fascination to humankind from the very beginning of history. Itevolved from a mythological image into a symbol of our covenant with God into a powerful symbol

making us aware of God’s presence in nature. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes: “Among the many

things that religious tradition holds in store for us is a legacy of wonder. The surest way to suppress our ability to understand the meaning of God and the importance of worship is to take things for granted.

Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin.” One doesn’t have to be a religious person

to experience a sense of wonder or radical amazement when witnessing a rainbow. But the rainbow

 becomes the central symbol of a whole variety of different concepts: our relationship with God,harmony with nature (and with one another), peace, and even the wonder of God’s presence in the

universe. It even becomes an object of mystical contemplation. The blessing becomes a means of 

creating all of these associations while expressing a sense of ‘radical amazement’ at the same time. Thenext time you see a rainbow, take the time to say a blessing, look at it – really look at it – and appreciate

the wonders of our world, both seen and unseen.

Questions to Ponder 1. To what extent do you think our biblical ancestors were aware of the pagan mythological roots of 

the rainbow? In what ways was their understanding of the rainbow different from that of their neighbors?

2. How do you react when you see a rainbow? Would you describe your response to the rainbow as“religious” or “spiritual?”

3. Getting into the habit of reciting blessings, when you eat, when you experience the world or whenyou perform a mitzvah takes some doing? What would you find helpful about developing thisdiscipline? In what ways would you find it hard to do?

4. Are their moments in your life when you experience ‘radical amazement?’ If so, when?

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“All it takes to study Torah is an open heart,a curious mind and a desire to grow a Jewish soul.” 

Copyright 2011 Rabbi Mark B Greenspan