Shnayim Shnayim Bau El Noach

Intro

פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ — the week the world goes under water, and one wooden boat carries everything that is left.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 1

The whole world had gone wrong at once,

and one man was still walking straight.

נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים —

Noach was a righteous man, whole.

Rashi says look at the order of the words —

it promises us his children,

and then it praises the man instead,

because the real children of a righteous man

are the good things that he does.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 2

הַשֵּׁם could have saved him any way at all.

Instead the word came down: build.

עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר —

make yourself an ark of gopher wood.

Rashi says it took one hundred and twenty years

so the whole generation would walk past and ask him,

what do you need this boat for out here —

and maybe, hearing the answer, turn back.

Not one of them did.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 3

Sforno says he walked with הַשֵּׁם

by being useful to the people near him,

teaching them, telling them the truth.

And Midrash Tanchuma says he fed them all —

straw for the camel, barley for the donkey,

every animal the food it was used to,

every single day, inside a closed boat.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 4

And then the dove came home at evening

with something small held in her mouth.

עֲלֵה־זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ —

a torn off olive leaf in her beak.

Rashi brings the Midrash on that leaf,

and it is the whole year in one line:

better my food be bitter as an olive

and come from the hand of הַשֵּׁם,

than sweet as honey from the hand of men.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Outro

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

Intro

פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ — the week the world goes under water, and one wooden boat carries everything that is left.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 1

The whole world had gone wrong at once,

and one man was still walking straight.

נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים —

Noach was a righteous man, whole.

Rashi says look at the order of the words —

it promises us his children,

and then it praises the man instead,

because the real children of a righteous man

are the good things that he does.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 2

הַשֵּׁם could have saved him any way at all.

Instead the word came down: build.

עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר —

make yourself an ark of gopher wood.

Rashi says it took one hundred and twenty years

so the whole generation would walk past and ask him,

what do you need this boat for out here —

and maybe, hearing the answer, turn back.

Not one of them did.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 3

Sforno says he walked with הַשֵּׁם

by being useful to the people near him,

teaching them, telling them the truth.

And Midrash Tanchuma says he fed them all —

straw for the camel, barley for the donkey,

every animal the food it was used to,

every single day, inside a closed boat.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Verse 4

And then the dove came home at evening

with something small held in her mouth.

עֲלֵה־זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ —

a torn off olive leaf in her beak.

Rashi brings the Midrash on that leaf,

and it is the whole year in one line:

better my food be bitter as an olive

and come from the hand of הַשֵּׁם,

than sweet as honey from the hand of men.

Chorus

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

A year of water and no ground,

and He had not forgotten him.

Outro

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ —

and He remembered Noach.

Intro

פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ — sit down. This one takes a year to get through, and we have about four minutes.

Chorus

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן —

I have set My bow inside the cloud.

A sign of a בְּרִית, a promise that holds,

between Me and the earth,

never again, never again.

Spoken Word 1

The first thing the Torah tells you is not the water. It is a man.

נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים — Noach was a righteous man, whole, in his generations, and he walked with הַשֵּׁם.

And the truth was hard. The earth was corrupt and full of violent crime, and הַשֵּׁם told him it was over.

Then came the strangest instruction in the parsha: עֲשֵׂה לְךָ תֵּבַת עֲצֵי־גֹפֶר — make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Three hundred amos long, fifty wide, thirty high. A door in the side, a skylight, three decks.

וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֹתוֹ — and Noach did exactly what he was told.

Spoken Word 2

בֹּא־אַתָּה וְכָל־בֵּיתְךָ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה — come in, you and your whole household, because I have seen you righteous before Me in this generation.

שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם בָּאוּ אֶל־נֹחַ — two by two they came to him, male and female, and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer sorts out where they all slept: the animals on the lowest deck, the birds on the second, the creeping things and the people on the third.

Noach was six hundred years old. On the seventeenth day of the second month the wellsprings of the great deep burst open and the windows of the heavens were opened, אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה — forty days and forty nights of rain — and the door was shut behind him.

The water lifted the ark until it went over the mountains, and everything that lived on dry land died.

And for one hundred and fifty days there was nothing to do but stay alive and keep everything else alive. That is what he did all year, in the dark.

Chorus

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן —

I have set My bow inside the cloud.

A sign of a בְּרִית, a promise that holds,

between Me and the earth,

never again, never again.

Spoken Word 3

And then four words turn the whole story around.

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ — Elokim remembered Noach, and every animal with him in the ark.

A wind passed over the earth and the water began to sink. The wellsprings closed, the rain was held back, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה — the ark came to rest, עַל הָרֵי אֲרָרָט, on the mountains of Ararat.

He opened the window. He sent out the raven, and it went back and forth. He sent the dove, and she found no place to put her foot down, and came back, and he reached out his hand and took her in.

Seven days later he sent her again, and toward evening she came back — וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה־זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ — with a torn off olive leaf in her mouth.

Seven days after that, he sent her out and she did not come back. She had somewhere to be.

Spoken Word 4

צֵא מִן־הַתֵּבָה — come out of the ark. You, your wife, your sons, their wives, and every living thing with you, and fill the earth again.

וַיִּבֶן נֹחַ מִזְבֵּחַ — Noach built an altar and brought up offerings, and הַשֵּׁם said in His heart, never again will I curse the ground because of man.

עֹד כָּל־יְמֵי הָאָרֶץ — as long as the earth is standing: זֶרַע וְקָצִיר וְקֹר וָחֹם — seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night — לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ — they will never stop.

פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ — be fruitful, multiply, fill up the earth.

And then the promise got a sign you can see from your own window.

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן — I have set My bow in the cloud, וְהָיְתָה לְאוֹת בְּרִית, and it will be the sign of the promise between Me and the earth. When the clouds come over the earth and the bow appears in them — וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי — I will remember.

Chorus

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן —

I have set My bow inside the cloud.

A sign of a בְּרִית, a promise that holds,

between Me and the earth,

never again, never again.

Outro

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן —

I have set My bow inside the cloud.

never again, never again.

Intro

פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ — after the water went down, He made a promise. It is still running.

Verse 1

Everything I knew was under water.

One year in the dark and no shore.

And four words came and turned the whole thing over —

וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹקִים אֶת־נֹחַ,

He remembered Noach in the boat.

Pre-Chorus

The wind came over the water.

וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה — the ark came down to rest.

And You said it out loud so we would never wonder —

Chorus

עֹד כָּל־יְמֵי הָאָרֶץ —

as long as this earth is standing,

זֶרַע וְקָצִיר וְקֹר וָחֹם —

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

וְיוֹם וָלַיְלָה — day and night —

לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ,

they will never stop.

They will never stop.

Verse 2

You could have taken us out any way.

Instead You told him, build.

Rashi says the boat stood there one hundred and twenty years

like an open question in the field,

so somebody would ask, and hear, and come home.

Pre-Chorus

A dove came back at evening.

עֲלֵה־זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ — an olive leaf in her mouth.

And Rashi says a bitter thing from Your hand is better

than honey out of anyone else's —

Chorus

עֹד כָּל־יְמֵי הָאָרֶץ —

as long as this earth is standing,

זֶרַע וְקָצִיר וְקֹר וָחֹם —

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

וְיוֹם וָלַיְלָה — day and night —

לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ,

they will never stop.

They will never stop.

Bridge

אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן —

I have set My bow in the cloud.

וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי —

and I will remember My promise.

You put it in the sky

where a child could point at it.

Every colour of it means the same thing —

never again, never again, never again!

Chorus

עֹד כָּל־יְמֵי הָאָרֶץ —

as long as this earth is standing,

זֶרַע וְקָצִיר וְקֹר וָחֹם —

seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,

וְיוֹם וָלַיְלָה — day and night —

לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ,

they will never stop.

They will never stop.

Outro

לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ —

they will never stop.

לֹא יִשְׁבֹּתוּ —

they will never stop.

Intro

פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ — one window, one small bird, and a man waiting for dry land.

Verse 1

The water had covered everything,

and only those inside the ark were left.

Forty days after the mountaintops showed,

he opened up the window —

אֶת־חַלּוֹן הַתֵּבָה,

the window of the ark he made.

He sent the raven out,

and it went to and fro, to and fro.

Then he sent the dove from beside him

to see if the water was gone.

וְלֹא־מָצְאָה הַיּוֹנָה מָנוֹחַ לְכַף־רַגְלָהּ —

the dove found no place to rest her foot.

וַתָּשָׁב אֵלָיו אֶל־הַתֵּבָה —

she came back to him, to the ark.

Pre-Chorus

Water on the face of the whole earth,

and she came back with nothing at all —

Chorus

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her,

וַיָּבֵא אֹתָהּ אֵלָיו —

and he brought her in to him.

No rest for her foot in all the world,

but his hand reached out for her.

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her.

Verse 2

וַיָּחֶל עוֹד שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים —

he waited another seven days.

He sent her out once more from the ark,

out across the water, and then —

וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב,

the dove came to him toward evening.

עֲלֵה־זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ —

a torn off olive leaf in her mouth.

And he knew the water had gone down.

Pre-Chorus

Water on the face of the whole earth,

and she came back with nothing at all —

Chorus

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her,

וַיָּבֵא אֹתָהּ אֵלָיו —

and he brought her in to him.

No rest for her foot in all the world,

but his hand reached out for her.

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her.

Bridge

Rashi brings the Midrash on that leaf,

what she was saying with it in her mouth —

let my food be bitter as an olive

and come from the hand of הַשֵּׁם,

not sweet as honey from the hand of men.

Seven more days, and he sent her out,

וְלֹא־יָסְפָה שׁוּב־אֵלָיו עוֹד —

and she did not come back to him again.

Final Chorus

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her,

וַיָּבֵא אֹתָהּ אֵלָיו —

and he brought her in to him.

No rest for her foot in all the world,

but his hand reached out for her.

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her.

Outro

וַיִּשְׁלַח יָדוֹ וַיִּקָּחֶהָ —

he put out his hand and took her in.