English translation — נח ב

A.

On the verse <sup>1</sup>

"And Noah was six hundred years old and the flood was water upon the earth",

it stands in the Midrash<sup>2</sup>,

that "the year of the flood is not counted in the count<sup>"</sup>,

D.

E.

(As commentators say<sup>3</sup>),

that the flood-year is not counted "for the years of Noah",

as we see - "when the Holy One, blessed be He,<sup>4</sup>

counts the years of Noah He does not count the year of the flood.

For you find that Noah lived 950 years and one with the year of the flood,

as it says And Noah was six hundred years old and the flood was,

implying that the flood was after six hundred years,

as it is written<sup>5</sup>

And it was in the six hundred and first year

(etc.)

the waters dried up,

and it is written<sup>6</sup>

And Noah lived after the flood three hundred

(etc.)

and fifty years",

and it is written<sup>7</sup>

And all the days of Noah were

(which he lived<sup>8</sup>)

nine hundred years and fifty years,

and he should have said nine hundred years and fifty-one years - thus the year of the flood is not counted in the count of his years"

(And one explains the reason of the matter,

"And because it was a year of distress, the year of the flood was not counted for him in the count of his years").

Already spoken several times<sup>9</sup>,

that from this that Rashi says in several places in his commentary on the Torah<sup>10</sup>

the expression "I do not know" and the like,

it is proven,

that in every place where there is a difficulty in

the plain meaning of Scripture,

it is guarded in Rashi's commentary; and there where he does not write any commentary

(and does not say "I do not know" and the like),

it is a matter that is understood by itself — either from the verse itself,

or from the Writings or Rashi's commentaries before this verse.

According to this, one must understand: that which the total <b>in the verse</b> of Noah's years does not match the number of his years before and after the flood

(which forces one to say that "the year of the flood is not counted in the reckoning")

is an obvious contradiction in the plain meaning of the verses¹¹

— and Rashi does not guard it in his commentary on the Torah?

One cannot say,

that Rashi holds that in the plain sense,

is "the year of the flood does not count in the reckoning"¹²

— on the contrary, this is a great novelty and Rashi would have needed to write it explicitly.

And especially since in this detailed calculation the year of the flood is &lt;b&gt;not &lt;/b&gt;counted in the Torah,

as above: earlier

it says¹³

that the flood began "in the year six hundred years of Noah's life",

and afterwards it says⁵

"&lt;b&gt;In the one &lt;/b&gt;and six hundred years etc. the waters dried up".

2.

One can explain it:

In the verse it says¹³

"<b>In the year </b>six hundred years of Noah's life etc. the fountains etc. burst forth".

And the <b>simple </b>meaning of "<b>In</b> the year" is - <b>in </b>

(the)

the year; and consequently one can learn,

that "<b>In the year </b>six hundred etc. the fountains etc. burst forth" was <b>at the beginning </b>of the year,

4.

5.

That entering into the year of six hun- dred years of Noah's life,

when he was five hundred ninety-nine years with a fraction,

the flood began¹⁴.

And since the verse is precise "&lt;b&gt;In the year &lt;/b&gt;six hundred years etc.",

it forces to say,

that also that which it stands "And Noah was six hundred years old and the flood was water upon the earth",

means - when he entered into the year six hundred¹⁵

(as the precise language of the verse - "and the flood &lt;b&gt;was&lt;/b&gt;" - past tense),

that when Noah was a "son of six hundred years" the flood &lt;b&gt;already was&lt;/b&gt;

(from earlier)].

And likewise in the verse "And it was in the six hundred and first year etc. the waters dried up" it means

(Not a full 601 years,

but)

at the beginning of the six hundred and first,

i.

e.

600 with a fraction¹⁶.

When it comes however to the sum-total of the count of the years of Noach,

the Torah speaks about complete years,

and does not count the <b>fraction </b>of a year as a complete year; consequently it comes out,

that the years of Noach's life are 950 years

(600

(and a fraction)

until after the flood,

and 350 after the flood).

3.

The explanation is, however, superficially not sufficient:

On the verse¹⁷

“For in yet seven days [etc.]” Rashi says: “Go and calculate the years of Methuselah and you will find that they end in the year 600 of Noah’s life” — and the calculation is: Methuselah lived 969 years¹⁸

; and since Methuselah was 187 years old when he begot Lamech¹⁹

and Lamech was 182 years old when he begot Noah²⁰

(to-

Sum: Shem's 100th year),

it turns out,

that "the years of Methuselah

(969 years)..

ended in the 600th year of Noah's life"

(600 and 100 is - 700).

And since the death of Methuselah was before the flood,

it turns out,

that "in the 600th year of Noah's life etc. were broken up etc." means after Noah was already 600 years old.

In simple terms, one could answer this: the enumerations of years when each one begot his son

(Gen. 5:7 and 5:2 and so forth)

does not mean that on the day when he became the age of the number of years he begot

Now, according to this, it will turn out

that Seth and Enosh and the "generations" after them—regarding whom it is written "and he lived ...

years and begot"—each of them was born exactly on the same day that his father was born,

that is,

that they were all born

(on the birthday of Adam—)

on Rosh Hashanah!]

But this means,

that &lt;b&gt;after &lt;/b&gt;they had the number of years,

is in the course of that year he begot.

Consequently it will turn out,

that since the 187th year of Methuselah when he begot Lamech and the 182nd year of Lamech when he begot Noah are with a remainder,

is the combination of the remainders with the part of the 600th year of Noah's life - adds up to a whole year,

which completes the years of Methuselah.

It remains but not simple:

Regarding the sin of the generation of the dispersion,

Rashi says²¹,

"They said one to a thousand and 656

The sky was about to collapse just as it did in the days of the flood.

And the sum of "one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years" is the total of the years of birth of the enumerated generations from Adam until Noah -

But if we will learn as above,

that in the numbers of the years there are remainders that are not counted,

it will turn out,

that for each of the ten generations there is a surplus of a certain time

(days,

weeks,

months)

that is not counted in the general number of the years; and prima facie reason dictates that during the course of <b>ten</b> generations <b>who lived long lives</b> from all these surpluses there accumulated more than the days of one year

(at least),

so that the total does not amount to one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years but more

(one thousand six hundred and fifty-seven years).

4.

Seemingly one could learn,

that the total sum of "one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years" is because "the years of people are counted according to the count of the years of the world"

(in the language of <b>Rashi</b> in parshas Ki Tisa²²)

- 4.

5.

That when one counts a total of the years of people it is not according to their years but according to the years of the world.

It is however a great difficulty to learn that Rashi accepts this explanation in our parshah,

not writing it explicitly,

because according to the simple meaning of the verse it is a great novelty²³,

that when the Torah counts

The years of life of <b>one person</b> one does not mean his years but years of the world²⁴

H.

And the explanation in this:

In the way of the simple interpretation,

when the Torah says that so-and-so is such-and-such years old

(not in the manner of the expression "I am a hundred and twenty years old &lt;b&gt;today&lt;/b&gt;"&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;),

it means his number of years approximately - possibly older but less than half a year,

or younger by such a time,

because &lt;b&gt;simply &lt;/b&gt;we follow the majority also of a year).

And with this the calculation of "one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years"&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt; is even smoother.

For in the usual way one can assume,

that just as there were such "generations" where there is an &lt;b&gt;excess &lt;/b&gt;of days which are not included in the number of years written in the Torah - so there were such where there is a &lt;b&gt;deficit &lt;/b&gt;of days

(or months)

not apparent in the sum of the years that is stated in the Torah - so that &lt;b&gt;in total &lt;/b&gt;the number will approximately balance out

(with the years of the world)&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;.

6.

And we must further explain this

(except that it is not so much in the way of the simple meaning),

And with an introduction:

The reason in simplicity why Torah

He calculates for each one

(of the "generations")

his joy at the birth of his son — superficially,

what is the practical difference?

so that one should know when the various events in the Torah occurred.

And based on this

(that the enumerator of the years that stands in connection with the birth of the generations,

— is,

is

(mainly)

to let one know the exact count of the years of the world)

— one can say,

that the number written in the Torah

(in relation to the begetting of that particular individual)

can have a difference of up to two years: <b>almost</b> the entire year when he is supposed to become so-and-so many years old, and also <b>almost</b> the entire year after he has already become that number of years old

(in the aforementioned verse — "And Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty-seven years")

can mean when he is <b>at the beginning</b> of the year that is the one hundred and eighty-seventh

(186 years and a part),

and also when he is already at the day of complete departure from 187

(188 years minus a part)].

And although according to this one cannot know the exact time of birth of a private individual - it is however useful for the main intent: to know the number of the years of the world,

because the &lt;b&gt;total&lt;/b&gt; of all these numbers of years corresponds to the count of the years of the world,

less or more &lt;b&gt;a part&lt;/b&gt; of a year.

7.

The inner reason for this that the Torah is precise regarding the count of the years of the world,

will be understood with an introduction of what is stated in the Midrash&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;,

that one of the virtues of Jews which "Akilas"

(a gentile)

counted

(as a reason for his desire to convert),

is - "the smallest among them knows ..

how many [years] since the world was created".

Since the virtues of Jews that he counted brought him to want to convert,

it is understood,

that they are not virtues in the greatness of the wisdom of Jews,

but virtues that are connected with the religion of Israel.

So the explanation is this:

The belief in the creation of the world is one of the foundations of the Torah,

And in the language of the Ramban²⁹

: "Because it is the root of faith, and one who does not believe in this and thinks the world is eternal is a denier of the fundamental principle and has no Torah at all."

In faith itself, however, there are several levels: one can be a believer with complete faith,

and yet he lacks clarity of it,

he does not have the faith

with clear knowledge.

And along the lines of our Sages, may their memory be blessed,³⁰

hearing is not like seeing,

so although he is certain that what he <b>hears</b> is true,

it is nevertheless not equal to the certainty as it is through seeing.

And this is the point in that "the smallest among them knows ..

how many [years] since the creation of the world" - the faith

(including &lt;b&gt;its root &lt;/b&gt;

(as above)

- in the creation of the world)

is for him a clear knowledge,

he knows the

(exact&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;)

time when the Almighty created the world.

And for this reason the Torah lengthens

(in the numbers of the years of the generations)

to inform us precisely the number of the years of the world.

(From the letters of Sivan 5741)