Noach builds the ark God commanded, then waits inside, a week and then another, for word from the dove.
The story
The parashah opens with Noach: a righteous man, blameless in his generations, who walked with God. But the earth was corrupt, and all living beings had corrupted their ways. God tells Noach that their end has come, since the earth is full of lawlessness because of them. The Torah does not say exactly what they did.
אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו
Bereshit 6:9
God tells Noach to build an ark of gopher wood, with exact measurements. He says He is about to bring a flood and promises to establish His covenant with Noach. He tells him to go into the ark with his family, bring in a pair of every kind of living creature and gather food. And Noach does everything God commanded him.
The story picks up with Noach inside the ark, the water still on the earth. He opens the window he had made in the ark and sends out the raven, which goes back and forth until the water dries off the earth. Then he sends out the dove, to see whether the water has gone down from the ground.
The dove finds no place to rest, for water covers the whole earth, and she comes back to him. Noach puts out his hand, takes her and brings her back into the ark with him. He waits another seven days and sends the dove out of the ark again.
וַיָּחֶל עוֹד שִׁבְעַת יָמִים אֲחֵרִים
Bereshit 8:10
Towards evening the dove comes to him with a plucked olive leaf in her beak, and Noach knows that the water has gone down from the earth. He waits another seven days and sends out the dove, and this time she does not come back to him.
The dove came to him towards evening, and there in her beak was a plucked olive leaf. And Noach knew that the water had gone down from the earth.
Words from the verse
טָרָףplucked, torn off
כִּי־קַלּוּthat they had gone down
What it teaches: Trust in God
Relying on God to look after us even when the way is unclear.
Noach does all God commanded, preparing for a flood that has not yet come. When the dove finds no place to rest and comes back, he waits seven days and sends her again, and after the olive leaf he waits seven more. This is trust: doing what God asked, and waiting even when the good sign is slow to come.
A question to sit with
What news are you waiting for these days, and what helps you send out the dove again?
Questions about the story
How does Noach respond to the instructions God gives him?
Carries out some and waits for a sign
Does every one of them, skipping none
Asks God to call off the flood
Answer
b. Does every one of them, skipping none
When the instructions end, the Torah says that Noach did everything God commanded him.
What does Noach do after the dove first comes back to him?
Waits seven more days and sends her again
Sends the raven out instead, right away
Opens the ark and goes out to look
Answer
a. Waits seven more days and sends her again
The dove finds no place to rest and comes back. Noach brings her into the ark, waits another seven days and then sends her out again.
The lesson
Whoever trusts in God waits one more week and sends the dove again.
For this week
This week, when an answer you are waiting for is slow to come, see if you can give it a few unhurried days before trying again.
From the sources
Rashi cites a teaching of the sages: it is as if the dove were saying she would rather her food be “bitter as an olive in God’s hand” than sweet as honey in the hands of flesh and blood. There is a lesson in trust here: better to depend on God than on people, even when the food is bitter.
The verses are from Miqra according to the Masorah (Wikisource, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Sefaria, without the cantillation marks. On this site the four-letter Name is written ה׳.
