(כ) וַיָּ֥חֶל נֹ֖חַ אִ֣ישׁ הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וַיִּטַּ֖ע כָּֽרֶם׃ (כא) וַיֵּ֥שְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּ֖יִן וַיִּשְׁכָּ֑ר וַיִּתְגַּ֖ל בְּת֥וֹךְ אׇהֳלֹֽה׃ (כב) וַיַּ֗רְא חָ֚ם אֲבִ֣י כְנַ֔עַן אֵ֖ת עֶרְוַ֣ת אָבִ֑יו וַיַּגֵּ֥ד לִשְׁנֵֽי־אֶחָ֖יו בַּחֽוּץ׃ (כג) וַיִּקַּח֩ שֵׁ֨ם וָיֶ֜פֶת אֶת־הַשִּׂמְלָ֗ה וַיָּשִׂ֙ימוּ֙ עַל־שְׁכֶ֣ם שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית וַיְכַסּ֕וּ אֵ֖ת עֶרְוַ֣ת אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וּפְנֵיהֶם֙ אֲחֹ֣רַנִּ֔ית וְעֶרְוַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ם לֹ֥א רָאֽוּ׃ (כד) וַיִּ֥יקֶץ נֹ֖חַ מִיֵּינ֑וֹ וַיֵּ֕דַע אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָ֥שָׂה ל֖וֹ בְּנ֥וֹ הַקָּטָֽן׃ (כה) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָר֣וּר כְּנָ֑עַן עֶ֥בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְאֶחָֽיו׃ (כו) וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בָּר֥וּךְ ה׳ אֱלֹ֣קֵי שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ׃ (כז) יַ֤פְתְּ אֱלֹקִים֙ לְיֶ֔פֶת וְיִשְׁכֹּ֖ן בְּאׇֽהֳלֵי־שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ׃
(20) Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. (21) He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. (22) Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. (23) But Shem and Japheth took a cloth, placed it against both their backs and, walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness; their faces were turned the other way, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. (24) When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, (25) he said,
“Cursed be Canaan;
The lowest of slaves
Shall he be to his brothers.” (26) And he said,
“Blessed be ה׳,
The God of Shem;
Let Canaan be a slave to them.
(27) May God enlarge*enlarge Heb. yapht, play on Heb. yepheth “Japheth.” Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be a slave to them.”
דריש עובר גלילאה י"ג ווי"ן נאמרו ביין (בראשית ט, כ) ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם וישת מן היין וישכר ויתגל בתוך אהלו וירא חם אבי כנען את ערות אביו ויגד לשני אחיו בחוץ ויקח שם ויפת את השמלה וישימו על שכם שניהם וילכו אחורנית ויכסו את ערות אביהם ופניהם וגו' וייקץ נח מיינו וידע את אשר עשה לו בנו הקטן
A visitor from the Galilee expounded: The conversive vav is stated thirteen times in the passage concerning wine, as it is stated: “And Noah began [vayyaḥel] to be a farmer, and he planted [vayyita] a vineyard, and he drank [vayyesht] of the wine, and was drunk [vayyishkar]; and he was uncovered [vayyitgal] within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [vayyar] the nakedness of his father, and told [vayyagged] his two brothers outside. And Shem and Japheth took [vayyikaḥ] the garment, and laid it [vayyasimu] upon both their shoulders, and went [vayyelekhu] backward, and covered [vaykhassu] the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke [vayyiketz] from his wine, and knew [vayyeda] what his younger son had done to him” (Genesis 9:20–24). All thirteen instances of the conversive vav here are followed by the letter yod. Together they form the word vay, meaning woe, and allude to the suffering and misfortune caused by uncontrolled drinking.
Elie Wiesel on Noah from "Sages and Dreamers"
“Imagine what he must have felt as he walked ashore and discovered the empty, devastated land. He must have looked for familiar ground, vantage points, cities of light and life, dwelling places and their sounds. He knew that they had vanished, still he went on looking for them.
Then he was confronted by a choice: anger or gratitude. He chose gratitude. He offered thanks to heaven… As a survivor, the first, he chose gratitude rather than bitterness: the special gratitude of the survivor. He or she knows that every moment means grace, for he or she could have been in another’s place, another who is gone.”
“During the catastrophe, Noah was a protagonist; now he has become a witness. And now, more than before, I feel sorry for him. Was he in fact a Just Man? He was a human being, who having gone to the end of night, knew he was condemned to be free: having reached the limits of despair, he felt himself duty-bound to justify hope. I imagine him under his tent, telling his children and grandchildren stories of his own youth when he was only a hundred years old…He speaks of the past in order to shape the future. ‘Tzaddik bedorotav,’ a Just Man of his generations.”
“Imagine what he must have felt as he walked ashore and discovered the empty, devastated land. He must have looked for familiar ground, vantage points, cities of light and life, dwelling places and their sounds. He knew that they had vanished, still he went on looking for them.
Then he was confronted by a choice: anger or gratitude. He chose gratitude. He offered thanks to heaven… As a survivor, the first, he chose gratitude rather than bitterness: the special gratitude of the survivor. He or she knows that every moment means grace, for he or she could have been in another’s place, another who is gone.”
“During the catastrophe, Noah was a protagonist; now he has become a witness. And now, more than before, I feel sorry for him. Was he in fact a Just Man? He was a human being, who having gone to the end of night, knew he was condemned to be free: having reached the limits of despair, he felt himself duty-bound to justify hope. I imagine him under his tent, telling his children and grandchildren stories of his own youth when he was only a hundred years old…He speaks of the past in order to shape the future. ‘Tzaddik bedorotav,’ a Just Man of his generations.”
Noah 5780 – Did Noah Have PTSD?
By: Dr. Bill Sutker (a physician in Dallas, TX) http://kehillatchaverim.org/words-from-our-members/teachings/noah-5780-did-noah-have-ptsd/
The Torah tells us that Noah was psychologically sound prior to the flood, experienced tremendous trauma during the flood and, subsequently, failed to adjust to post flood life in basically every dimension of his life. Noah, it seemed, had a serious case of PTSD.
Feeling guilt after the experience of a traumatic event is serious and it has been linked to a number of negative consequences such as depression, shame, social anxiety, low self-esteem, and thoughts of suicide. In addition, it has been connected to the development of PTSD. The diagnosis of PTSD can be suspected in an individual who exhibits significant behavioral change after a traumatic event. It is described as a serious mental condition rooted in exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation. The disturbance, regardless of its trigger, causes clinically significant distress in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to do work or other important areas of functioning and will be discussed in more detail later. One could say that in the story of Noah we can see different manifestations of severe psychological stress reaction consistent with PTSD. The midrash describes how burdensome life on the ark was for Noah. As mentioned, the Noah that emerges from the ark is not the same Noah that boarded the ark a year earlier. Gone is the righteous man we saw earlier. He is replaced by a broken man who has a drunken encounter with his son, after which we hear of him no more. After witnessing the destruction of the known world, it is not surprising that Noah turns to alcohol which is a common outlet for patients with PTSD.
Noah’s response to the flood is not dissimilar to the action of some Holocaust survivors. Noah experienced a kind of PTSD called survivor’s guilt. Survivor’s guilt is a type self-guilt that sometimes takes place after a traumatic event.
Survivors may find themselves wondering why they lived through the event or why they suffered less than others. The concept of survivor’s guilt achieved prominence during the 1960s when a number of psychologists described a similar set of symptoms experienced by survivors of the Holocaust. Some survivors were just not capable of facing the fact that they were singled out to live, while their beloved friends and relatives had been murdered. Survivors guilt can have a serious impact on a person’s life function. Survivors guilt may be viewed as one of the cognitive and mood related symptoms of PTSD, which include having distorted feelings of guilt and negative thoughts about oneself. Although survivor’s guilt was originally used to describe feelings that survivors of the Holocaust experienced, it has also been applied to other people and situations since that time. Following a trauma, people may also experience feelings of regret. You ruminate over the events that took place and think about things they could have or should have done that would have altered the outcome. The rehashing of the events could further exacerbate the feelings of guilt, particularly if people feel their own actions or inaction may have worsened the consequences.
To review, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. It was first described in 1980. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human caused disasters, accidents, or military combat. PTSD can happen to anyone. It is not a sign of weakness.
I want to mention another message of this parashah. Question: what does Noah say to God when the decree is issued that the world is about the perish? The answer is: nothing. Noah is the paradigm of biblical obedience. He does as he is commanded. In Judaism, God does not command blind obedience. God wants us to be mature, deliberative, to do his will because we understand or because we trust him when we do not understand. He seeks from us something other and greater than obedience, namely responsibility. Noah saved only himself and his family. At the end of his life, Noah was a drunk, disheveled, embarrassment to his children. This tells us that if you save yourself while doing nothing to save the world, you do not even save yourself. Noah could not live with the guilt of survival. It takes courage to rebuild a shattered world. That was the courage shown by those who built and fought for the state of Israel in the years after the Holocaust. They were different kinds of people, but they shared that intuitive knowledge that Noah lacked: that when it comes to rebuilding the ruins of catastrophe, you do not wait for permission. You take the risk and walk ahead. Faith is more than obedience. It is the courage to create.
If we find ourselves in Noah’s position, feeling alone, angry, or guilty about our life circumstances, it’s helpful to have coping mechanisms in place ahead of time or to seek professional help. It’s challenging to push through a traumatic experience but finding healthy ways to cope with emotions is essential.
So, in the end, Noah survived the flood, but drowned in the burden of his untreated PTSD. Let us learn from his tragic example.
By: Dr. Bill Sutker (a physician in Dallas, TX) http://kehillatchaverim.org/words-from-our-members/teachings/noah-5780-did-noah-have-ptsd/
The Torah tells us that Noah was psychologically sound prior to the flood, experienced tremendous trauma during the flood and, subsequently, failed to adjust to post flood life in basically every dimension of his life. Noah, it seemed, had a serious case of PTSD.
Feeling guilt after the experience of a traumatic event is serious and it has been linked to a number of negative consequences such as depression, shame, social anxiety, low self-esteem, and thoughts of suicide. In addition, it has been connected to the development of PTSD. The diagnosis of PTSD can be suspected in an individual who exhibits significant behavioral change after a traumatic event. It is described as a serious mental condition rooted in exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation. The disturbance, regardless of its trigger, causes clinically significant distress in the individual’s social interactions, capacity to do work or other important areas of functioning and will be discussed in more detail later. One could say that in the story of Noah we can see different manifestations of severe psychological stress reaction consistent with PTSD. The midrash describes how burdensome life on the ark was for Noah. As mentioned, the Noah that emerges from the ark is not the same Noah that boarded the ark a year earlier. Gone is the righteous man we saw earlier. He is replaced by a broken man who has a drunken encounter with his son, after which we hear of him no more. After witnessing the destruction of the known world, it is not surprising that Noah turns to alcohol which is a common outlet for patients with PTSD.
Noah’s response to the flood is not dissimilar to the action of some Holocaust survivors. Noah experienced a kind of PTSD called survivor’s guilt. Survivor’s guilt is a type self-guilt that sometimes takes place after a traumatic event.
Survivors may find themselves wondering why they lived through the event or why they suffered less than others. The concept of survivor’s guilt achieved prominence during the 1960s when a number of psychologists described a similar set of symptoms experienced by survivors of the Holocaust. Some survivors were just not capable of facing the fact that they were singled out to live, while their beloved friends and relatives had been murdered. Survivors guilt can have a serious impact on a person’s life function. Survivors guilt may be viewed as one of the cognitive and mood related symptoms of PTSD, which include having distorted feelings of guilt and negative thoughts about oneself. Although survivor’s guilt was originally used to describe feelings that survivors of the Holocaust experienced, it has also been applied to other people and situations since that time. Following a trauma, people may also experience feelings of regret. You ruminate over the events that took place and think about things they could have or should have done that would have altered the outcome. The rehashing of the events could further exacerbate the feelings of guilt, particularly if people feel their own actions or inaction may have worsened the consequences.
To review, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. It was first described in 1980. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human caused disasters, accidents, or military combat. PTSD can happen to anyone. It is not a sign of weakness.
I want to mention another message of this parashah. Question: what does Noah say to God when the decree is issued that the world is about the perish? The answer is: nothing. Noah is the paradigm of biblical obedience. He does as he is commanded. In Judaism, God does not command blind obedience. God wants us to be mature, deliberative, to do his will because we understand or because we trust him when we do not understand. He seeks from us something other and greater than obedience, namely responsibility. Noah saved only himself and his family. At the end of his life, Noah was a drunk, disheveled, embarrassment to his children. This tells us that if you save yourself while doing nothing to save the world, you do not even save yourself. Noah could not live with the guilt of survival. It takes courage to rebuild a shattered world. That was the courage shown by those who built and fought for the state of Israel in the years after the Holocaust. They were different kinds of people, but they shared that intuitive knowledge that Noah lacked: that when it comes to rebuilding the ruins of catastrophe, you do not wait for permission. You take the risk and walk ahead. Faith is more than obedience. It is the courage to create.
If we find ourselves in Noah’s position, feeling alone, angry, or guilty about our life circumstances, it’s helpful to have coping mechanisms in place ahead of time or to seek professional help. It’s challenging to push through a traumatic experience but finding healthy ways to cope with emotions is essential.
So, in the end, Noah survived the flood, but drowned in the burden of his untreated PTSD. Let us learn from his tragic example.
“Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief that, together, we can make the world better. Optimism is a passive virtue, hope an active one. It needs no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to hope. The Hebrew Bible is not an optimistic book. It is, however, one of the great literatures of hope.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World, p. 166
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World, p. 166