Page 36 - Noah's Ark

Noach

In Parshat Noach, God tells Noach to build an ark in order to be saved from
the flood.

In the parsha appears the following verse:

"A tzohar you shall make for the ark, and finish it up to a cubit
above, and the opening of the ark you shall put in its side; you
shall make it bottom, second and third levels." (6:16)

The word tzohar appears only in this verse and does not appear again
anywhere in Tanach.

The Talmud explains what a tzohar is: Tzohar – this is a precious stone.
The ark was closed and it was impossible to see what was happening
outside, so Noach put precious stones into the ark so that he could tell when
it was daytime and nighttime
When the stones were shiny – Noach knew that it was night.
When the stones were dark – Noach knew that it was day.

Rabbi Chaim Bachrach expands on this with a lesson:

A person who looks at his possessions and they appear dark to him, ie they
do not draw his eyes, does not see inherent value in his possessions. This
person lives in the proper way: this is like living in the day. But a person
who is always drawn to look at his possessions; they are shiny, lustrous, in
his eyes – A person like that thinks about money all the time and thus he
loses his days and does not live in the proper way – this is like living in the
night.

Additional meanings /expressions in contemporary Hebrew

Small window – ‫* צהר‬
Noon – ‫צהריים‬

Box - ‫תיבה‬
Pandora's box - ‫* תיבת פנדורה‬

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