ואתה קח לך מכל מאכל אשר יאכל ואספת אליך והיה לך ולהם לאכלה
“And as for you, take for yourself of every food that is eaten and gather it in to yourself, that it shall be as food for you and for them.” (Bereishis 6:21)
Rav Elchonon Wasserman zt”l questions the wording of the above pasuk. Hashem tells Noach to take food. Why does the Torah then add “that is eaten”? Is that not obvious? What else is to be done with food? Furthermore, why does the Torah reiterate “that it shall be.... for you and them”? These words seem redundant.
Rav Elchonon explains that Chazal teach that the fruit of the pre-flood era was tastier and of better quality than that of the post-flood era. Therefore, Noach might have thought to hoard more fruit than was needed in order to enjoy those fruits even after new fruit was produced after the flood. Thus, Hashem tells Noach to take food that “is eaten” to emphasize that he should only take an amount of food that was to be eaten during the flood and its immediate aftermath. Noach, however, still might have thought that he could take an amount of fruit that is fit to be eaten during the time it was needed but he would ration it in a way that there would be a surplus of the produce to be eaten after the flood and its immediate aftermath. Therefore, he is told that it “shall be food for you and them” – to be eaten and not saved for later.
One of the reasons that Hashem did not want Noach to enjoy the pre flood fruit in a post-flood world was to drive home the point that one must never exploit the misery of others. It would lack sensitivity if he were to use the destruction of the world as an opportunity to hoard produce for the future. (Rabbi Yirmiyahu Neuman)
