Partzuf
The First Covenant
One of the most important themes in the Torah is the forging of covenants. Some of these are between people, but the most important covenants were made between the Almighty and people. We are all familiar with the covenant of circumcision God made with Abraham, however, even before that, God made a covenant with Abraham known as the Covenant Between the Shards (בְּ רִ ית בֵּין הַ בְּ תָ רִ ים). Yet, prior to both covenants with Abraham—the covenants that became the basis of the Jewish people, tying them to God with the circumcision and tying them to the Land of Israel promised to Abraham—God made not just one, but two covenants with Noach.
We have addressed some aspects of the well-known rainbow covenant in the other two articles in this issue. What is usually less familiar is the first covenant God made with Noach just before He commanded the latter to enter the ark, “I will forge my covenant with you and you shall enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives” (תִ י וַהֲ קִ מ אֶ ת־בְּ רִ יתִ י אִ תּ ָ ך וּבָאתָ אֶ ל־הַ תֵּ בָה אַ תּ ָ ה וּבָנֶיך וְאִ ש תְּ ך וּנְשֵי־בָנֶיך אִ תּ ָ ך).
Every covenant is meant to ensure a certain state or relationship between the two parties. What exactly was the nature of this covenant? What was it coming to solidify between God and Noach. This is not clear from the text, which is why the different commentaries offer various answers to complete our understanding. Because each commentary is a true sage of Torah all their answers have a good basis. However, we as students of Torah, usually find ourselves confounded about which answer is “correct,” or which answer should we focus on. This is one of the great contributions of building a partzuf, a model. We can take the different answers and structure them as part of a larger system, with each answer illustrating one of the elements of that system. In this case, we will correspond the different identifications of the first covenant between God and Noach with the Ten Sefirot.
Considering the commentaries on this verse, the first thing we note is that three of them first define the word “covenant” (בְּ רִ ית) since this is its very first appearance in the Torah. It is fitting to correspond these three definitions to the first three sefirot—the intellectual sefirot, which are more theoretical and are associated with the mind than the lower seven sefirot, which are more applied and are associated with the emotive attributes of the heart and the practical faculties of the body.
Or HaChaim defines “covenant” as related to memory. Indeed, after Noach was in the ark for many months, we hear that, “God remembered Noach.” This definition corresponds with the sefirah of wisdom (חָ כְ מָ ה), which is related to memory.
Ramban defines a “covenant” as related to “creation” (בְּ רִ יתִ י כְּמו ָתִ י בְּ רִ י) as in “In the beginning God created.” This definition corresponds with understanding (בִּינָה), since creation is the World of the sefirah of understanding.
Ibn Ezra argues that “covenant” derives from “choice” as in the phrase, “choose one of your men.” This definition corresponds to the sefirah of knowledge (דַּ עַת), the seat of our conscious power of choice.
Now that we have identified the intellectual sefirot in our partzuf that focus on defining what a covenant is, let us turn to the possibilities of what the covenant God made with Noach was about. We will present these in the order of the seven lower sefirot, from loving-kindness to kingdom:
- Ramban explains that the covenant ensured that the ark, which was relatively small, would contain all of creation. This fits the expansive nature of the sefirah of loving-kindness (חֶ סֶ ד).
- Rashi explains that covenant protected Noach from being murdered by the wicked people who opposed him, both while building the ark and when entering it. Protection is a quality of the sefirah of might (גְּ בו ּרָ ה).
- Rabbeinu Asher (the Rosh) argues that a covenant that does not explicitly refer to something else refers to the Torah, which is called a covenant. Thus, the covenant was Noach learning the laws pertaining to kosher and non-kosher animals, which he needed to know to decide on whether to let 7 or 2 specimens of each species into the ark. The Torah explicitly corresponds with the sefirah of beauty (תִּ פְ אֶ רֶ ת).
- Rashi offers a second possibility that the covenant ensured that the provisions (the fruit) Noach took with him on the ark would not rot. This corresponds with the sefirah of victory/eternity (נֶצַח).
- Ibn Ezra also offers a second possibility that the covenant gave Noach robustness ensuring that he would not die on the ark because of the tremendous difficulties living on it presented. This interpretation thus offsets the sefirah of thanksgiving (דֹ הו), which is associated with difficulties and frailty.
- Ibn Ezra and the Ramban both suggest that God is merely foreshadowing the rainbow covenant He will make with Noach after he departs the ark. The rainbow covenant is strongly associated with the rectification of the sefirah of foundation (דֹ יְסו), the seat of our impulses.
- Ha’amek Davar writes (in the name of earlier commentaries) that the covenant refers to an assurance that the earth would not be destroyed by the flood. The earth corresponds directly with the sefirah of kingdom (מַ לְ כוּת).
The complete partzuf is thus:
- understanding-binah בִּינָה
Covenant means creation (Ramban) - wisdom-chochmah חָ כְ מָ ה
Covenant means memory (Or HaChaim) - knowledge-da’at דַּ עַת
Covenant means choice (Ibn Ezra) - might-gevurah גְּ בו ּרָ ה
Covenant to protect Noach from the wicked (Rashi) - loving-kindness-chessed חֶ סֶ ד
Covenant that ark will contain all life (Ramban) - beauty-tiferet תִּ פְ אֶ רֶ ת
Covenant of Torah teachings regarding kosher animals (Rosh) - acknowledgment-hod דֹ הו
Covenant that Noach would not die (Ibn Ezra) - victory-netzach נֶצַח
Covenant that provisions not rot (Rashi) - foundation-yesod דֹ יְסו
Covenant of the rainbow (Ibn Ezra & Ramban) - kingdom-malchut מַ לְ כוּת
Covenant that the Earth not be destroyed (Ha’amek Davar)
Contemplating the entire partzuf as one is a key to unlocking the Torah’s hidden dimensions.
