Bereshis 7, v. 23: "Va'yimach es kol ha'y'kum ...... va'yimochu min ho'oretz" - Why the duplication of the same concept that everything was eradicated?
- The Gemara Sanhedrin 108a says that the double expression indicates that they were eradicated from this physical world, plus no existence in the world to come.
- The Ibn Ezra answers that the expression "va'yimach" refers to the actual eradication of the people and all that stood on the face of the earth, while "va'yimochu" refers to the total erasure of the people, since they left over no descendants.
- The Radak answers that the expression "va'yimach" refers to the actual eradication of the people and all that stood on the face of the earth, while "va'yimochu" refers to the total destruction of all buildings. This leaves no trace of the previous civilization, where one could have possibly said that these buildings are the remnant of a previous generation. This is a second level of eradication.
- The Ramban answers that the second expression of destruction refers to the fact that besides the birds being destroyed, their eggs were also destroyed, thus leaving no opportunity for a continuation of their species beyond those that found safe harbor in the ark.
- The Rokei'ach answers that the first expression refers to the destruction of the flesh of all living beings, while the second expression refers to the pulverizing and disintegration of their bones.
- The Malbim says that the second expression of destruction does not refer to the disintegration of the bones, but rather that the earth swallowed up the bodies of all creatures and brought them deep into the bowels of the earth. He adds that this explains the archaeological finds of dinosaurs and the like found deep in the earth. The extremely old age placed upon these finds can also be explained, even though the numbers predate the creation of the world, since they are from a previous world that was created and destroyed.
Dinosaurs
Essentially, there are three major theories to explain the past occurrence of dinosaurs on this planet.
Rabbi Menachem Schneersohn, the Lubavitch Rebbe, presented two thoughts. Perhaps, dinosaurs existed over the past 5,800 years, died, and because of environmental conditions that differ from today, their skeletal remains underwent a rapid fossilization process. The second thought is that living dinosaurs never existed. Perhaps, “G-d created ready fossils, bones, or skeletons (for reasons best known to Him). If so, “why did G-d have to create fossils in the first place? The answer is simple: we cannot know the reason why G-d chose this manner of creation in preference to another, and whatever theory of creation is accepted, the question will always remain unanswered. The question “Why create a fossil?” Is no more valid than the question “Why create an atom?”” [http://www.chabadnews.us/Old%20Letters/RA000014.htm].
Rabbi Naftali Berlin (Netziv) in parshas Noach (HaAmek Davar; 7:23) suggested a second theory that dinosaurs roamed the world in the pre-mabul period. According to Chazal, animals in the antediluvian pre-mabul era mated outside their species, leading to the birth of different types of hybrid creatures, including the dinosaurs. The flood waters destroyed the dinosaurs and it was HaShem’s intent that their bones remain buried for centuries, as a warning to future generations not to mate with different species. Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michel (Malbim commentary to Genesis 7:23) also suggested that dinosaurs lived in the era prior to the flood. Accordingly, although “they (i.e., the dinosaurs) may have survived the action of the water, they were nevertheless eliminated from the face of the earth by the strong currents which carried them into the chasms that had been formed when the ground was split. They were absorbed and deposited thousands of cubits deep - and so completely that when Noach later left the ark, he found no traces of any animal remains, not even of those giant creatures which existed before the Flood.” A weakness with the theory presented by the Netziv and the Malbim is that if dinosaurs died along with other animals and with human beings, then fossilized bones of dinosaurs would be found in the same sedimentary rock layers as fossils of other creatures. The fact that we do not find this is a strong indication that dinosaurs, large mammals, and human beings lived in different epochs. Rabbi Brown noted that the mabul cannot explain the numerous geological strata, each containing its unique blend of fossilized animals. As pointed out by Rabbi Slifkin, both the Malbim (1809-1879) and the Netziv (1817-1893) lived when fossilized dinosaur bones were just being discovered. If they were alive today, with the abundance of fossilized dinosaur bones found, perhaps they would have presented a different explanation for the occurrence of dinosaurs on this planet.
The third approach is based on a midrash (Bereshis Rabbah, 3:7; 9:2; Koheles Rabbah 3:1.11; Yalkut Shimoni Koheles Rabbah 968:3) that, according to Rabbi Avahu, prior to this world, HaShem created many other words and destroyed them, saying, “This one pleases Me, those did not please Me.” According to this thought, dinosaurs lived these prior worlds. The concept of prior worlds eliminates a controversy between Torah and science of the age of the universe. The Torah’s viewpoint is that, as of September 2017, our world is 5,777 years old, calculated from the creation of Adom HaRishon. However, according to the scientific viewpoint, our universe dates back 13.8 billion years, calculated from the Big Bang and progressing through all the prior worlds that were created and destroyed (boneh olamos umachrivon) subsequent to the world that we now inhabit. Thus, depending upon your point of reference, both calculations are correct. The concept of boneh olamos umachrivon was promulgated by Rabbi Israel Lipschitz (author of the commentary Teferes Yisrael on the Mishnah) in his D’rush Or HaHayyim, printed in the Yachin u-Boaz edition of the Mishnah, after Sanhedrin). Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Mesivta Torah Vodaath, Rabbi Dovid Brown, Ner Yisrael, and according to Rabbi Natan Slifkin, Rabbi Shalom Mordechai Schwadron (the Maharsham), Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, and Rabbi Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg (author of the Talmudic work, Yados Nedarim) agreed with the approach of boneh olamos umachrivon.
It should be noted that not all scholars concurred with the above interpretation of the midrash. the Netziv (HaAmek Davar; Bereishis 7:23) concluded that dinosaurs could not have roamed in prior worlds, as according his interpretation of the midrash, these prior worlds were totally destroyed, leaving no remnants. Thus, according to the Netziv, the fossilized dinosaur bones must have been from creatures that lived in our current world. Rabbi Slifkin cited Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, who suggested that, perhaps, the prior worlds were entirely spiritual in nature and even if they were physical, there would be no remnant in our universe. Rabbi Chaim Eliezar Shapira (the Rebbe Munkatch) noted that D’rush Or HaHayyim contained statements that were “damaging views that tend towards heresy,” and suggested that this essay was forged by the son of Rabbi Lipschitz yet published in his name. Citing Shemos Rabbah 1:2, “... that He created worlds and looked at them and they were not endearing to him, and He returned them to chaos and emptiness,” the Netziv stated that if neither vestige nor trace remained from these worlds, then dinosaur fossils could not be remnants from prior worlds.
H. Babich, Ph.D. Biology Department/SCW Dinosaurs and Wooly Mammoths - is there a Torah Viewpoint? download.yutorah.org/2016/1053/859980.pdf
Slifkin, N., 2006, The Challenge of Creation, Yashar Books/Lambda Publ., Brooklyn, NY.
Brown, D., 1997, Mysteries of the Creation, Targum/Feldheim, Southfield, MI.
Holzer, D., 2010, The Rav. Thinking Aloud on the Parsha. Sefer Bereishis, Laor Ltd., Jerusalem, Israel.
Aviner, S., 2009, Were there dinosaurs? http://www.ravaviner.com/2009/07/were-theredinosaurs.html
Belsky, Y., 2005, Einei Yisroel on Sefer Bereishis, Machon Simchas Torah, Kiryat Sefer, Israel.
Kaplan, A., 1993, Immortality, Resurrection and the Age of the Universe: a Kabbalistic View, KTAV Publ. House, Inc., Hoboken, NJ
