The Paradox of the Rainbow
Parshas Noach 5777
Rabbi Yonason Johnson
The rainbow is a paradox for Jews.
We are introduced to the rainbow in this week's Parsha as the sign of Hashem's promise to never again destroy the earth by flood. When storm clouds appear and the Midas Hadin is aroused, the rainbow appears as a reminder of this promise. It seems that the appearance of a rainbow indicates Hashem's displeasure with us.
In perfectly righteous generations such as that of king Chizkiyahu and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the rainbow never appeared.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Gemora is critical of one who stares at a rainbow, stating that he is not concerned for the honour of His creator and should never have been born! When Yechezkel Hanovi saw his vision of the Merkava; of Hashem and the Divine Chariot, he describes that “like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Hashem”. So the rainbow's appearance also reflects the Divine presence.
How can these two opposite dimensions of the rainbow be resolved? Is it a product of sin or is it the revelation of Hashem?
To understand this we need to preface with a seem-ingly obvious question. If the rainbow is a natural phenomenon caused by atmospheric conditions, surely it was present before the flood as well?
The Ibn Ezra concludes that the atmospheric condi-tions which produce a rainbow only emerged after the flood.
Chassidus explains that this physical change in the atmosphere which would now produce a rainbow, was caused by an underlying spiritual change. The flood, which acted as a form of Mikva to purify the world, added this new dimension to creation.
Prior to the flood the focus of creation was a utopi-an world created by Hashem. When man sinned and corrupted the utopian state of this world, Ha-shem, with strict justice, brought the flood to pun-ish man and to cleanse the world which man had spoiled. There were no second chances.
Only after the flood does Hashem say that “I will no longer curse the earth because of man”. Instead, Hashem would leave man to make his mistakes and give him the opportunity to rectify his wrongs through his own efforts. After the flood, the ele-ment of Teshuvah was introduced to the world.
This was the spiritual change that gave rise to the conditions which could produce a rainbow.
Rainbows appear when sunlight is refracted through the mist in the clouds. Sunlight represents the G-dly radiance that shines from Above. Clouds, which are produced from evaporating water from the earth's surface, represent man's actions which rise up from the world. Our sins create ‘dark clouds' that block out the Divine light entirely.
Through Teshuva we are able to cleanse these “clouds”. As they become translucent and refined, the light of Hashem is able to shine through them, refracting through the purified “mist” to produce the rainbow of the Divine countenance described by Yechezkel.
On seeing the rainbow we make a Brocha. We bless Hashem for remembering His covenant. We are grateful that He does not destroy the world when we fail to live up to our responsibilities. On a deeper note, we are grateful for the gift which the rainbow represents: that no matter how corrupt things may seem or how low we have fallen, we have the ability to fix it up.
The Zohar says that one should not look for the footsteps of Moshiach until he sees a rainbow with shining colours. In the times of Moshiach the pres-ence of Hashem described by Yechezkel will shine openly within the world.
Our sages teach us that Teshuvah is the key to the Geulah; “The Jewish people will ultimately do Teshuvah and will immediately be redeemed”.
Our efforts in spiritually refining our world and light-ening the dark clouds of negativity, create the nec-essary conditions which will produce that brilliant rainbow of shining colours which will announce the arrival of Moshiach and the ultimate perfection that our world is destined to achieve.
Parshas Noach 5777
Rabbi Yonason Johnson
The rainbow is a paradox for Jews.
We are introduced to the rainbow in this week's Parsha as the sign of Hashem's promise to never again destroy the earth by flood. When storm clouds appear and the Midas Hadin is aroused, the rainbow appears as a reminder of this promise. It seems that the appearance of a rainbow indicates Hashem's displeasure with us.
In perfectly righteous generations such as that of king Chizkiyahu and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the rainbow never appeared.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Gemora is critical of one who stares at a rainbow, stating that he is not concerned for the honour of His creator and should never have been born! When Yechezkel Hanovi saw his vision of the Merkava; of Hashem and the Divine Chariot, he describes that “like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Hashem”. So the rainbow's appearance also reflects the Divine presence.
How can these two opposite dimensions of the rainbow be resolved? Is it a product of sin or is it the revelation of Hashem?
To understand this we need to preface with a seem-ingly obvious question. If the rainbow is a natural phenomenon caused by atmospheric conditions, surely it was present before the flood as well?
The Ibn Ezra concludes that the atmospheric condi-tions which produce a rainbow only emerged after the flood.
Chassidus explains that this physical change in the atmosphere which would now produce a rainbow, was caused by an underlying spiritual change. The flood, which acted as a form of Mikva to purify the world, added this new dimension to creation.
Prior to the flood the focus of creation was a utopi-an world created by Hashem. When man sinned and corrupted the utopian state of this world, Ha-shem, with strict justice, brought the flood to pun-ish man and to cleanse the world which man had spoiled. There were no second chances.
Only after the flood does Hashem say that “I will no longer curse the earth because of man”. Instead, Hashem would leave man to make his mistakes and give him the opportunity to rectify his wrongs through his own efforts. After the flood, the ele-ment of Teshuvah was introduced to the world.
This was the spiritual change that gave rise to the conditions which could produce a rainbow.
Rainbows appear when sunlight is refracted through the mist in the clouds. Sunlight represents the G-dly radiance that shines from Above. Clouds, which are produced from evaporating water from the earth's surface, represent man's actions which rise up from the world. Our sins create ‘dark clouds' that block out the Divine light entirely.
Through Teshuva we are able to cleanse these “clouds”. As they become translucent and refined, the light of Hashem is able to shine through them, refracting through the purified “mist” to produce the rainbow of the Divine countenance described by Yechezkel.
On seeing the rainbow we make a Brocha. We bless Hashem for remembering His covenant. We are grateful that He does not destroy the world when we fail to live up to our responsibilities. On a deeper note, we are grateful for the gift which the rainbow represents: that no matter how corrupt things may seem or how low we have fallen, we have the ability to fix it up.
The Zohar says that one should not look for the footsteps of Moshiach until he sees a rainbow with shining colours. In the times of Moshiach the pres-ence of Hashem described by Yechezkel will shine openly within the world.
Our sages teach us that Teshuvah is the key to the Geulah; “The Jewish people will ultimately do Teshuvah and will immediately be redeemed”.
Our efforts in spiritually refining our world and light-ening the dark clouds of negativity, create the nec-essary conditions which will produce that brilliant rainbow of shining colours which will announce the arrival of Moshiach and the ultimate perfection that our world is destined to achieve.
