Over the years, I’ve experienced several floods during the week of Parshas Noach. When my twin daughters were born, we made a kiddush on Shabbos Parshas Noach. That Friday was very hectic, as we were hosting the kiddush in our apartment and dealing with newborn twins. That Friday afternoon, water started rising up from a drain into our sink and bathtub. I thought it was by chance, but an hour later, water started overflowing from the sinks and from the drain in the floor. I quickly called a plumber friend of ours who thankfully came running over and cleared up the blockage a half an hour before Shabbos. What a Shabbos! Then in 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded the East Coast right after Shabbos Noach.

Besides its association with floods, Parshas Noach is also associated with those studying in yeshiva or learning in groups at the start of the winter zman (semester).

The primary focus of Torah study in yeshivos is Gemara—Talmud Bavli. The Talmud Bavli is a compilation from the great sages Ravina and Rav Ashi and was codified in Bavel (Babylonia). There is also a Talmud Yerushalmi, but the Bavli is the primary text of Gemara that is studied.

The name Bavel is stated towards the end of Parshas Noach, when Hashem dispersed the people for attempting to construct the Tower of Bavel. “Therefore, the land is called Bavel, because it was there that Hashem balal (confused) the language of the whole earth, and from there Hashem scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

In the beginning of the Parsha, we have a word which sounds similar to Bavel. Hashem says, “I will bring a ‘mabul’ to destroy the world.” Onkelos translates this as “flood.” Rashi brings three explanations for the word mabul: “balah”—the mabul destroyed and wiped away everything; “bilbel”—it mixed everything up; “hovil”—it transported everything from the high areas to the low areas. Rashi notes a connection between the word mabul and Bavel. The land of Bavel is also called the land of “Shinar” (displaced and moved), because Hashem moved all the deceased of the mabul, washing and depositing them in Shinar. The mabul transported everyone to Bavel.

The connection between Talmud Bavli and Bavel is quite interesting. The Midrash Tanchuma of Parshas Noach talks extensively of the difficulty and challenge of learning Torah SheB’al Peh (the Oral Torah), and specifically Talmud Bavli. “It is the most difficult thing to learn; it’s harder to acquire than a grave. It’s like walking in the dark, and wider than the ocean.” But the Midrash concludes with the pasuk, “The nation that walks in the darkness—in the end, it will see the great light.”

I would like to suggest that the definitions of mabul apply to what one feels and experiences when studying Talmud Bavli: wiped out (balah), confused (bilbel), and scattered (hovil). In effect, it feels like a flood of information; one feels that he is under water.

The land is called Bavel because it was there that Hashem “balal” the language of the whole earth. Rashi translates the word balal as “confused.” However, the word balal also means to mix and fuse together as one. If one exerts oneself and jumps into the raging waters of the Gemara, he will initially feel washed out, confused, scattered and under water. In the end, however, he will become “balul”—a true mixture, as everything one learns unites and becomes one.

But first, one needs to experience the confusion, difficulty and darkness. That’s necessary to create clarity. The source of the dispersion is the source of what brings everything together. That’s why the Midrash starts Parshas Noach with a discussion of Torah SheB’al Peh.

Many people get discouraged when learning Gemara—it’s really difficult! I implore you to seek a good Rebbi who can help you navigate the flooding waters of the Gemara, and help you experience and feel the sweetness of Torah by seeing the whole picture and how everything fuses into one clear concept.

Indeed, I invite you to join any of our Gemara-learning opportunities in the mornings and evenings in Passaic Torah Institute. Come taste the sweetness!

Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim is the associate rosh yeshiva of Passaic Torah Institute (PTI)/Yeshiva Ner Boruch. Rabbi Bodenheim can be reached at [email protected].