Already at the end of last week’s Parasha, the destruction of the world is on its way. Hashem has seen the turn to immorality that concerns Him, reconsiders man’s creation, and decides to wipe out all living things by the end of the Parasha. The Torah also announces that Noach alone finds favor in Hashem’s eyes, foreshadowing his special status, in the final verse of the Parasha.
When this week’s Parasha begins, it is therefore no surprise that there is a plan to destroy the world. It is also no surprise that Noach alone has a role to play in what will be the survival of a slice of the Creation on the other side of the flood. But there has been one very specific shift from the end of last week’s Parasha: The plans are the same but the name used for Hashem is not. The exclusive use of “Hashem” has given way to the almost exclusive use of the name “Elokim.”
It is always instructive to watch these shifts in the use of Hashem’s names. There is a marked difference between them in meaning. “Elokim” denotes great power, as the Ramban describes at the beginning of the Torah. But when we render the tetragrammaton as “Hashem,” we are acknowledging a basic fact: this is the true “name” of Hashem while the other names are adjectives. A name is revealed to friends; it allows for a relationship. Therefore, whenever the name “Hashem” is in use, a relationship is available.
Of the two names, the opening of the Creation story of the seven days uses Elokim exclusively. Only when the Torah slows down to tell the fuller story of Man’s creation does the name “Hashem” come into play. For all of that story, a full 45 verses, the names are combined to show that the “Elokim” of Creation incorporates the “Hashem” of relationship. Significantly, only the snake reverts to the use of the name “Elokim” alone. As the snake seeks to alienate Adam and Chava from Hashem, he effaces that name. But even in apportioning punishment, the names appear together again.
Then, quite abruptly, the story of Kayin and Hevel is told with just the name of Hashem. This is not surprising, as the focus of that story involves sacrificial offerings, in relation to which the Torah always uses the name “Hashem.” (The entire section of sacrificial offerings in Vayikra -- indeed, the whole book of Vayikra -- will use “Hashem” exclusively.) Clearly, that story is about maintaining a relationship with Hashem. And even as the world spirals down to destruction, the name does not change.
So when the name of Elokim returns in the opening of this week’s Parasha, it is another abrupt shift. At this point, an aspect that was absent last week comes into play. The Torah is discussing not just the plan to destroy the world but also the plan to preserve it. For even when Noach’s favor in Hashem’s eyes is announced, it is not yet connected to the building of the Ark. All of that comes only in the beginning of this week’s Parasha.
The plan to build the Ark and to preserve a piece of Creation is a reboot of Creation. Just as the Creation itself was described using the name “Elokim,” so also the reboot is in that name. Even when Noach is ordered out of the Ark and back onto the land, the name “Elokim” is used, because that is part of the reboot. Both this and the original Creation story have commandments to be fruitful and multiply -- and both come in the name of “Elokim.”
Significantly, however, the name “Hashem” does not disappear. Each time it returns, it is an announcement that Noach’s travails take place within the context of a relationship with Hashem of some closeness. From “Hashem,” for example, Noach learns that he is not just going to preserve two of each species of animal. He will preserve seven of each pure (Kosher) animal. These were preserved in greater numbers because they will be involved in sacrificial offerings. And when the offerings are made on the newly dry ground, it is with the name “Hashem” that we hear the promise never to curse or smite living things again. The name “Hashem” appears another time, as the door of the Ark closes, an extraordinary personal kindness.
With this background, we can understand a crucial aspect of the only words that Noach utters in the entire Parasha. He has diligently followed orders throughout the story, but he has never spoken. Even when he enters into the Bris with “Elokim,” he offers no words from his side.
It is only after the embarrassing drunken episode with his children and grandson Kanaan that he speaks up. To Kanaan, representing his son Cham, he offers a curse with no use of a divine name, announcing Kanaan’s alienation from the divine. To Yefet and to Shem, he gives blessings but, notably, in the blessings he invokes different divine names. To Yefet, he uses “Elokim” while to Shem he invokes “Hashem.” Yefet will have a connection to the divine, but it will be a formalized and distant relationship. With Shem, the possibility of something far more intimate will be possible.
As the reboot continues, that relationship is accessible. After 10 more generations, Avraham Avinu will pick up on this opportunity as Hashem -- using only the name “Hashem” -- will speak to him and command him to begin his journey.
