The source of light in the ark
"Let there be light."
Even people who know practically no other Biblical verses are familiar with the fiat lux, the first utterance of creation that brought light into existence on the first day.
What we consider our sources of light -- the sun, other stars, and the moon that reflects the sun's light were only created on the fourth day. Clearly, the daylight of the earlier days were not based on the earth's rotation around the sun but on the primordial light that existed independently of celestial bodies.
This light may have continued to shine even after the sun and stars were set into place for that first week of creation, though man could not endure the strength of it after sinning. Hashem so-to-speak packed it away for tzadikim in the future.
Nonetheless, the concept of that light that exists independently of sources of illumination like our sun and the stars is one that is carried on through our conception of the universe.
Precious stone or glass?
That comes into play in the debate about what the tzohar -- an instance of hapax legomenon (a word that appears only a single time in the Bible)-- in the teva was (Bereishis 6:14) Rashi doesn't tell us conclusively but cites a disagreement in Bereishis Rabba 33
צֹהַר תַּעֲשֶׂה לַתֵּבָה (בראשית ו, טז), רַבִּי חוּנְיָה וְרַבִּי פִּינְחָס רַבִּי חָנִין וְרַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָא לָא מְפָרְשִׁין, רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא וְרַבִּי לֵוִי מְפָרְשִׁין. רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא אָמַר, חַלּוֹן. רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר, מַרְגָּלִיּוֹת. רַבִּי פִּינְחָס מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר כָּל שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ שֶׁהָיָה נֹחַ בַּתֵּבָה, לֹא צָרִיךְ לֹא לְאוֹר הַחַמָּה בַּיּוֹם וְלֹא לְאוֹר הַלְּבָנָה בַּלַּיְלָה, אֶלָּא מַרְגָּלִית הָיְתָה לוֹ וְהָיָה תּוֹלֶה אוֹתָהּ, וּבְשָׁעָה שֶׁהִיא כֵּהָה הָיָה יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא יוֹם, וּבְשָׁעָה שֶׁהָיְתָה מַבְהֶקֶת הָיָה יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא לַיְלָה
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: It was a window. Rabbi Levi said: It was a luminous precious stone. According to the latter opinion, the luminous stone didn't offer the same intensity of light for 24 hours but dimmed in the night and shined more brightly at night -- in much the same manner that we use electric lights to augment sunlight.
What Rabbi Levi describes is what scientists describe as persistent luminescence, also referred to as persistent phosphorescence. We know it as glow-in-the-dark. In more scientific terms, it is defined as emission obtained after the removal of an excitation source. As Rabbi Levi, described, the light grows s "after the removal of the light source" AKA in the night when there is no longer sunlight acting as the excitation source. Then it can continue glowing for hours -- throughout the night.
Closed or open?
I remember R' Copperman z"l observing that this isn't just an argument about the structure of the ark but about the universe itself. As the ark was designed -- like the mishkan that would follow -- as a microcosm of the universe, an understanding of how the light operated reflects different views. Is the universe a closed or open system?
What fascinating, though, is that the take on the luminous stone also supposes that sunlight was coming through. If that were not the case, it wouldn't make sense for it to grow dimmer during the day. You only can dim your lights if your windows let in sunlight. So perhaps there is a kind of complementary systems at work with a universe that contain its own luminous sun but that also can take in external light through some form of window that communicates with what is beyond our physical boundaries.
Definitely closed per Rav Yochanan
Sanhedrin 108B:
״צֹהַר תַּעֲשֶׂה לַתֵּבָה״ – אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְנֹחַ, קְבַע בָּהּ אֲבָנִים טוֹבוֹת וּמַרְגָּלִיּוֹת, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיוּ מְאִירוֹת לָכֶם כַּצׇּהֳרַיִם.
With regard to the verse: “A tzohar you shall make for the ark” Rabbi Yoḥanan says that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Noah: Set precious stones and jewels in the ark so that they will shine for you as the noonday [tzohorayim] sun.
R' Yochanan then adopts the opinion of the tzohar = lumninous jewel. But in contrast to the way Rabbi Levi describes the stone as getting dimmer during daylight, he describes them as shining like the noonday sun. The Torah Temima says that this means that it was a closed system. There was no window to allow in light or a view to the outside because Noach was not allowed to see what was going on outside the teva.
The Torah Temima says that this is related to the prohibition for Lot and his family to look back at the destruction of Sdom when they were saved because their merit was not great enough for that. He points out that R' Yochanan is consistent with his interpretation of Noach's status.
Parshas Noach introduces Noach with these words: אֵ֚לֶּה תּֽוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו The following are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a perfectly righteous man in his generation.
Rashi references Sanhedrin 108A בְּדֹֽרֹתָיו. יֵשׁ מֵרַבּוֹתֵינוּ דּוֹרְשִׁים אוֹתוֹ לְשֶׁבַח, כָּל שֶׁכֵּן אִלּוּ הָיָה בְדוֹר צַדִּיקִים הָיָה צַדִּיק יוֹתֵר; וְיֵשׁ שֶׁדּוֹרְשִׁים אוֹתוֹ לִגְנַאי, לְפִי דוֹרוֹ הָיָה צַדִּיק וְאִלּוּ הָיָה בְדוֹרוֹ שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם לֹא הָיָה נֶחְשָׁב לִכְלוּם in saying that the stress on "in his generation" some rabbis interpret positively -- he would have been even greater if he were surrounded by other righteous people. Other interpret it or negatively -- he was only a relatively righteous man in his own generation, though compared to Avraham, he would have been of no account.
Though Rashi doesn't name the rabbis, the Gemara does: אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: ״בְּדוֹרוֹתָיו״, וְלֹא בְּדוֹרוֹת אֲחֵרִים. וְרֵישׁ לָקִישׁ אָמַר: ״בְּדוֹרוֹתָיו״, כׇּל שֶׁכֵּן בְּדוֹרוֹת אֲחֵרִים. Rabbi Yochanan says: Relative to the other people of his generation he was righteous and wholehearted, but not relative to those of other generations. And Reish Lakish says: In his generation he was righteous and wholehearted despite being surrounded by bad influences; all the more so would he have been considered righteous and wholehearted in other generations.
The Torah Temima shows that R' Yochanan is consistent. As he considered Noach's tzidkus to fall short, he also would see that he would have to be cut off from seeing the destruction of the mabul. That's the philosophical point. Being a practical person, though, the Torah Temima also points out that a single window would not suffice to illuminate a whole ark with three levels in any case. That's why it makes sense to him that there were multiple luminous gems installed to generate the amount of light required.
Or it's possible that there was a way the light was extended through the different decks with a device ships have used.
Perhaps a prism
I was thinking about the light source of the ark since my visit this summer to the Maritime Museum at Battleship Cove because of this deck prism made me think of the tzohar. While the prism is not luminous itself, it does refract light to effectively illuminate a wooden ship without exposing it to the danger of open fires.
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| Deck prism exhibited in the Maritime Museum at Battleship Cove The museum's description is as follows: In the days before electricity, light below a vessel's deck was provided by candles, oil and kerosene lamps, all dangerous aboard a wooden ship. A clever solution for the lighting problem was the deck prism. Laid flush into the deck, small conical prisms drew light down below decks, without weakening the deck plan This deck prism is an exact reproduction of Mystic Seaport's remaining original CHARLES W. MORGAN deck prism. |
I wanted to shed some Torah light today in particular in honor of my mother's yahrzeit on 28 Tishrei.. My husband already made 2 siyumim and a kiddush for the occasion. The neshama of Schulamith bas R' Dov Yehuda should have an aliya. Perhaps the notion of a connection between our existence and the more spiritual plane also can attest to our deeds below having an impact on those who no longer operate under the sun. It's something to think about when we kindle the yahrzeit candles.
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