100. “And the Lord smelled the fragrant scent, and the Lord said in His heart, “I will not again curse the earth because of man.” When Noah came out of the ark, he opened his eyes and saw the whole world ruined. He began to cry over the world. He said, “Lord of the world, if You destroy Your world because of man’s sins or because of the fools, why did you create them? Either You would not create man, or You would not destroy the world.” He offered burnt offerings, and arose and prayed to Him, and that scent ascended before the Creator, and was pleasant to Him.
101. Three scents ascended to him: the scent of his offering, the scent of his prayer, and the scent of his actions. There was no scent in the world like that scent. For this reason, He commanded and said, “My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer to Me at their appointed time.” That is, the scent that Noah offered to Me, preserve so as to offer to Me, the scent of the offering, the prayer, and the skill of the actions.
102. Noah was smart. He understood the whisper and the tweets of all created beings and what they implied. When he was in the ark, he said, “I know that there is no cleverer bird than the crow in knowing signs in the world. Promptly, “and he sent out the raven.”
103. How did he do this? After all, it is forbidden to look at those who make guesses in the birds of the sky, for it is in the rule that is written, “You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes,” so any guess at all is forbidden.
104. Why did he send the crow? Noah regretted the destruction of the world. He said, “Lord of the world, I know that You are merciful, and You had no mercy on Your world, and turned Your mercy into cruelty; You had no mercy for Your children. Let the one who has no mercy for his children and becomes cruel to them come out. This is why he sent out the crow.
105. However, it is written about him that he was a righteous and complete man, so how did he throw words upwards? He spoke out of grief, and a person is not judged at a time of grief, as it is written, “Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without contemplation.” Although he threw words upward, his sentence is not as that of a willful wrongdoer, but as one who has no knowledge because of his anger.
106. The crow did not want to go in his mission, since he is destined for another mission, to sustain Elijah, as it is written, “And the crows were bringing him bread and meat.” He did not want to do his mission, as it is written, “It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth,” which was by the oath of Elijah. When Noah saw that he did not act properly, he sent the dove.
107. Two matters are implied here: 1) It is written, “like a dove, silly and without sense,” meaning from all my grief, my heart is not with me and is silly. 2) Noah said, “Among all the birds, there is none to suffer its death without disobedience like the dove. This is why Israel are compared to a dove, for we are destined to suffer everything without refusal, like the dove that suffers her death. This is why it is written, “And he sent out the dove.”
108. The Creator took Shem, Noah’s son, and dedicated him to be the High Priest, and to serve Him. He placed His Shechina with him and called his name Melchizedek king of Salem.” Yefet, his brother, learned Torah from him in his seminary until Abraham came and learned Torah in Shem’s seminary, and the Creator engaged with Abraham, and all the others were forgotten. Abraham came and prayed to the Creator to always instill His Shechina in the house of Shem, and he thanked him, as it is written, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
109. But Yefet was the elder, so why did Shem take the priesthood? It was because he was always engaging in the Torah, interpreting the ways of the world. From where did he have Torah? Adam HaRishon knew the Torah and left it through reception to his son Shet. Afterwards, it came to Hanoch, until it came to Shem and he was always engaging in it.
110. If the Torah was in Shem’s ministry, why did the Creator have to command the sons of Noah those commandments that they were commanded, if they were written in the Torah beforehand? When the flood came to the world and they went into the ark, they forgot it because of their great grief, until the Creator came and renewed for them those seven commandments.
111. He did not forget the Torah, but the Creator said, “If I tell them to observe my whole Torah [law], they will throw the yoke altogether from themselves, like others who said, ‘We do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.’ Instead, I will give them a few things, and they will observe them.
112. “Until someone who observes all of it will come,” and this is Abraham, as it is written, “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Because he learned the Torah from Shem, he took upon himself to observe the whole Torah. Therefore, the Creator sorted out for them seven commandments out of the Torah, so they would observe them.