Midrash for Genesis 8:1

Another interpretation (of Eccl. 9:14-15): THERE WAS A LITTLE CITY, i.e., the world;⁴Gen. R. 33:2; Eccl. R. 9:14/15:1. WITH FEW PEOPLE IN IT, i.e., the generation of the flood; AND A GREAT KING CAME AGAINST IT, i.e., the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One; AND BUILT GREAT SIEGE WORKS AGAINST IT, as stated (in Gen. 6:13): BEHOLD, I AM DESTROYING THEM WITH THE EARTH. (Eccl. 9:14-15:) NOW THERE WAS FOUND IN IT A PERSON WHO WAS POOR AND WISE, i.e., Noah; WHO MIGHT HAVE DELIVERED THE CITY BY HIS WISDOM. (Gen. 7:1:) COME YOU AND ALL YOUR HOUSE INTO THE ARK. (Eccl. 9:15, cont.:) BUT NO ONE THOUGHT (ZKR) ABOUT THAT POOR PERSON. The Holy One said: No one remembered (ZKR) him, but I am remembering (rt.: ZKR) him, as stated (in Gen. 8:1): THEN GOD REMEMBERED (rt.: ZKR) NOAH.

Rabbi Yehudah the son of Simon interpreted this reading as applying to generations: "and the earth was formless and void" (tohu vavohu), this is Adam the first, since he was made made entirely into nothing. "And void" (vavohu), this is Cain, who sought to return the world to "formlessness and void". And "darkness" (choshech), this is the generation of Enosh, on whom further [it says] "and their works were in darkness (bemach'shach)" (Isaiah 29:15) and they said "who is watching us and who will see us?". "On the face of the deep (tehom)", this is the generation of the flood, as it is said "On this day all the springs of the deep (tehom) were broken open" (Genesis 7:11). "And the spirit (ruach) of God fluttered over the face of the waters" on which it is further said "And God caused a wind (ruach) to pass over the earth" (Genesis 9:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: "how long shall the universe accustom itself to deep darkness? Let the light come!": "And Hashem said let there be light", this is Abraham. See! It is written "Who has raised (heʿir) up one from the east, righteousness" (Isaiah 41:2); do not read "raised up (heʿir with an ayin), but rather "illuminate" (heʾir with an alef). "And Hashem called the light 'day'", this is Jacob. "And the darkness he called night", this is Esau. "And it was evening", this is Esau. "And it was morning", this is Jacob. "And there was evening", the evening of Esau. "And there was morning", the morning of Jacob. "One day (yom echad)" as it is written "And there shall be one day (yom echad) which shall be known as the Hashem's, not day, and not night" (Zechariah 14:7). There is another issue with one day, that the Holy One, blessed be He, have him "one day", and what is this? Yom Kippur.

And the water exterminated all flesh that was upon the earth, man and cattle, and beasts of ‎the field, and creeping things, and the fowls of heaven, all perished, save Noah and those with ‎him in the ark. And the waters increased greatly and grew in strength upon the earth, and they ‎lifted up the ark and raised it from the ground. And the ark moved on upon the face of the ‎waters. And the ark was rolling upon the waters, this way and that way, and all the living ‎beings, that were in it were turned over and shaken about, even as a pottage is shaken in a ‎pot; and the ark was likely to be shattered into pieces. And all the animals that were in the ark ‎were frightened, and the lions were roaring, and the oxen were lowing, and the wolves were ‎howling, and every bird in the ark uttered shrieks after its own language, and the noise re-‎echoed in the distance. And Noah and his sons also were crying and weeping in their trouble, ‎and they were greatly terrified as if they had reached the gates of 'death. And Noah prayed ‎fervently, and he cried unto the Lord on account of that trouble, and he said: Oh Lord help us, ‎for there is in us no strength to bear this great evil wherewith thou hast surrounded us; for the ‎wild breakers encircle us, and the whirlpools of the lower regions terrify us and the snares of ‎death are before us. Answer us Lord, oh answer us! Let thy countenance shine upon us and be ‎gracious unto us, redeem us and save us, oh Lord! And the Lord hearkened unto the voice of ‎Noah, and the Lord remembered him. And a wind passed over the earth and the waters ‎became quiet, and the ark came to rest. And the fountains of the deep were stopped and the ‎windows of heaven also, and it ceased to rain upon the earth. And the waters began to ‎decrease in those days, and the ark rested among the mountains of Ararat. And Noah opened ‎the windows of the ark at that time, and Noah cried out in prayer to the Lord once more at ‎that time, saying: Oh Lord, thou who hast created the earth the heavens and all that is in them, ‎oh deliver us from this prison, and from this danger wherein thou hast cast us; for I am almost ‎exhausted with my sighs. And the Lord hearkened unto the voice of Noah and he said unto ‎him: After thou shalt have been in the ark a full year thou shalt go out of it. And it was at the ‎end of a year of Noah's dwelling in the ark that the waters dried up from the earth, and Noah ‎removed the covering of the ark At that time, on the twenty-seventh day of the second ‎month, the earth was perfectly dry; but Noah, and his sons, and all with him, did not leave the ‎ark until the Lord would tell them to leave it. And on the day that the Lord ordered them to go ‎forth, all went out from the ark. And all the animals went their own ways and returned to their ‎former places.‎