Musar על בראשית 7:2

ויהי ביום השמיני . Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 42,4) have taught us a rule that whenever the Torah uses the expression ויהי, this is a reference to a painful experience. The sages are sometimes hard-pressed to demonstrate the validity of this dictum. Our question is why the Torah chooses to use an expression which points at something unpleasant when we are taught that elsewhere (Genesis 7,2) the Torah spent additional verbiage such as הבהמה אשר לא טהורה, "a category of animal which is not ritually pure," instead of simply saying בהמה טמאה, "an impure animal," merely to avoid referring expressly to something unpleasant?

This is the real meaning of "Noach found favor in the eyes of G–d, whereas G–d did not find." He stood out in his generation, since his generation did not respond to the exhortations, whereas Noach responded to G–d's "grace," i.e. וחנותי את אשר אחון. He had never become corrupt, nor was he put off by the failure of his fellow-men to heed him. Noach's contemporaries were ערלי לב, had uncircumcised hearts. When they did not respond to calls from above either, they demonstrated that they were also ערלי בשר, remained uncircumcised in their flesh and continued in their perversions. This is why both their bodies and their souls perished. This means that at the time of the resurrection their individual "files" will not be re-opened to determine if some of them qualify for another round of life on earth. Rabbi Aba in the Zohar, (Sullam edition page 75) comments as follows on Genesis 7,23: וימח את כל היקום … וימחו מן הארץ, "The words כל היקום אשר על פני האדמה, include all rulers past and present of the Gentile nations. Before G–d metes out retribution to the ordinary individual, He deals with those whose obligation it is to teach their subjects to be G–d-fearing, and who have failed to discharge their duties.