Комментарий к Берешит 8:20

מכל הבהמה הטהרה OF ALL CLEAN CATTLE — He said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, ordered me to take in seven pairs of these only in order that I might offer a sacrifice of them” (Genesis Rabbah 34:9).

ויבן נח, at the very site where he had come out of the ark. It is possible that he left the ark on Mount Ararat, where the ark had been reported as coming to rest (7,2), or that the ark had moved away from there after having come to rest there temporarily. Or, Noach, after exiting from the ark walked a distance before he found a suitable site or cave to establish a temporary residence. As soon as he found a place to start farming, he built an altar to thank G’d for his and his family’s deliverance. According to Bereshit Rabbah 34,9 this was the great altar in Jerusalem where Adam had brought his offering, and this is what Psalms 69,32 refers to when David speaks of ותיטיב לה' משור פר מקרין מפריס, “which will please the Lord more than oxen, bulls with horns, and hooves.”

ויבן נח מזבח לה’, “Noach built an altar for the Lord, etc.” Noach’s thinking when offering sacrifices was in an ascending manner. First, he built an altar on earth, addressing himself to G-d as the attribute of Mercy, hence the word לה’. From this attribute of Mercy, he proceeded to ויעל עלת, “he raised total-offerings on top of that altar.” Although the word עולות for total-offerings is read as a plural, it is spelled without the letters ו, i.e. as if it were a singular. This indicated his intent to elevate himself spiritually by means of the sacrifices. The animal was to take his place symbolically when the smoke of its flesh rose heavenwards. Isaiah 60,7 where the prophet, quoting G-d, exclaims יעלו על רצון מזבחי ובית תפארתי אפאר, “they will ascend on high achieving goodwill associated with My altar and I will glorify even further My glorious House,” is similar. [We would have expected the prophet to write יעלו לרצון על מזבחי, “they will ascend on My altar to achieve goodwill, etc.” The change in the wording indicates that the person offering the sacrifice wanted to achieve a spiritual union with Him [Who is “above,” Ed.]. We find such a concept even with Manoach in Judges. He had not even bothered to build an altar [it was forbidden at that time to build private altars, Ed.], but the prophet described the ascent of his sacrifice from a spiritual point located as higher than the altar i.e. מעל המזבח, “from above the altar” (Judges 13,20). Subsequently, that same sacrifice is described as reaching heaven. At that point the angel is depicted as “taking a ride in the flame and ascending” (to heaven? also). The word להב in Judges may be understood as connected to לב, heart. In other words, the heart was the medium which enabled the sacrifice and what it stood for to reach heaven. This explains G-d’s reaction which is described here in the words וירח את ריח הניחח, “G-d’s bounty which originates in the celestial regions was drawn “downwards”. At that point G-d said אל לבו, to the attribute of Justice, “I will not continue ever to allow My attribute of Justice to curse the earth because of man, i.e. “because I have discovered something positive in man.”