Noach 7:10 · unit 3

TT #23 · Parashas Noach · Second Aliyah · Passuk 7:10

The Complete Passuk

וַיְהִ֖י לְשִׁבְעַ֣ת הַיָּמִ֑ים וּמֵ֣י הַמַּבּ֔וּל הָי֖וּ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

And it came to pass after the seven days that the waters of the Flood were upon the earth.

Chabad.org — 7:10

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to the midrash that Hashem gave them a foretaste of the World to Come (Tosefta Sotah / parallel).

Sefaria — Tosefta Sotah (related)

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
וַיְהִי לְשִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים — מַה טִּיבָם שֶׁל שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים? שֶׁהִטְעִימָן [הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא] מֵעֵין הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא כְּדֵי שֶׁיֵּדְעוּ מַה טּוֹבָה שֶׁמָּנְעוּ מֵהֶם.

English: “After the seven days” — What is the nature of these seven days? That the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them a taste of the World to Come, so that they would know what goodness they had forfeited.

On the daf / in context: The seven days are understood as a final period of abundance and pleasure granted so that the generation would fully appreciate the loss that was about to come upon them.

Type of Learning

Custom (the seven days as a pedagogical foretaste of lost goodness).

What Is Learned

Hashem granted the generation seven days of heightened pleasure so they would know the goodness they were about to lose.