Genesis 6:11 וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃ The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. (JPS translation) Now the earth had gone to ruin before God, the earth was filled with wrongdoing. (Everett Fox translation) The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Koren translation) The earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violent crime. (Metsuda translation)
Today I have provided four different translations of this one sentence in the Torah. It is the reason the Torah gives us for why God had to destroy the earth and start over with Noah after the flood. The strange thing about the verse is it ends in the Hebrew word “Hamas.”
“I know when I see it” is a phrase made famous by Justice Potter Stewart in 1964. While he was talking about a different topic, the phrase could easily be used when describing barbaric, inhumane behavior.
Israel did not choose the name of its enemy in this war. Hamas did. However, when we see it, it is our job, our sacred obligation to name it and call it out. Hamas brought on the flood. Hamas brought on this war. Unfortunately, since creation it has been the enemy of civilization.
Greenburgh Hebrew Center rabbistein@ghcny.org 515 Broadway Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 914-693-4260 office@ghcny.org www.ghcny.org
