Noah's Ark

Its miserable out there.  So much rain, so much wet.  I realized I had a hole in my rubber wellies when I got out of the car at Short Street, and in the darkness, stepped right into a very deep puddle.  My foot was soaked.  Must have been a nail or something that poked a hole through the boot.

The last thing I wanted to do was go out into the pouring rain this morning, especially after I had my hair straightened two days ago, professionally.  But I rugged up.  Bundled my hair in a pony tail, put an old lady plastic bonnet over that, and then my sweatshirt hood over that.  I came home and stripped off every last soaking piece of clothing I had on, and my hair was still damp.

I do it though because of the animals.  They are hungry, and no matter the weather, they depend on me to come and give them something to eat.  Poor babies.  I try to make their meager shelters as comfortable for them as possible.  Must get more shelter. 

I leave you with this story, the Rabbinic Judaism version of Noah's Ark.

The Building of Noah's Ark (painting by a French master of 1675).

Talmudic tractates Sanhedrin, Avodah Zarah and Zevahim relate that, while Noah was building the ark, he attempted to warn his neighbors of the coming deluge, but was ignored or mocked. In order to protect Noah and his family, God placed lions and other ferocious animals to guard them from the wicked who tried to stop them from entering the ark. According to one Midrash, it was God, or the angels, who gathered the animals to the ark, together with their food. As there had been no need to distinguish between clean and unclean animals before this time, the clean animals made themselves known by kneeling before Noah as they entered the ark. A differing opinion said that the ark itself distinguished clean animals from unclean, admitting seven pairs each of the former and one pair each of the latter.

According to Sanhedrin 108B, Noah was engaged both day and night in feeding and caring for the animals, and did not sleep for the entire year aboard the ark.^[30] The animals were the best of their species, and so behaved with utmost goodness. They abstained from procreation, so that the number of creatures that disembarked was exactly equal to the number that embarked. The raven created problems, refusing to leave the ark when Noah sent it forth and accusing the patriarch of wishing to destroy its race, but as the commentators pointed out, God wished to save the raven, for its descendants were destined to feed the prophet Elijah.

According to one tradition, refuse was stored on the lowest of the ark's three decks, humans and clean beasts on the second, and the unclean animals and birds on the top; a differing interpretation described the refuse as being stored on the utmost deck, from where it was shoveled into the sea through a trapdoor. Precious stones, said to be as bright as the noon sun, provided light, and God ensured that food remained fresh.^[31][32][33] Some more unorthodox interpretations of the ark narrative also surfaced: the 12th-century Jewish commentator Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted the ark as being a vessel that remained underwater for 40 days, after which it floated to the surface.

Interesting, eh?

OH!  Baxter is going to his hopefully forever home today!  Fingers crossed!  :)  Now we have Paddy, Peaches and Peppercorn, the adults, and Riley, Squirt, Sydney and Joanie, the kittens, to find homes for!  Spread the word!

Happy Friday!