Noah: Savior of Mankind - And the Ark that helped...

"Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations" (Bereishis 6:9)

  G-d sees the world is bad and finds Noah, 'The Last Man on Earth' (Get it?) who is still good. G-d chooses him and his family to continue life on Earth. But first they had to survive The Flood.
But how are they supposed to do that?

"Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and you shall caulk it both inside and outside with pitch." (Bereishis 6:14)

 First of all, why on Earth would G-d force Noah to construct an Ark with rooms that's sealed and insulated, when G-d can wipe out the world and not have to bother with this?
The answer is so the people of the world could watch Noah build this- not large- GIGANTIC Ark for the next 120 years and ask him why. Noah would answer and G-d hoped they would repent.

 To quote Bill Cosby, he had a cynical rendition of one of the conversations that probably took place:

I was just wondering: What would be the effect of an Ark on the average neighbor?
Now, here's a guy going to work, 7 o'clock in the morning - Noahs next door neighbor and he sees the Ark. 

Neighbor: Hey! You up there! 

Noah: What you want? 

Neighbor: What is this? 

Noah: It's an Ark 

Neighbor: Aha... 

 You wanna get it outta my driveway?
 I gotta get to work!
 Listen, what this thing for anyway? 

Noah: I can't tell you
 Hahahahaha! 

Neighbor: Well, I mean can't you give me a little hint? 

Noah: You wanna a hint? 

Neighbor: Yes, please 

Noah: How long can you tread water?

 G-d gives Noah all of the dimensions and specifications.

...The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 

A window shall you make for the ark, and to a cubit shall you taper it on top, and the door of the ark shall you set in its side; with lower, second, and third stories shall you make it. (Bereishis 6:15-16)

 Dimensions List:

• Length: 300 cu.
• Width: 50 cu.
• Height: 30 cu.
• Extra Window + Door: 1 cu.

What's very special about these dimensions is that they are equal to the Hebrew letters: Shin, Mem, Lamed and Aleph.
This spells out the name Sah-muh-el. This is the name of the angel of evil. Pure evil. Why would G-d choose these exact dimensions if they represent something so bad? The answer is that the dimensions were bad, but what was inside the Ark was all good. And that would protect them.

 The material and sealer/insulation needed to be exactly as was asked for. Interestingly, Moshe (the leader of Bnei Yisroel in years to come) was placed in a basket. This basket was only sealed on the outside. This was done only because the Nile river was calm. The Flood of Noah's generation was going to be a whirling whirlpool of wickedness for a year, therefore it needed to be sealed on the inside and outside.

  The window that was asked for was needed for light because the rest of the Ark was completely sealed. The Gen. Rabbah says, "Some say [that it was] a window, and some say [that it was] a precious stone, which gave them light (31:11)". Also, it's explained that the 1 cu. was actually slanted on the top so it would be more of a triangle and that would allow the water to run off and not be trapped on top which would create leaks.
[Le Corbusier once designed a house that had that exact problem. A million dollar problem.]
 The door was placed on the side of the 1 cu. so water would not get into it. Obviously, the Ark was not created to be a submarine.

Masechet Sanhedrin explains why the Ark was three stories: The top floor was for people, the middle for all the animals (and demons), and the bottom was for waste. The smell from the 3rd to the 2nd floor was only a problem when the animals needed to be fed. And it was a miracle that the animals behaved themselves well for the 40 days that they spent cooped up together on the Ark.

Why can't we act like that for a 2 hour trip? Because we're human, I guess.

Thus, G-d thought out perfectly again the exact dimensions for the survival of Noah and his family. Although, it should be mentioned that, given the dimensions, there was more than plenty of room for people to come onto the Ark. Noah and his family were only eight people (not including grandchildren). G-d really was hoping for the people to repent. Alas, they did not and Noah and his family had this shopping mall sized living area to live in for the next year.

Have a Good Shabbas, dear reader.