The Universal Flood
The two letters י-ה (15) mark the Divine Presence between man and woman. According to the course, the generation of the Flood desecrated them.
By the principle of measure for measure, it was struck in the same measure: the waters rose 15 cubits (Genesis 7:20).
Water (H₂O, ratio 2:1) bears the signature of י:ה, which gives it, according to the course, the power to purify what desecrated them.
The letters י-ה (15) are fundamental in creation and in human life. What happens when they are desecrated by man’s fault?
Principle of Divine Justice: “measure for measure” (מדה כנגד מדה). Those who desecrated something sacred are struck in the same measure and intensity. In the Torah, water has a purifying power; that is why G-d used it in the Flood.
איש + אשה: the י (in איש) and the ה (in אשה) mark the Divine Presence. י (10) + ה (5) = 15.
According to the course, the generation of the Flood committed grave sins: violations of the laws of family purity, forbidden relations and widespread debauchery, destruction of the sacred bond between man and woman, desecration of the Divine Presence.
Since they desecrated the letters of value 15, they are struck in the same measure.
Examples of water’s purifying power in the Torah, cited by the course: the mikveh, the water of the red heifer, the washing of hands before meals, the Flood.
Since the desecration was universal, the purification had to be universal: the waters covered the whole surface of the earth. Water was chosen because it erases and renews: as it washes physical impurities, it purifies spiritual ones.
“Fifteen cubits upward the waters prevailed” (Genesis 7:20).
Why 15 rather than 14 or 16? Because those who desecrated the letters of value 15 (י-ה) are struck in the same measure. The 15 cubits of water come to purify exactly what had been desecrated.
According to the course, water (H₂O) also bears the signature of י-ה: 2 hydrogen to 1 oxygen, i.e. 2:1, like י (10) : ה (5) = 2:1.
Water thus contains the ratio of the two creative letters, hence its power to purify what desecrated them.
According to the course, the universal Flood reveals the mathematical precision of Divine Justice: י-ה (15) = Divine Presence between man and woman; desecration; purifying water; 15 cubits; measure for measure.
“Nothing is left to chance in the Torah: every number, every measure has a deep meaning.”
Quiz — The Universal Flood
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