194. "And Noah went in, and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him" (Beresheet 7:7). Rabbi Chiya opened the discussion with the verse, "Can anyone hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says Hashem" (Yirmeyah 23:24). How blind and obtuse are the people who neither seek nor know the honor of their Master, of whom it is written: "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" (Ibid.). How do people expect to hide from their sins? They ask, "Who sees us? And who knows us?" (Yeshayah 24:15). And also, "They toil in the dark" (Ibid.). Where can they hide from Him?

195. This is similar to the story in which a king builds a palace with hidden, fortified, subterranean caves. And it came to pass that the inhabitants of the palace revolted against the king. So he surrounded them with his troops. And what did they do? They hid themselves inside the fortified hiding places. The king asked: As I made these caves, how can you expect to hide from me in them? This is why it says, "Can anyone hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says Hashem." It was I who made these fortified caves. It was I who made light and darkness. How can you hide from Me?

196. Come and behold: When a person sins before his Master and sins further by hiding himself AND MAKING HIMSELF BELIEVE THAT NOBODY IS WATCHING HIM, then the Holy One, blessed be He, punishes him openly. But when that person purifies himself AND REPENTS, then the Holy One, blessed be He, seeks to hide him so that he should not be seen on the day of the wrath of Hashem. For, certainly, every person should hide himself so as not to be seen by the Angel of Destruction, when the latter dwells in the world. He should not see him, as he is authorized to destroy all those whom he sees.

197. Rabbi Shimon said that every person who has the evil eye, has upon him the eye of the Angel of Destruction, who is called the 'Destroyer of the world.' Therefore, all should beware of such a person and not come close to him. By avoiding him, one shall be protected. It is forbidden to openly approach such a person, EXPOSING OURSELVES TO HIS EVIL EYE. If we must beware a person with the evil eye, so much more must we beware the Angel of Death AND HIDE OURSELVES ON THE DAY OF THE WRATH OF HASHEM.

198. Of Bilaam, it is written: "The speech of the man whose eyes are open" (Bemidbar 24:3), meaning that he had an evil eye, and wherever he looked, he drew the spirit of destruction on it. That is why he wanted to gaze on Yisrael, so that he could destroy all that his eye could see. Thus, it is written: "And Bilaam lifted up his eyes" (Ibid. 2), meaning he raised one eye and lowered the other, attempting to gaze on Yisrael with the evil eye.

199. Come and behold: It is written, "and he saw Yisrael dwelling according to their tribes" (Ibid.), and he also saw that the Shechinah hovered and brooded over them. Because She was made whole by the twelve tribes beneath Her, the eye of Bilaam could not have power over them. He said: How can I overcome them, as the supernal Holy Spirit, NAMELY BINAH, is hovering over them and protecting them with its wings? As it is written: "He couches, he lay down like a lion, and like a great lion; who shall stir him up?" (Ibid. 9) THAT IS, who shall raise it, THE SUPERNAL HOLY SPIRIT, THAT IT SHOULD STOP PROTECTING THEM, so that they might be revealed to the eye, which would then rule them?

200. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to protect Noah by hiding him out of sight, so that the impure spirit could not rule him and destroy him, as has already been explained. The words "And Noah went in" apply to what has previously been said - that he entered the ark to be hidden from sight. The words, "because of the waters of the flood" indicate that the waters actually pushed him INTO THE ARK, meaning that he saw the waters of the Flood and was afraid. As a result, he "went...into the ark." Rabbi Yosi added that Noah saw the Angel of Death arrive WITH THE WATERS OF THE FLOOD and that is why he entered the ark.

201. And he protected himself BY STAYING IN THE ARK for twelve months. Why twelve months? On this point, Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yehuda have different opinions. One says that the twelve months are the period of the sentence of the wicked IN GEHENOM; the other says that the purpose of the twelve months was to enable NOAH the righteous to complete himself through twelve stages, so that he and all the others could emerge from the ark. BECAUSE EACH STAGE REQUIRES ONE MONTH FOR COMPLETION, THEY WERE DELAYED FOR TWELVE MONTHS.

202. Rabbi Yehuda said: IN GEHENOM, THE WICKED ARE PUNISHED with water for six months and with fire for six months. So why DURING THE FLOOD WERE THEY PUNISHED only by water for twelve months? SIX MONTHS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. Rabbi Yosi told him that they were sentenced to both punishments of Gehenom: water and fire. THEY WERE PUNISHED by water, and the water that fell upon them from above was cold as snow. And THEY WERE ALSO PUNISHED by fire, because the water that sprouted from the deep was scalding. Thus, they were punished for twelve months, receiving the full sentence of Gehenom - six by water and six by fire. This continued until they were completely removed from the face of the world. During this time, Noah was hidden in the ark. As a result, the Angel of Destruction did not approach him, and the ark roamed upon the waters, as it is written: "And they bore up the ark, and it was lifted above the earth" (Beresheet 7:17).

203. They were smitten for forty days. As it is written: "And the Flood was forty days upon the earth" (Ibid.). For the duration of the 12 months, they were being erased, as it is written: "They were destroyed from the earth" (Ibid. 23) Woe to those wicked people, because they shall not rise from the dead and appear in the world to be judged, for "they were destroyed from the earth" as is described in the verse: "You have blotted out their name for ever and ever" (Tehilim 9:6). So they shall not even be allowed to stand to be judged, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY SHALL NOT EVEN BE AMONG THOSE WHO SHALL RISE AND STAND EVERLATIVNG CONTAMPT AS IS WRITTEN IN DANIEL (12:2).