tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post115219553271910600..comments2024-03-05T21:22:43.426-05:00Comments on parshablog: Must Read Noah's Rainbow Sighted Over Idaho; Correct Peshat in the Pesukim in Parshat Noachjoshwaxmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03516171362038454070noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1161746770865533042006-10-24T23:26:00.000-04:002006-10-24T23:26:00.000-04:00great question, and I have three possible answers,...great question, and I have three possible answers, deliberately in no particular order of declared correctness.<BR/><BR/>#1 challenges certain presuppositions:<BR/>because Chazal, who instituted the bracha, interpreted the pasuk differently, as referring to a regular rainbow. whether halacha should change as a result (it shouldn't, IMHO) is a separate issue.<BR/><BR/>#2 is that this is based on the gemara in Berachot 59a:<BR/>וא"ר אלכסנדרי אמר ריב"ל הרואה את הקשת בענן צריך שיפול על פניו שנאמר (יחזקאל א) כמראה הקשת אשר יהיה בענן וגו' ואראה ואפול על פני לייטי עלה במערבא משום דמחזי כמאן דסגיד לקשתא אבל ברוכי ודאי מברך מאי מברך ברוך זוכר הברית במתניתא תנא ר' ישמעאל בנו של ר' יוחנן בן ברוקא אומר נאמן בבריתו וקיים במאמרו א"ר פפא הלכך נימרינהו לתרוייהו ברוך זוכר הברית ונאמן בבריתו וקיים במאמרו<BR/><BR/>where the phrasing is once again the keshet in the anan, the rainbow in the clouds. which would make our present (post-Talmudic) interpretation of the gemara incorrect.<BR/><BR/>#3 is that I am incorrect in this explanation of the pesukim in Noach. One can certainly muster up an argument in favor of this, in light of the pasuk in Yechezkel 1:28, cited in the aforementioned gemara:<BR/>כְּמַרְאֵה הַקֶּשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בֶעָנָן בְּיוֹם הַגֶּשֶׁם, כֵּן מַרְאֵה הַנֹּגַהּ סָבִיב--הוּא, מַרְאֵה דְּמוּת כְּבוֹד-יְהוָה; וָאֶרְאֶה וָאֶפֹּל עַל-פָּנַי, וָאֶשְׁמַע קוֹל מְדַבֵּר<BR/>"As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke."joshwaxmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06958375916391742462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1161742338272252922006-10-24T22:12:00.000-04:002006-10-24T22:12:00.000-04:00why would we make the bracha of zoher habb'rith on...why would we make the bracha of zoher habb'rith on a regular rainbow as well if this was not the rainbow shown to noah?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1152662502561582022006-07-11T20:01:00.000-04:002006-07-11T20:01:00.000-04:00If it matters, someone once told me this years ago...If it matters, someone once told me this years ago, without identifying the specific form of rainbow. Just that it was not the usual rainbow, but a rainbow that is in a cloud.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1152199728782752532006-07-06T11:28:00.000-04:002006-07-06T11:28:00.000-04:00firstly, it has the colors of a rainbow so could m...firstly, it has the colors of a rainbow so could merit the Hebrew term regardless.<BR/><BR/>secondly, it does actually arc. Look carefully at the above picture. not as much as a regular rainbow, but there is a reason it is called a circumhorizon *arc*. That is that it *arcs*.<BR/><BR/>It is perhaps clearer is this picture:<BR/><BR/>http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/chaim7.htm<BR/><BR/>An interesting note on this second picture also could explain the rarity. They write there:<BR/><BR/>"Circumhorizon arcs must often be sought between lower obscuring clouds."<BR/><BR/>Since they are so high up and can be obscured by other, lower clouds, it decreases probability of their being seen.joshwaxmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06958375916391742462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1152199176503618472006-07-06T11:19:00.000-04:002006-07-06T11:19:00.000-04:00How does this type of rainbow resemble a bow so th...How does this type of rainbow resemble a bow so that it would have merited the name keshet?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1152197413637415812006-07-06T10:50:00.000-04:002006-07-06T10:50:00.000-04:00well, rare enough that Snopes had to have a post o...well, rare enough that Snopes had to have a post on it.<BR/>as the breathless email going around stated," the rarest of all" - there are all of these conditions that need to occur - cirrus clouds, greater than 58 degrees, a specific height.<BR/><BR/>this web site:<BR/>http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/chaim0.htm<BR/><BR/>lists it among infrequent rainbows.<BR/>and this web page<BR/><BR/>http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/whyinfr.htm<BR/><BR/>explains why these rainbows are infrequent. In fact, it *is* the least frequent halo.<BR/><BR/>From that last page, the most frequent, the 22 degree halo occurs on average in Europe 100 days a year. From the chart on that page of relative frequency, a circumhorizon halo has a relative frequency of 0.1.<BR/>A relative frequency of 1 would mean a dedicated sky watcher might catch sight of it once a year.<BR/><BR/>That means with a relative freq of 0.1, a dedicated skywatcher might catch sight of it 1 time every 10 years.<BR/><BR/>Still not really good enough for the Ramban - there should have been a few hundred such rainbows occuring until then.<BR/><BR/>However, unlike regular rainbows which occur everywhere, these occur under specific circumstances and if Hashem wanted, he could have guided the weather to avoid these specific circumstances. I imagine the Ramban might have agreed to such a position.<BR/><BR/>Further, people were not such dedicated skywatchers and, at least according to the Biblical narrative, had not yet spread out over such a wide area, and so might very well not have witnessed the phenomenon, which would thus make it even rarer.joshwaxmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06958375916391742462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5589564.post-1152196247961908872006-07-06T10:30:00.000-04:002006-07-06T10:30:00.000-04:00Interesting idea, especially in how it's implied b...Interesting idea, especially in how it's implied by the p'sukim, but how rare is a fire rainbow, anyway, that we would be able to discount the challenge of the Ramban?Josh M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14414532577328945154noreply@blogger.com