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Adapted from Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin (Sanhedrin 108b)
Edition William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic Translation English translation by Maggid , since no free public English translation of this passage exists.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC-BY-NC) "A light you shall make for the ark" (Genesis 6:16). Rabbi Yochanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Noah: Set in it precious stones and pearls, so that they may give light to you like the noonday.
״צֹהַר תַּעֲשֶׂה לַתֵּבָה״ – אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְנֹחַ, קְבַע בָּהּ אֲבָנִים טוֹבוֹת וּמַרְגָּלִיּוֹת, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיוּ מְאִירוֹת לָכֶם כַּצׇּהֳרַיִם.
Commentary This myth evolves out of an attempt to resolve two problems in the biblical text: the nature of the light of the first day of Creation, before the creation of the sun and moon and stars, and the meaning of Tzohar in the passage about building the ark. The midrash explains that the light of the first day was a sacred light, which, according to some accounts, was cast from God's garment of light, and, according to others, was reflected from the robe of the Shekhinah. See "The Light of the First Day," p. 83. The vehicle of the chain midrash makes it possible for it to be transmitted from Adam to Noah, and then from Noah to Abraham and the other patriarchs. In Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, 10, a Tzohar ~\ike pearl is described as having been suspended in the belly of the whale, where it was said to have shone as brightly as the sun at noon. It showed Jonah all that was in the sea and in the depths. According to the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai also had possession of the Tzohar: "Our companion. Bar Yohai, has a jewel, a precious stone, and I have looked upon the light emitted by it, and it is like die light of the sun, illuminating the whole world. This light extends from the heavens to the earth, and will continue to illumine the world until the Ancient of Days comes, and sits upon His throne" ( Zohar l:lla-llb). The Tzohar also appears in various Jewish folk and Hasidic tales, usually in the form of a glowing jewel found in some accidental way. See "The Soul of the Avi," about an eggshaped glowing jewel, in Gabriel’s Palace, p. 258. It is possible that J. R. R. Tolkien made use of some of the legends about the Tzohar in The Silmarillion, in which the central motif concerns jewels containing the last of a primordial light.
