<p>The raven has a terrible reputation in Jewish tradition. Thief. Scoundrel. Untrustworthy. And according to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, a medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, the raven earned its worst punishment through a single act of slander aboard Noah's Ark.</p>
<p>The Sages of Israel debated why the raven mates differently from all other birds. Some said it was because the raven broke the rules on the Ark by mating during the Flood, when all creatures were commanded to abstain. Others said it was simply because the raven was wicked by nature. But one Sage offered a fuller story that unified both views.</p>
<p>When Noah needed to send a bird to check whether the floodwaters had receded, the raven hid under the eagle's wing. Noah found him and ordered him out. The raven protested: "Of all the birds, why me?" Noah explained that he could only send birds whose Hebrew names began with the letters ayin and yud - the raven (orev) and the dove (yonah).</p>
<p>The raven wasn't convinced. Then he went further - he accused Noah of wanting to kill him so Noah could mate with the raven's wife. It was a shocking accusation. Noah was so offended that he cursed the raven on the spot: "By the very thing you falsely accuse me of, you will be cursed. You will never mate with your partner except through your mouth!"</p>
<p>Every animal on the Ark said "Amen."</p>
<p>The raven protested the curse, but Noah pointed out the obvious: if Noah wouldn't even touch his own wife during the Flood (as commanded), why would he want the raven's mate? The raven's accusation proved his own corrupt mind. "You project suspicion onto the worthy," Noah told him, "because you yourself are promiscuous." And from that day forward, the raven's mating was altered - a permanent mark of its slander.</p>