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.
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.
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).
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!"
Every animal on the Ark said "Amen."
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.
י"ז He said to him, "And why does the raven produce seed from his mouth?" He said to him, "The Sages of Israel disagreed about this. Some said that because he mated on the ark, he was made odd (and likewise, the dog was decreed to become tied during mating), while some said that because he is wicked, a thief, and damaging, therefore he was made different from all creatures. One Sage came and said to the disagreeing Sages, 'I will uphold your words.' He said, 'In the ark, when Noah wanted to send him to see whether the waters had receded, he got himself away from Noah and went under the eagle's wing, so that Noah would not send him. They searched for him and found him under the eagle's wing. Noah said to him, "Wicked one, go out of the ark and see if the waters have lessened from upon the land." He said to him, "Of all the birds, you only found me?!" He said to him, "I only have permission to send out two, whose names begin with the letters ayin and yud, raven and dove." He said to him, "But why the raven, and not the eagle and the dove?" He said to him, "Because there is one city and its name is Ai, and its residents will in the future kill Yair, who captured Orev and released Yonah." The raven said to Noah brazenly, "You only send me in order to kill me and to mate with my wife, and for this reason everything that you brought into the ark is two by two, and I am part of a couple." Immediately, Noah cursed him and said to him, "By the thing about which you are slandering me falsely, you will be cursed, for you will never mate with your female partner except with your mouth!" And all the animals that were on the ark answered and said, "Amen!" The raven said to him, "Why have you cursed me? I have a legal case against you!" He said to him, "Because you are promiscuous and a fool and you project suspicion on the worthy." He [Noah] said to him, "Wicked one! Even my wife, who is in my form, in my image, and permitted to me, I am not intimate with, so your female partner, who is not in my form, and in contrast is even prohibited to me, how could I be intimate?!" He said to him, "And why did you tell me 'You are promiscuous?'" He said to him, "You certainly are promiscuous, as your words prove, and I have not slandered you falsely." From that time on, the raven used his mouth for mating, as Noah had cursed him.'"
