Paronoia about Adultery

Noach has one of the most eye-openingly bizzare Midrashim I have ever seen. Why didn't the raven go out to see if the flood waters had receded? He was afraid that Noach would sleep with his wife! Rashi brings this as one of two interpretations as to why the raven, rather than set out on his mission, chose to circle the ark, making sure that no funny business happened inside in his absence. Besides the practical/technical question as to how Noach actually could have slept with "Mrs. Raven" (after all, typically the wife's name isn't mentioned in the Torah), it would seem that there is a deeper message here. Furthermore, Rashi cites another Midrash which seems equally as odd, yet different in purpose and message: It wasn't that the raven didn't want to fulfill his mission, it's that he was reserved for another calling that he uniquely could fulfill, namely feeding Elijah the prophet when he hid from Ahab and Jezebel after he decreed drought upon the land. 

I would like to argue that there is a connection between the midrashim, but more significantly that the raven was aimed by Hashem to symbolize the rotten erosion of trust between humanity that led to the surging of Noach's waters. No thought could be more emblematic of paranoia than to think that Noach who was happily married, would commit adultery on his wife in the ark at a time when all relations were forbidden, and do it with no other than a black-beaked bird who had caught his eye. 

Yet, that's exactly what happened to society. The Midrash likewise teaches that society at the time could be seen as a zero sum game, if one person gained, the other lost, almost like Lenin's KGB, everyone always scared, looking to earn another dime at the other's expense, stealing just less than the punishable amount, incrementally stealing each time "less than a prutah." 

Thus the raven represented that, a constant fear, as the Midrash teaches; he circled the boat endlessly, afraid, almost obsessively so, unwilling to trust Noah who had saved him for even a mere moment. 

I once saw it written that a thief's greatest punishment is that he never believes anyone. Why would you believe someone if you expected everyone to be just like you?! Your same pettiness, desire to one-up someone else is reflected in a constant worry, an obsessiveness that leads round and round, circling in place, obviating any chance for progress. 

The monogamous dove though knows a different fate. The trust and integrity he represents is the backbone and springboard for a new society, one where one's success can be fostered by another, not ipso facto, hindered by it. Things are seen for what they are - the dove trusts Noah because he realizes that Noah aimed to save humanity; Noah's wife is his, whereas the dove and his wife are lovebirds who can trust each other, and the dove knows that his wife would not betray his trust either. 

A friend of mine, R' Menachem Alfa told me that the Talmud teaches of the dove who comes back with an olive leaf that we can see from here that it is better to consume bitter olive leaves rather than subsist from another's munificence, perhaps shedding light on the extent to which the dove could be seen as trustworthy. He sought a society not based on benefitting at the expense of another, but rather, a willingness to live independently if it meant not posing a burden to others: "What is mine is yours, what is yours is yours." The dove set out three times on distinctly different missions, first discovering that Noah's flood waters had not yet sufficiently receded, then returning with the first sign of life, an olive leaf, and then finally setting out to be the symbol of peace, one founded on monogamy, trust, and working together with others knowing that one's gain doesn't have to come at the expense of the other. 

And perhaps that's the underlying message Rashi wanted to convey. The raven did need to share that message, signifying the moral decay of his time - but it didn't mean he should lose out on fulfilling a divine mission of utmost significance. The same way each and every angel has one unique role he is meant to fulfill, it would seem a slap in the face to ask the raven to only embody the negative character trait of paranoia, and obsessiveness, and so, a further mission was reserved for the raven, namely feeding Elijah at a time of need, showing that God cares for all of his creatures, and that even those who are infamously cruel-hearted, i.e. the raven who doesn't have mercy on its young, can fulfill a divine mission of ensuring the future of the world, perhaps even serving as a tikun from his previous errant ways. Having violated the prohibition of procreating on the ark, the raven was then sent to Elijah to ensure the future of the world; initially failing to sensitize himself to the plight of the world's destruction, he was to later ensure its recreation, keeping Noah alive so that he could bring waters to the world, and life to mankind.