New date at sunset: question on Sifse Chachamim

Question

Avoda Zara 25 cites a difference of opinion as to how long the sun stood still for Y'hoshua: twelve hours, twenty-four, or thirty-six. According to those who say twelve or thirty-six, the sun finally set at a time (on watches, if you will, or hourglasses) that was twelve hours after the hourglasses indicated "sunset". And the next time the hourglasses indicated "sunset", it was astronomical morning, around sunrise or so. Likewise for every subsequent day, until now: any hourglass or watch that has been set in place since the time of Y'hoshua and not adjusted since would indicate "sunset" every morning. Yet we indicate the start of a new calendar date at sunset, not in the morning. Thus, dates start not when the sun "should" set but when it does: a new date does not start until the sun actually sets, even if (as in Y'hoshua's case) it "should" set earlier than that.

Now, Sifse Chachamim to Noach 8:22 says that, for the duration of the mabul (deluge), the sun and other orbs stood still, not moving in the sky: they remained, for the whole mabul, wherever they were at the start of the mabul, and there was no sunset. According to the paragraph above, then, the date should not have changed throughout the mabul. Yet the p'sukim (e.g., 8:4–5) clearly refer to the passage of dates. What's going on?

(This is a question on the Sifse Chachamim. The R'em, for example, has a wholly different explanation of what occurred during the mabul.)

Answer 1

The Maskil LeDavid on Bereshit 8:22 says that even though the sun did not rise or set Noach had signs to recognize and distinguish between day and night, since he needed to know this for many reasons. Also, not all the animals ate at the same time, and Noach needed to know when to feed the animals.

According to this we can say that the dates were marked by the passage of time (i.e. 24 hours was one day) rather than by the sun's rising and setting.

This is reminiscent of a story that is told about the Ba'al HaTanya when he was imprisoned for the first time:

Once, for instance, the Rebbe was put into a room which was as dark during the day as it was at night. A small lamp was the only source of light. One day, about two hours after noon, the Rebbe was told that the time is already past midnight and he should go to sleep.

"Right now," retorted the Rebbe, "the time is two hours and five minutes past noon."

When asked how he could possibly know such a thing, the Rebbe explained.

"Every day is illuminated by the twelve forms of the letters of in Ineffable Name (Tetragrammaton), while the night is illuminated by the twelve forms of the Name denoting G-d's Lordship. By experiencing these various forms I know to distinguish between day and night, and between one hour and the other."

Also, the Mabul lasted a complete solar year (Rashi Bereshit 8:14), so everything would have picked up right where it left off. (Although this doesn't explain the 11 day discrepancy in the lunar calendar)