Man’s wickedness leads God to bring a Flood. Noah alone is found righteous. He is commanded to bring his family, and animals, into an ark. Alone, they survive the Flood. After the waters subside, Noah emerges and offers a sacrifice to God. God then makes a covenant, through Noah, with all humanity, laying down basic commands and vowing never again…
…while others think he only seemed righteous compared to his wicked generation and would have been insignificant in Avraham’s time. Despite these differing opinions, all agree that Avraham was greater and more righteous than Noach. But why? Avraham and Noach’s respective relationships with God are contrasted in phrases from the Torah. Describing Noach, the Torah says “Noach walked with God,”…
The Parsha in a Nutshell This summary is adapted from this week’s main Covenant & Conversation essay by Rabbi Sacks, available to read in full via the left sidebar There is an obscure Midrash to explain God’s words to Noach: “Come out of the Ark!” (Bereishit 8:16) After the rain stopped, Noach said to himself: Since I only entered the…
…the potential for evil in cities? How can we create large, flourishing cities where the residents are more righteous? Parsha in Passing Parshat Noach begins by introducing the most righteous man of this time, Noach. God decides that the state of the world is no good and a major reset is needed. So Noach and his family are designated as…
…and that in our time has proved, sadly, all too rare. The occasion was not special. He was merely giving us one of his regular divrei Torah. The week was parshat Noach. But the Midrash he quoted to us was extraordinary. In fact, it is quite hard to find. It appears in the book known as Buber’s Tanchuma, published in…
…tells us is Noach and the Flood. Noach is described as a pure and righteous man, and therefore God decided to save him and his family. Noach was righteous but not a hero. He only saved himself, not humanity. Noach did not see himself as responsible for their fate. Finally, in the story of the Tower of Bavel, although we…
The Parsha in a Nutshell In this parsha God sees how wicked humankind has become and decides to bring a Flood to destroy the whole world, and start again with Noach and his family. God commands Noach to build an ark, and to bring his family, and some animals, into the ark, so they will all survive. After forty days…
…new order with Noach, an order that we can live by, he no longer expects us to be naturally tov. Instead, he offers us a covenant, a covenant of mutual responsibility. I will sustain you, but I ask in return that you agree to this minimum, what we call the sheva mitzvot bnei Noach, right? And now friends, what is…
…exception of Noach, his family and other animals – the earth has returned to the state it was in at the beginning of Torah, when “the earth was waste and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Vowing never again to destroy all life – though not guaranteeing…
The parsha of Noach brings to a close the eleven chapters that precede the call to Abraham and the beginning of the special relationship between him and his descendants, and God. During these eleven chapters, the Torah gives prominence to four stories: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the generation of the Flood, and the Tower of Babel….