Parshat Noach – October 20, 2023 / 6 Cheshvan 5784

This week, we are still in the midst of the horrors of the War in Israel, and struggling to regain our footing after the horrific attacks that blindsided Israel, the Jewish world, and so many people in general. The scope and brutality…the inhuman nature of the attacks was so bone chilling. There is no d’var torah that I know of that can accurately describe or sum up the complexity of emotion that has, and continues to be rife in the air. 

Nevertheless, we continue on. We turn to our Torah for its timeless wisdom, as it endures. It is what we do. This week, we read the famous story of Noach, a man who was “blameless in his age, or in his generation…” It is a compliment with a qualifier. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, and there is actually much rabbinic criticism of Noach. Some even go as far as to refer to him as a Tzaddik Im Peltz, or a “righteous man in a fur coat.” Why? While Noach had the information that pertained to the flood and the loss of life that would soon occur (direct from the Source, mind you), he turned inward. He did not share this information with the rest of humanity. Many juxtapose him with Abraham, who later bargained with God for the lives of just 10 people in Sodom. So, why a Righteous man in a fur coat, a tzaddk im peltz? Well, some of our great Jewish minds say that you can warm yourself in different ways. You can wear a coat, which only warms you—Noah. Or you can light a fire…allowing many others to benefit from the heat and light as well—Abraham. It does not feel like high time to get into a deep criticism of Noah however…especially considering what was probably going on in the rest of the world during his day and age. 

Perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that we find ourselves only 10 generations removed from the time of Adam and Eve, and the world has fallen into such corruption and horror, that God seems to feel the need to hit a reset button and begin again. Right now for so many, it can seem and feel as if the world is in a similar state of disrepair..perhaps even ending…this feeling and individual subjective experience is nothing to question or challenge. What we do need to discuss are a couple of notable details of this Noah saga. There is a midrash which suggests that the world we currently inhabit, the same one that Noah did, was not God’s first created world. God previously destroyed other worlds that did not live up to Godly standards. So, even with all of the horror and corruption…the heartbreak and terror…the despair and fear. This is a world that God has deemed and still deems worth saving. This world is worth saving. Even in a world that according to our Torah “…became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness.” That Hebrew word for “lawlessness” can also seem to mean “violence” or even just “wrong.” While reading this week, I have to admit that this particular word jarred me to the very core of my being. It was as if the Torah’s words were jumping off the page and into the modern moment. The world, according to Torah, in Noah’s time, became full of “HAMAS.” The word is Hamas. God decided to start over because of the “Hamas.” According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi), “Hamas” implied that people were dishonest with one another and cheating one another so often that the courts could not even prosecute them. People slowly began to lose faith of those in power to provide them with a society that was fair and even inhabitable. Anarchy ensued. This description stemming from the word “Hamas,” is almost eerie. 

Most, if not all of us, have become far too familiar with Hamas in these past weeks, even if we weren’t aware of them at their inception in 1987. The Hamas of the modern day is creating another situation wherein we question the humanity of people. How can they be so brutal? How can they treat other human beings like this? How can they hate so much…so seemingly purely….with so much seeming evil? Torah says “The earth became corrupt BEFORE GOD.” God saw the behavior as unacceptable, but the individuals behaving so horrifically saw nothing wrong with their actions. God needed to do what God needed to do. 

Even so…and this is perhaps the most important point. Even amidst the terror, the horror, the HAMAS of the time. God deemed the world worth saving. Even if it had to be flooded, even if it was not easy. Even if it was not perfect. This is a world with enough light…with enough love…with enough purity to be found…that it is worth saving. The late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out an interesting fact in his commentary. He tells us that in the creation story and in this week’s Noach story, there are words that are used seven times. In Chapter 1, the word “good” is used seven times. In this week’s parshah, the word “covenant” is used 7 times. Sacks goes on to explain how “good” might just not be enough. This is where our Torah and our traditions really make a difference in our lives. This is where our teachings, our stories, all become not just relevant, but vital. Perhaps we need the Covenant (Ha B’rit) in order to make sure that we DO GOOD. Things can start out as GOOD, but we need to work to ensure that we fulfill our covenantal duties to maintain goodness. Torah can be our Northern star when the world feels full of chaos and unrest. When Hamas is rampant, we can turn to Torah and all the goodness that it encompasses

I pray that this week and moving forward the world is blessed to be rid of hatred, ignorance, and crime. To be rid of the Hamas. I pray that we focus on the good, but that we can push ourselves just a step further. Let us fulfill the covenant we have made with God to maintain the good…to keep working for the good. How to do this when the world is full of what feels like so much of the antithesis to righteousness? We can take off our coats and build a fire. We can take a stand for one another. We can become righteous in our own generation, as Noah was. When we are building an ark, we can do as Noah did not…we can spread the word, and thus spread our light out into the darkest of nights. Let us kindle together.

Shabbat Shalom 

– Rabbi Josh Gray