This Shabbat we study from the Torah the section about Noah. (Noach/Gen. 6:9 - 11:32) It is such a dramatic tale of a righteous man
living in an evil time. The stunning reality of this story is that it took Noah 120 years to build the ark and every detail was transferred by G-d to Noah.
Now, think about that for a moment. If it took that long for Noah to build the ark wouldn't it have been possible that several people would have been moved to really THINK about their life and the evil that was in their midst. But no...the people taunted Noah. Asked him what build a boat on a hill. And when Noah warned about the flood they laughed and called him a foo. Yet...he persisted.
This story also speaks to the patience of G-d. The building of the ark took 120 years. Why? Could it have been because G-d was being patient with the people and yearning for them to return to a life of goodness. He didn't just snap and destroy the world. He waited for people to "come back". To return. To do Teshuva...return to the path of goodness from the path of destruction.
How many paths are put in front of us each day? We can choose the path of good or of evil. We are given that free will and in the end the path that we choose will bring us blessing or curse. It's not up to G-d it is up to each of us.
The Torah Portion this week ends with a very interesting story. Noah, after 365 days on the ark, leaves it and plants a vineyard. He gets drunk then there is that weird story of an incident in the tent after which Noah curses his grandson Canaan. What was that all about? Could it be that the next story tells why? The Torah Portion concludes with the story of the Tower of Babel and that evil lived on and we then turn to the genealogy of the pathway to Abraham.
Enjoy your study!
SERVICE SCHEDULE:
Adas Israel will hold our Erv Shabbat Service on Friday the 19th of October starting at 7:15pm. We will then gather for the Midrash (Study Session) on Shabbat (Saturday) the 20th at 10:00am. Everyone is welcome. If you want to study for the text. It is Parsha Lech Lecha (Gen 12 - 17)
See you in Shul!
Comments