Unfortunately it has been one of those weeks, so I am going to give you this weeks parashat in two parts. I will give you the reading for tonight and tomorrow and then tomorrow I will give you the comments. Here is your reading for Parashat Noach Genesis 6:9 - 11:32 Please pay close attention to EVERY word you will read in this parashat, because each and every word of all God's Torah is so important. Perhaps you think the story of Noah is familiar to you. Is it? Do you really remember everything correctly? Have you been taught everything correctly? Read it thoroughly and when I get back to you with my comments we will see if the things I have to say are things you noticed or if you say, "wait a minute, the reading didn't say that!". Sweet dreams and I'll meet you back here tomorrow.
Well, I have to deeply apologize that tomorrow took four days. I did type everything I wanted to add last night, but when I went to post it, for some reason this crazy website deleted all the new things I added! I am going to have to take some time and learn how to navigate this site a bit better. Then again, perhaps I had a Spiritual editor, you think?
Okay, let me try this again. I have re-thought what I said last night and I want to make a couple of observations and then elaborate on one thought. First, did you notice that Noah's wife is never named? Neither are the wives of his sons. Every significant man in the Old Testament is spoken of in connection with his wife, except Noah. Odd. I wonder what that means, because in Hebraic thought it means something significant.
Second, did you ever realize how long Noah and his family along with the animals were inside the Ark? They were enclosed in the Ark for approximately 365 days. A full year and when they emerged they were not in the same location they left nor did anything look remotely the same. Also, every human being they had ever known was....gone! Nothing remained that would have even been remotely familiar to them.
Third, do you realize that Noah was instructed to take "clean" animals although the instructions had not yet been given for what animals were clean and unclean? Another one of those, "need to find out what that means from the Hebrew perspective" questions. A lot to think about.
Now to the point I want to make from this Parashat. Noah was a descendant of Adam through his son Seth. Adam's son, Cain and his descendants, were evil men. Cain killed his brother Able. A few generations later, Lamech (of that same lineage) killed Cain and the Jews tell of his also killing a child. Seth's lineage though, appears to be a Godly line for it is through this line we read of Enoch who "walked with God for 300 years.....then he was no more for God had taken him".
Even though Seth's lineage may have been Godly in their ways, the rest of mankind had gone terribly astray. Leading up to our reading we find that; "God saw that the wickedness of Man was great upon the earth and that every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil always." My how that sounds familiar to the current day, does it not?
The first verse of the Parashat states that "Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations". What exactly does that mean? Well, even the great Rabbis have some debate about that. Some say that it means he was righteous despite the corruptness of those around him and about how righteous he would have been with the companionship of people like Abraham or Moses! Other Sages say that it means he was righteous only in comparison to the wickedness around him and were he alive at any other time in history he would not have even been noticed. Okay, there you have the two opinions. One of the things you learn in Hebraic thinking is which one is correct? Both and more!
Here is the lesson I want to leave you with. Perhaps for you, the generations around you are perverse and evil all the time and you are the only righteous man or woman within sight. Perservere. That's right, just keep on doing what is right no matter what others do. Are you the only believer at work, in your home, at school or oganization? Do you feel isolated and alone? Don't give up! God rewards those who do things His way. We may not be able to see it for a long time, but He always comes through. We aren't given the exact time God spoke to Noah, but from the time God made the decision to destroy the earth until he made the rain begin was 120 years (Genesis 6:3). It could be that most of your life will be over before God shuts you in the Ark and lets the rain begin, but He never fails to carry out His word. We just don't understand His timing. The Sages say the reason God waited all those years to destroy the earth was in order to give man the chance to repent. God is love and mercy and kindness and it is His nature to want all men to come to repentance. He may just be giving those around you more time and opportunity to see you in action to bring them to repentence.
Perhaps there are a lot of righteous people around you, but you believe you are relatively insignificant in comparison. You know that with your past, along with the ways you mess up on a daily basis, God could never use you. Well, lift up your head. God can, will and does use people just like you every day. In fact he has since the beginning of time. Answer this question: Where is your heart? Does your heart long to do what God wants more than it wants to do what people or the flesh want? If the problem is a flesh problem and not a heart problem, you see God looks at the heart. A heart that longs for God is the heart of a soul that God can use and He will help you take care of the flesh. If the heart is not looking nor yearning for God, then no amount of fleshly works can change it.
Noah obviously had a heart for God, whether his fleshly works were always obvious to that fact or not. That fact made him a man God could use to carry out His plan. Is your heart a heart God can use or is your heart like one of stone?
The next Parashat is Lech Lecha: Genesis 12:1 - 17:27 You can start reading now and hopefully I will see you back here on Friday! Shalom!
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