Parashat Noach
November 1, 2024
30 Tishrei 5785
PARASHAT NOACH
Genesis 6:9 - 11:32
Dear Friends,
Of late the story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Emperor’s New Clothes has been rattling around in my brain. With this week’s Torah portion and the election, the story carries with it our willingness to be oblivious and being unwilling to admit that we are.
You may be wondering how does this relate to the story of Noah (Genesis 6:9-11:32). Some may recall this Torah portion as little more than a children’s story, what with the animals, the ark, and the rainbow. But like so many children’s stories, it has so much more to impart to us.
Noah listens when God speaks to him and tells him to build an ark. Bad times are coming. Noah’s neighbors are so busy doing bad things (or so we are told) that they never stop to inquire what Noah is doing. Noah was taking care of Noah. He was not a leader, though we could make the argument that he was extremely organized, what with building of the ark to managing all those animals on the ark with their different nutritional needs.
But like the Emperor’s New Clothes, no one around was really paying attention. It seemed to be a time when everyone was so busy looking out for themselves that they simply could not be bothered to look around and see what has happening just next door.
We are told that Noah was “A righteous man, perfect in his generation; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9). What does that mean to us? He was a man who neither looked to the right or to the left of himself and his family. He took care of his own. At the end of the story, after the flood and after the rainbow and a promise that the Divine will never destroy the world again, Noah plants a vineyard and drinks too much. He is less than he ever was, even to the point of being ridiculed by one of his sons. We might also posit that at the end of his life, Noah turned to drink in the face of his inability to speak up when he had a chance. One might even say that he was traumatized by his own inaction when he had the opportunity. Noah was not a leader, he had the opportunity but did not take it.
In troubled times the Torah teaches us that speaking up matters, even if we cannot change the outcome. Not acting when we have the opportunity has consequences, both for those around us and ourselves.
Yes, Noah listened to the voice and was righteous in his time, but that is not enough. It is simply not enough! Our task is to take a stand even if we cannot change the outcome. It is not enough to be good to those closest to us. We are not here alone. A moral life is one we share with others and we do have responsibility toward one another. The little boy in the Emperor’s New Clothes had the courage to speak up. The choice is ours.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Linda Shriner-Cahn