Navigating with Noah

Parashat Noach
Genesis 6:9-11:32

Throughout the first stories of the Torah, people begin to learn about the responsibilities and boundaries of their relationship with God. In last week's parsha, Parshat B'reishit, we see Adam and Eve punished for disobeying God's rules and learn the lessons involving familial responsibilities taken from the experiences of Cain and Abel. 

In this week's parsha, Parshat Noach, we skip forward ten generations. The world has gotten so bad that God decides to start anew. Luckily, there was a man named Noah, a tzaddik, someone whom the Torah calls "righteous," which apparently goes a long way in a world filled with murder, meanness, and people generally not treating each other appropriately. It was such a good thing that God tasks Noah with building an ark and saving his family and a whole bunch of animals - seven pairs of "clean" (kosher) animals and one pair of "unclean" animals (B'reishit 7:2). Once the flood waters recede, it is up to Noah's family and passengers to repopulate the world.

Unfortunately, while Noah's righteousness saved his family from the devastation of the great flood, it did not seem to pass through the subsequent generations. By the time we get to the story of Babel, located towards the end of Parshat Noach, humans have grown proud and try to build a tower that will reach the sky. God disapproves, the tower comes crashing down, and humans are left with a number of different languages, unable to communicate effectively.

Some questions to ponder (perhaps at your Shabbat dinner table):

• How does the Torah describe Noah? What types of character traits do you think Noah had? How was he different from the other people around him?

• In several of the stories in the first part of B'reishit, people are punished for trying to be like God - give some examples of how it can be good to try to be like God. What are some things God can do that you are unable to do?

• How many of each animal does God instruct Noah to bring on the ark? Why are there different numbers? Are there animals you think should have been left off? Why?

• Noah's family was stuck on the ark together for a very long time - how do you think they felt at the end of their boat ride? Has your family ever taken a long trip together? What was that experience like?

• The last story in this parsha has a lot to say about communication - what are some ways your family can communicate better?

Just for fun, here is a quick animated look at Parshat Noach, courtesy of BimBam.

Wishing you and your family a Shabbat Shalom.