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Welcome to a new Torah portion series from our brand-new studio!
This week we dive into the story of Noh and the flood. We can conclude from this story that a righteous person has the power to save himself. But this isn’t always enough.
There is some criticism leveled at Noah, who saved himself and his family but no one else. What was he doing while building the ark? Didn’t he warn others?
Shmuel compares this to the self-sacrifice of Israel’s soldiers, many of whom fell just last month. Men who were over 40 and had many children still chose to serve their country and gave their lives doing so. A righteous person must care about others!
Shabbat Shalom
The righteous cannot save themselves, only God can save us from our sins. “The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” Psalm 14:2-3
2Peter 2:5 calls Noah a preacher of righteousness. The people who perished in the flood were warned by Noah, but did not repent of their wickedness
Beautiful teaching, Shmuel. We MUST think of others. Thank you!
Hi Shmuel
As you were teaching a thought came to me which can easily be overlooked. Noah’s mitzvah was that he saved the animals.
I believe the Torah teaches that we are to feed our animals before we eat ourselves. One of the two commandments with promise of a long life is to treat our animals with respect. If it wasn’t for Noah’s mitzvah mankind wouldn’t have a sin offering to bring to G-d, plus they wouldn’t have meat to eat. Noah preached righteousness by the very essence of his daily living. His life was an open Torah even before it was given to Moses.
Shabbat Shalom!
Pastor Rudy
I think as you do. There’s not a lot of time left over after praising G-d and feeding, watering and cleaning up after animals. He would have Cabin Fever after that yeast in the ark. He did exactly what Hashem asked him to do.
i just watched a channel called Israel in 5
he talked abt why did God give Noach 120 years. when he could have built it faster. maybe but those people had 120 years.
i’m sure there was nothing he could have said that would have chgd them.
Thank you for all the beautiful insights and comments.
That’s the best compliment to receive your insights.