Shabbat Greetings
The lesson we learn in this week’s portion, Noach (Genesis 6:9 – 11:32), as we encounter a world engulfed in corruption and violence. The Torah tells us: “The earth became corrupt before God, the earth was filled with lawlessness – chamas.(6:11)” It’s a bleak picture, one disturbingly familiar to us today. We live in a time of political polarization, social unrest, and violence. Mistrust and moral confusion often dominate headlines. And yet, the Torah’s narrative does not end with destruction. It begins again — with one man, as we read in last week’s portion, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of God.(6:8)”
Amid the darkness, Noahis a flicker of light. He is called “a righteous man, blameless in his generation.” The rabbis debate: Was he only righteous compared to his corrupt surroundings, or would he have been righteous even in a better time? Perhaps that’s the point. Noah’s righteousness mattered precisely because of the world he lived in. His goodness wasn’t abstract, it was resistance. In a society filled with violence, even basic decency is revolutionary.
Today, as we face daunting socio-political realities such as war, injustice, extremism, it’s easy to become cynical about human nature. Yet the Torah challenges us: Can we find the good in humanity, even now? Can we be like Noah, or better yet, like Abraham, who later pleads for the righteous in Sodom and Gommorah? Judaism doesn’t ask us to deny the brokenness of the world. But it insists that within every society, there are sparks of righteousness, potential tzaddikim – individuals who are righteous. Part of our spiritual task is to uncover and nurture that goodness, in ourselves and in others.
Our text tells us that after the flood, God makes a covenant, not just with Noah, but with all living beings. The rainbow, a sign of that covenant, becomes a symbol of divine patience and human possibility. It tells us that destruction is never the final word. Even when systems fail, when the earth “fills with chamas,” rebuilding is possible if we can find even one person willing to do what is right.
In our world today, perhaps the greatest act of faith is to continue to believe in human goodness, to resist the pull of apathy and despair, and instead invest in justice, kindness, and hope. So what does it mean to be like Noah today? It means choosing moral clarity when the lines are blurred. It means teaching our children to see the humanity in others, even when society teaches division. It means looking at the floodwaters around us such as political turmoil, hatred, fear and choosing to build an ark: a space of safety, of integrity, of vision. And perhaps most importantly, it means not settling for being righteous in our generation, but striving to be righteous for our generation.
SHABBAT SHALOM