Category — Noach

A lawyer named Strange died, and his friend asked the tombstone maker to inscribe on his tombstone, “Here lies Strange, an honest man, and a lawyer.”
The inscriber insisted that such an inscription would be confusing, for every passersby would tend to think that three men were buried under the stone. However he suggested an alternative: He would inscribe, “Here lies a man who was both honest and a lawyer.”
That way, whenever anyone walked by the tombstone and read it, they would be certain to remark: “That`s Strange”.

Ok, we all know that G-d made a flood which only Noah and his family survived. We also know that a few years later the inhabitants of Babel decided to build the “Tower of Babel”, a structure that would reach to
the sky. Why build such a tower? Two reasons: for security, and to make a “legacy” of themselves.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Obviously not, just see what G-d’s reaction to this tower building was. He turned some of them into apes, mixed up their languages, dispersed them all over the world etc. I guess this wasn’t the best of ideas…
What would warrant such a response? What’s wrong with wanting to leave a legacy? Don’t we all want to be remembered for some great achievement of ours?  Why?
I’ll tell you why! It is barely a few years after the world was flooded because of corruption and sin. And all these people have to think about is ‘how are we going to leave a legacy!’ that is all that’s on their minds! How many pages of history books will be filled with our story of unprecedented architectural achievement.
Hello! How about creating a moral code? Schools? Houses of worship? Did not the entire globe get punished due to a lack of morals? Hadn’t they learned that in order to keep the world going, there are important changes that must be implemented?
No, they were busy leaving a legacy. Who cares about a legacy! There’s a world out there in distress and in dire need of help and hope. Leave your legacy alone and go make a difference. Your legacy can wait, the
world cannot. That is why they were punished by G-d.
Legacy is nice; a bit egoistic, but nice. Especially if it’s not an Al Capone style legacy. But in times like this we must put our eulogies, obituaries and grave stones aside, and go change something in this world for the better.
We need Moshiach to come. There is no time for legacy… Let’s go!

I personally know a rabbi who, for a long time, was pestered by a guy in his community. For example, every time the rabbi would speak at a rally or the like, this nudnik would stand behind him screaming and making faces.

One time, the rabbi decided that he had had enough. He was being interviewed by the local TV station at a Jewish event. The nudnik, of course, was there too.

Suddenly, the Rabbi interrupted the flow of the interview by announcing that he had breaking news: he had just started believing in evolution.

The TV host was shocked. “What happened to you, Rabbi? Have you suddenly stopped believing in G-d?”

“Well, no, it’s just that recently I grew a tail……”

The guy never came back.

***

I would like to pay my respects to a relative of humankind, thought by some to be the father of all humanity. He looks very much like us and even has some intelligence. And he loves bananas.

I’m talking about the ape.

Yup, the ape is a relative. But not the kind of relative you’ve been taught to think of.

In Parshas Noach we learn of two disasters that struck society because of its sins: the Great Flood and the Dispersion. In 1656 from Creation (2104 BCE), immorality and robbery warranted the world’s destruction.

Then, in the year 1996 from Creation (1764 BCE), the people rebelled against G-d by building the Tower of Babel . As punishment, they were scattered throughout the earth with different languages. In addition, according to the Talmud [1], many of them turned into apes!

So apes and humans do share genes. The scientists did have something to hook their theory on. But contrary to science, we don’t come from them; they come from us!

What a backward world.

Thirty years ago, they found skeletons of humanlike figures, but the bones were a little out of shape. So scientists fabricated names for these pre-historic figures: Australopithecines, Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus etc.

(Have you ever noted the irony of the name pre-historic? Of course there is no documented history of those times; they didn’t exist!)

Well, it may very well be that these disfigured shapes were actually humans who lived before the Great Flood. After floating in boiling water for half a year, their bones became deformed.

Science has many facts – but not what’s behind them. Fact: apes and human share something. Fact: there are strangely-shaped bones. The rest is up for interpretation. If you choose to think you descend from monkeys, and thus respect them, it’s your right.

A priest once asked a rabbi why Jews are so good at honoring their parents, while in his community he saw a horrible lack of respect.

“Of course,” said the rabbi, “it makes sense that young people don’t revere their elders. They are raised to believe that people come from apes. So the youngsters believe that they are of a more advanced, sophisticated generation, while their parents and grandparents are that much closer to their apish ancestry!

“We believe we come from G-d, so the older the generation, the closer to G-d they are.”

I believe they are my grandchildren. Let them respect me.

Moshe was out of a job when an interesting advertisement caught his eye: “The lion in the local zoo has died. Until we receive a new member, we are looking for someone to dress up as a lion so that the zoo’s popularity will not decline.”

Lacking an alternative, Moshe signed up for the job. After perusing his resume and checking his references, the board accepted him.

It was his first day at the job, and Moshe was on all fours, making roaring sounds and eating hay. All seemed nice and cool, and, aside from the stuffiness he felt being wrapped up in a lion costume, he was fine. And then the trouble started.

Without the slightest warning, the bear from the cage on the right jumped over the gate, and slowly advanced toward the lion. “I guess he smelled that I’m not the real stuff!” thought Moshe in despair.

When the bear was but a foot away, Moshe closed his eyes and shouted with all his might, “Shma Yisroel…!”

Before he could continue, he was interrupted by the shout of the bear: “Hashem Elokeinu!”

And the tiger in the cage on the left finished off with a cry of “Hashem Echod!”

* * *

The highlight of this week’s Torah portion is none other than: The Flood. This was such a monumental event in history, affecting and altering our planet forever, that even today, science is led to incorrect conclusions about the age of the earth and the origins of life because of the mutations and chemical changes which resulted.

If we examine the story of the flood in depth, we encounter the story of the lion’s bite. Once, Noah, who was responsible for the welfare of all creatures in the ark, was late delivering the lion’s daily meal. The lion turned aggressive and bit him in the leg. It was as if the lion wanted him to feel the pain that was prevalent outside of his waterproof, impenetrable “fortress.”

So what did Noah do? Do you think he gave up his duty of preserving life on this planet due to some lion’s way of expressing impatience? No; he stayed devoted to his mission. For each day thereafter, he continued serving each and every creature. And thanks to his patience, we have those beautiful lions to admire in the zoo…

It sort of resembles our status as Jews today. After six million of our finest were lost in the modern-day Flood, in addition to the thousands and millions that have been taken from us throughout the difficult years of exile, we find ourselves left as “lonesome cowboys.” There are only but a precious few left to fulfill the G-dly mission of spreading goodness and kindness in a world flooded with worship of the physical and mundane.

So we may dedicate our lives to a higher purpose, be it Rabbinic or lay leadership or upholding honesty and trust in business despite societal pressures. It might be support for the territorial integrity of Israel or charitable funding for Jewish education. Each Jew in his or her own way fights for a better world by preserving the legacy of our great history.

Yet, sometimes, we get bitten by a snide comment, a stolen wallet, or by real animosity. At times, the people in whom we have invested so much return a favor with a punch, compensating for love with hate. Our children, pupils and friends, may let us down all too often.

However, we must not forsake our mission; we cannot afford to give up. We continue with our mission of love and caring, knowing that, in the end, goodness will be victorious. Our children will come back, and the investment of trust, education, and love that we have made in our students and friends will not go in vain. It’s all a matter of time.

Patience! After all, we are changing the world. And big changes happen slowly, one step at a time.