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hat a treasure trove
of Jewish insight,
caring and out-
reach is the sedrah
this week.
"This is the line of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man;
he was blameless in his age;
Noah walked with God."
(Gen. 6, v. 9)
The opening statement of
the sedrah called for rabbinic
comment. Noah was chosen
from all humans then alive to
survive, with his family, the
impending destruction of
civilization. Yet his
righteousness had limita-
tions. He saved only his im-
mediate family in the ark
which God had asked him to
construct.
There is more concern for
the survival of animals,
especially those species
which, generations later, will
be classified as "kasher,"
"proper," for human consump-
tion. Upon completing his
mission, after a safe landing
on Mt. Ararat — the exact
location of which escapes
researchers — he gladly offers
a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Prior to that act, humans
were permitted only a
vegetarian diet. Now their ap-
petite for meat could be
gratified. Perhaps, therefore,
it is not surprising that,
through the ages, there has
been a Jewish vegetarian
tradition.
Perhaps Noah's greatest
misdemeanor was his inabili-
ty to handle alcohol. He was
a farmer without previous ex-
perience in planting and pro-
cessing vines. He overindulg-
ed, pardonable under the cir-
cumstances, but not for a
righteous man!
Anyone resisting universal
evil, not standing idly by the
blood of violence and abuse,
the great sin of that age,
deserves praise. The Hebrew
term describing the failure of
the age is chainas, translated
"violence" or "lawlessness,"
surely resembling contem-
porary conditions. Is not the
name of a major organization
of Palestinians opposing the
state and people of Israel,
Hamas?
Noah's inebriation serves to
give instruction in family con-
duct. His action is condemn-
ed by implication; a responsi-
ble person limits the intake of
the fruit of the vine which
Ernst Conrad is rabbi emeritus
of Temple Kol Ami.
makes the human heart re-
joice. Two of his sons showed
their parent respect and con-
sideration by covering up,
spiritually and literally,
Noah's state of helplessness.
The third son, perhaps even
a grandson, mocked Noah's
intoxication and scorned the
aging man. For this, Ham and
his progeny — peoples that
dwelled in Egypt and Canaan
— were cursed; whereas
Shem, ancestor of the
Semitic-speaking nations and
Japhet, progenitor of the
Indo-Europeans, were blessed
and lauded.
God renews with Noah a
convenant first made with
Adam and Eve. Now, 10
generations later, a new
civilization succeeding what
is thought to be the last Ice
Age has risen. Nature could
now be treated carefully. Yet
the new covenant with Noah
Shabbat Noah:
Genesis 6:9-11:32
Isaiah 544t 455:5,--
and his children entailed the
promise that, as long as the
rainbow would appear in the
sky, the earth would not be
destroyed. It encompasses all
creation; one God rules
nature and humanity as well.
This is a u4iversal ;! cove-
nant. Order 4depends on
abidina by rules, laws ap-
b everywhere and to
plicable
everyone. Later, our people
were granted 613 mitzvot con-
tained in the Torah, the basic
constitution of Israel. The
rabbis, through a system of
legal exegesis, derived seven
basic laws called the Noachite
Laws, to govern the conduct of
all human beings. Noah's
name is thus linked with in-
ternational standards of com-
passion and justice.
Precisely, two moral
qualities, tsedek and chesed,
are God's essence and must
be emulated by God's
children. Not surprisingly,
the establishment of courts of
justice leads the list.
Adultery and incest are pro-
scribed by an ingenious
reading of the verse: (Genesis
Ch. 8, v. 16) "Come out of the
ark, together with your wife,
your sons, and your sons'
Wives."
The survival of civilization
even today depends on such
conduct. 0
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