Spirituality DETROIT JEWISH NEWS TORAH PORTION We miss you! We're In This Ark Together Parshat Noah: Genesis 6:9-11:32; Isaiah 54:1-55:5. T Renew your Jewish News subscription at last year's rate! Ends Oct. 28th! 1 year at $69.00! In State only. To lock in these special prices call 248.351.5120. 1622980 Franklin Cider Milli "A FAMILY TRADITION" Large selection of gourds, pumpkins, cornstalks, hay bale & u-pick apples! • 011M10 ,11111.0 Nam 248 626 8261 • 14 Mile Rd. and Franklin Rd Hours: Open Daily lam-6:30pm • Weekends 8am-6:30pm - - Thanksgiving Day 8am-4pm; Last Day of Season, Sunday, Nov. 28th www.franklincidermill.com ADVERTISE WITH US! CALL 248.351.5107 44 October 7 - 2010 IN In the ark, however, a great transfor- mation took place. In the ark, Noah had no choice but to abandon religious abstraction. He was needed. The animals were hungry; and there were cages to clean. The world was in his ark; and he, as captain, had to look after it. Noah worked around the clock. He gave of himself until he was coughing blood (the verse character- izes this with the word, "Ach," a kvetch familiar to any Jew older than 55.) He gave of himself until there was nothing left to give; and then he gave more. Through this extraordinary giving, Noah transcended his own ego and opened channels of compas- sion for a new world. This became the inspiration for Judaism. Years after the Flood, Abraham met with Noah's son Shem. Abraham wanted to understand the secret of the ark "By which merit were you saved?" he asked. "The merit of our giving;' answered Shem. The answer enlightened Abraham about the power of love — of self-sac- rifice for another. It is the light upon which Judaism is founded. And it is the message /of the irk. We are all in the same boat together. Noah spent years building a sturdy ship, but little time building relationships. Conversations Keep your company top of mind with our readers. Visit theJEWISHNEWS.com he inspiration for Jewish spir- ituality comes from Noah's ark. Here's how. At the start of the story Noah is described as a "man of little faith," which is strange because the opposite seems true. Noah appears to be a man of great faith, dropping everything upon command to build an enormous ark. But it is not his faith in Heaven that is questioned; it is his faith in humanity. He spent years building a sturdy ship, but little time building relationships. To be fair, Noah was deal- ing with what Rodney Dangerfield would call a "tough crowd;' a thor- oughly wicked generation. Still, he is accused of not doing more to inspire peo- ple. Noah probably did not open his ser- mons with a joke, for example. One imag- ines that his doom- saying sermons were woefully out of touch with his audience. He did not, in today's terms, pay attention to outreach. Noah failed, says the Zohar, to open any channels of compassion in the world. "Whoever loves God exclusively, namely excluding man, reduces his love and his God to the level of abstraction;' writes Elie Wiesel in his book Souls On Fire. Perhaps the quote would apply to Noah. He was a man of little faith because his religios- ity excluded man; his God was an abstraction. Boruch Cohen is rabbi at the Birmingham- Bloomfield Chai Center in Birmingham. •What does it mean that we are all in the same boat together? •How does it change our attitude towards each other when we remember that we are all in the same boat together? •The "world is built on kindness," meaning that the world was created out of love. Discuss.