36 | OCTOBER 31 • 2019 

I

n Noach, God promised 
to never destroy the Earth 
again (Genesis 8.21). 
But that says nothing of 
our precarious power as 
humans to jeopardize our 
own future. 
What could Noah have 
been thinking, we won-
der, as he built his ark, 
watching the people go 
by, knowing God’
s intent 
to wipe out land and flesh 
alike and yet never reach-
ing out to his neighbors 
or peers? There was no 
warning of what God has 
told him. No encouraging 
them to build their own arks or 
work together. No impetus to 
petition God.
 Here in Michigan this past 
spring, we experienced a sort of 
a deluge of our own. With rain 
on 23 of May’
s 30 days, farmers 

weren’
t able to plant their fields 
until much later in the season. 
Some seeds rotted as they 
waited to be planted, 
and the ones that made 
it couldn’
t get in the soil 
until drier conditions 
prevailed. Now we have 
historic shortages across 
the state of economic 
staple crops like corn and 
soybeans to show for it.
When we consider our 
legacy and our reputa-
tion, when we consider 
how we will be viewed 
when people look back at 
our lives, how will we be 
judged? 
As Hazon’
s president and 
CEO Nigel Savage recently 
wrote, “This is a moment in 
which we all need to raise our 
game. This is the year the pieces 
have to start to come together 

more deeply. This is the year in 
which we have to challenge the 
Jewish community to engage in 
serious ‘
environmental teshu-
vah.
’
”
Thankfully, in the words of 
author Jonathan Safran Foer, 
in his new book We Are the 
Weather: “We are the flood, and 
we are the ark.
”
We got ourselves into this 
mess. We abdicated our respon-
sibilities to serve and steward 
this home we have. Thus, it 
is entirely possible, and even 
a sacred obligation, for us as 
Jewish practitioners and people 
of faith, to return to the kind 
of reverence and gratitude for 
Earth that it and we deserve. 
This is the year we make a deep 
and true and vulnerable teshu-
vah (return) as we commit to 
doing our part to shift actions, 
consciousness and history itself.

You might urge your com-
munity to join Hazon’
s Seal 
of Sustainability program or 
deepen your engagement with 
the pre-existing Green Team 
at your Seal-certified site. You 
might sign up for the Hazon 
Detroit newsletter and/or like us 
on Facebook so you can show 
up at one of our programs and 
get more involved. You might 
choose to support our work 
financially. 
Whatever action steps you 
take, trust that they are needed. 
When future generations look 
back on 5780, they will care 
most that this was the year we 
stopped being the flood and 
started being and building the 
ark together. 

Rabbi Nate Degroot is associate director 
and spiritual and program director at 
Hazon Detroit.

Parshat 

Noach: 

Genesis 

6:9-11:32; 

Isaiah 

54:1-55:5.

Rabbi Nate 
Degroot

Spirit
torah portion
Building The Ark Again

Eretz

T

he Council for Higher 
Education in Israel 
(CHE) last week official-
ly launched the national initia-
tive “Study in Israel” to double 
the number of international 
students enrolled 
in Israeli colleges 
and universities, 
initially targeting 
students in North 
America, China 
and India. There 
are currently 
about 12,000 
international stu-
dents studying in Israel. 
Study in Israel, which fea-
tures a dedicated website, touts 
high Israeli academic stan-

dards and distinctive, engaged 
approach to education with the 
theme “Engage in Excellence,
” 
highlights the country’
s inno-
vative academic and research 
landscape as part of the “The 
Startup Nation” and points to 
Israel’
s competitive tuition costs. 
Recently, four Israeli univer-
sities were ranked among the 
top 50 undergraduate programs 
globally that produce the most 
venture capital-backed entre-
preneurs, according to the latest 
ranking by PitchBook. 
The initiative also under-
scores that Israeli universities 
and colleges offer dozens of 
short-term study programs, as 
well as full degrees and research 

opportunities, taught in English. 
Study in Israel will eventually be 
aimed at students worldwide. 
“We have committed to 
making Israel a brain gain 
country for excellent students 
and researchers from around 
the world — North and South 
America, Europe and Asia,
” 
said Professor Yaffa Zilbershats, 
chair of the CHE’
s Planning and 
Budgeting Committee (PBC). 
“With this new campaign, Israel 
is now more attractive than ever 
for students in North America 
and beyond — and we’
re look-
ing forward to bringing many 
more students from around the 
globe in years to come.
” 
Meanwhile, the CHE also 
recently authorized 26 new 
international degree programs 
in a range of fields in which 
Israel is globally recognized, 
including STEM (Science, 

Technology, Engineering, 
Mathematics), Innovation 
and Entrepreneurship, Jewish 
Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, 
Agriculture, Urban Studies, 
Environmental Studies and 
Design. 
In addition, the Council has 
provided earmarked funding to 
its public higher education insti-
tutions to bolster marketing and 
recruitment efforts, create new 
courses in English and develop 
international student services. 
The Council also finances and 
manages a number of fellow-
ship programs for international 
students and post-doctorate 
researchers. 
Study in Israel is the latest 
effort by the CHE to promote 
internationalization in the 
Israeli higher education system 
and attract international stu-
dents. 

Israel Wants to Double 
International Students 

Prof. Yaffa 
Zilbershats

COURTESY OF THE COUNCIL 
FOR HIGHER EDUCATION