OCTOBER 27 • 2022 | 45
Living With
Uncertainty
T
his week’s portion is
one of the most iconic
and well known of all
the parshiyot in the entire
Torah. Even the
youngest of preschool
children know the
story of Noah, a “righ-
teous man, blameless
in his generation, who
walked with God”
(Genesis 6:9).
Due to lawlessness,
wrongdoing and
rampant corruption
among the people,
God decided to
destroy the Earth by
flood; before doing so,
he commanded Noah
to build an Ark and fill it with
seven pairs of clean animals,
two pairs of unclean animals
and food to sustain those in
the ark. Following 40 days and
nights of rain, Noah sent out
a raven and then three doves,
each seven days apart. It was
only when the third dove did
not return that Noah knew
that the land had dried.
After Noah exited the ark,
God blessed him and his three
sons and commanded them to
be fruitful and multiply. We
know that a rainbow in the sky
that often follows a rainstorm
is the symbol of God’s everlast-
ing covenant with the people
and a reminder that God will
never destroy the Earth again.
The parshah continues with
the story of the building of
Tower of Babel, the scattering
of people across the Earth
when they speak different
languages, and the introduc-
tion of one great-grandson of
Noah, Abram, who eventually
becomes Abraham, the first
patriarch of the Jewish people.
Among many lessons and
takeaways that Noach pro-
vides, we find the opportu-
nity as Jews to learn about
the courage to live with
uncertainty. In 2015/5776,
the late Rabbi Lord
Jonathan Sacks wrote com-
mentary on parshat Noach
that supposes that Noah
needed permission from
God to exit the ark. Rather
than busting out of the ark
when he knew the land had
dried to begin rebuilding
the Earth, Noah waited for
God to command him and
his family to “Come out of
the Ark.” (Genesis 8:16). Rabbi
Sacks continued by comment-
ing that according to Rashi,
Noah’s reluctance to pioneer
and venture into the unknown
is central to the sages’ under-
standing of why God began
the Jewish people not with
Noah but with Abraham, who
“walked ahead of God” in
Genesis 17:1.
This principle of “walk
on ahead” has inspired and
guided us as Jews for millenia.
God wants us to be creative,
bold, courageous and to take
risks for the sake of God
and the Jewish people. We
must always remember that
uncertainty is a part of life;
yet, God is with us, giving us
strength along the way.
Faith in God and humanity are
not certainties, but the courage
to live with uncertainty.
Dr. Darin Katz is head of school at
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
Detroit in Farmington Hills.
Parshat
Noach:
Genesis 6:9-
11:32; Isaiah
54:1-55:5.
Dr. Darin
Katz
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