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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