d’var torah
Who Learns What From the
Flood: Mortality or Morality?
BY RABBI BARRY DOV LERNER
Parshat Noach
L ast week, we followed the Torah
description of the Creation. Now,
seemingly this same benevolent
Creator decides that this new world does
not deserve to survive: “Adonai saw how
human wickedness fi lled the earth —
how every plan devised by the human
mind was nothing but evil all the time.”
(Gen 6:5)
But haven’t you ever wondered whether
our universe is constantly created and
destroyed, one aft er another? Not a new
question for the Jewish tradition! Our sages
of the Talmud themselves debate whether
our “world” is the fi rst and only world
created or “just another one in a series of
creations.” “Rabbi Abbahu claimed that
the Creation story itself teaches us that
God created worlds and destroyed them,
saying, ‘Th is one pleases me; those did not
please me.’” (Ber. Rabba 3:7)
But the sinfulness of humanity appar-
ently is never-ending in our narrative,
from the very beginning. Firstly, Adam
and Eve fail to follow simple instructions
and are punished and are driven from
Gan Eden. Th en Cain ultimately murders
his brother Abel, needing punishment.
Human beings persist in such disobe-
dience and selfi shly destroying what God
made for them that the Torah records
what is to me one of the saddest verses in
the Bible. Can anything be sadder than
the omniscient divinity being forced to
acknowledge a cosmic blunder, an abso-
lute miscalculation? God declares that he
will blot out every living thing he created
because he’s sorry he made them! As the
Torah itself records: “And Adonai regret-
ted having made humankind on earth.”
(Gen. 6:6)
But, as in every great story, we can
discern a silver lining of hope: God fi nds
one redeeming human being. Everyone
knows the description of Noah and the
reason he is selected to survive: “Noah
was a righteous man; he was blameless in
his age; Noah walked with God.” (Gen.
6:7) Th erefore, Noah was given the blue-
prints, the protocols and the details of the
survival of the great fl ood.
However, two very important ques-
tions remain for interpretation: (1) Did
Noah truly act as a “whole-hearted, righ-
teous” leader in his generation? Two com-
parisons come to mind in this season of
beginnings. When Abraham was told of
the impending destruction of the evil in
Sodom, he begged God for mercy and
even forgiveness. And we read just a short
while ago about Jonah who, when faced
with the destruction of evil, ran away.
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Some of our sages claimed that the 120
years it took to build the Ark and then to
provision it for all life, was a reasonable
and very visible warning to humanity,
even if we are not informed that Noah
ever told them of impending disaster.
(2) Perhaps more importantly, who
learned the most from the fl ood? Noah?
Not really. He was and remained passive
rather than active with regard to his fellow
humanity. Ultimately, Noah built his boat
for himself — as he was instructed — for
his own family and saved them. Even
then, he was not certain until the text
reports Noah entered the Ark only when
told to do so. Th en, “And Adonai shut him
in” which Rashi interprets to mean both
“He surrounded the Ark with bears and
lions which killed some of them." (Gen.R.
32:8) But the literal meaning of the text is:
"He shut the door in front of him against
the waters.” (Gen. 7:16)
At the beginning of the narrative, God
is suffi ciently disappointed in humanity
to drown the whole earth. But in the
end something major changes in God’s
thinking; He does an about-face and
announces that henceforth humanity
will never again be divinely destroyed.
Th e story of the fl ood is not about a
change in humankind. It’s a story about
a change in God, who swears off retribu-
tion and chooses relationship.
For us, however, when will we learn
the lesson of the fl ood to become the
compassionate, righteous humanity of
which we are capable — justifying our
creation and the stewardship of this
earth we share with so many? JE
Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner is retired
and provides kosher supervision for
Traditional Kosher Supervision in the
Greater Philadelphia area, while teach-
ing hands-on craft skills to make and
use properly holiday ritual objects. Th e
Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia
is proud to provide diverse perspectives
on Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. Th e opinions expressed in this
column are the author’s own and do not
refl ect the view of the Board of Rabbis.
calendar
MARCH 17–MAY 19
is $36. For more information or
details, contact the office at
215-677-1600. 9768 Verree Road,
Philadelphia. Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El Sis-
terhood invites the community to
join our weekly mahjong game at
7 p.m. Cost is $36 per year or free
with MBIEE Sisterhood membership.
For more information, call 215-
635-1505 or email office@mbiee.
org. 8339 Old York Road, Elkins
Park. T U E SDAY, N OV. 1
TH U RSDAY, N OV. 3
Join Barry at Tabas Kleinlife for an
afternoon of bingo at 12:45 p.m. on
Nov. 1 and 2. Free parking and free
to play with snacks available on
Nov. 2. For more information,
call 215-745-3127.
Ohev Shalom of Bucks County Sis-
terhood invites the community to a
weekly canasta game from 1-3 p.m.
Open play is $4. Call 215-968-6755
for more information. 944 Second
Street Pike, Richboro. JE
MAHJONG GAME
BINGO WITH BARRY
SPEED DATING
Join Be Single No More for a night of speed dating with Jewish
singles in their 20s and 30s at the Infusion Lounge. Check in is
at 6:45 p.m. Within 24 hours, we’ll email you your matches. Email
besinglenomore@gmail.com or message us at facebook.com/
besinglenomore if you have questions. 16 S. Second St.,
2nd floor, Philadelphia.
FRI DAY, OC T. 28
PARSHA FOR LIFE
Join Rabbi Alexander Coleman, a
Jewish educator and psychothera-
pist at the Institute for Jewish Eth-
ics, at 9 a.m. for a weekly journey
through the Torah portion of the
week with eternal lessons on per-
sonal growth and spirituality. Go to
ijethics.org/weekly-torah-portion. html to receive the Zoom link and
password. CONTEMPLATIVE SHABBAT
Join Beth Sholom Congregation’s
Rabbi David Glanzberg-Krainin,
Cantor Jacob Agar and the band
for a contemplative musical Kabba-
lat Shabbat service at 6 p.m. The
community is welcome to attend.
Call 215-887-1342 for information.
8231 Old York Road, Elkins Park.
ART EXHIBIT
After two-and-a-half years, the
Olitsky Gallery presents an exhibit
featuring area artists Cyndi Philkill
WOMEN AND MONEY
MEET-UP Are you a woman looking to
improve your financial skills? Join
Jewish Family and Children’s Ser-
vice and a supportive group of
women the first Tuesday of every
month from 7:30-8:30 p.m. to learn
about a range of financial topics,
share tips and ideas and alleviate
your stress and anxiety around
money. Contact Laura Flowers at
267-256-2274 or lflowers@jfc-
sphilly.org for more information.
MON DAY, OCT. 31
W EDNES DAY, NOV. 2
2101 Strahle St., Philadelphia.
CANASTA GAME
and Karen Liebman. The exhibit
continues until Nov. 9. For more
information, call 267-975-7555.
239 Welsh Road, Upper Dublin.
SATUR DAY, OCT. 29
THEATRE ARIEL
PERFORMANCE Philadelphia’s only professional
Jewish theater company, Theatre
Ariel, presents its 32nd season, all
on the theme of legacy. The season
opener, “We All Fall Down” by Lila
Rose Kaplan, runs for the last time
at 8 p.m. For more information and
for tickets, visit TheatreAriel.org
or contact info@theatreariel.org or
610-667-9230. SUNDAY, OCT. 30
AUTHOR TALK
At 1 p.m. author Andrew Kane will
be with Congregations of Shaare
Shamayim in person to discuss his
book “Joshua: A Brooklyn Tale.”
There will be a dessert buffet
served, and the cost for this event
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