Weekly Parashah- Noach/Noah
“The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth…” Gen. 6:11 &12.
I have read this Parsha for 34 years and I am still in awe of it. I am struck by the story, the lawlessness/violence of mankind that caused the flood. I am left to question: where are we/I today? Given our current state of affairs, one could say that this Pandemic has come to remind us of how much we are NOT in control of everything. It could remind us of the consequences of lawlessness or selfishness. So, I have to ask myself and you- how are we on the continuum of lawlessness and lawful? We are never in one or the other, this continuum is an ebb/flow constantly. I find myself being the subject of lawlessness and, at times, the perpetrator of same. Every human being is a both/and. There are no perfect people here and, rather than justify our lawlessness, it is important to acknowledge it and grow from it. When I yell/get passionate:) some people feel like violence is thrust upon them while others are propelled to action through my energy. Both are true and, rather than hate me for my passion, either absent yourself from me altogether, absent yourself when I am being passionate/yelling, or accept me for me and take what you can/need and leave the rest. Any and all of these options are valid.
Another way to understand these verses is that earth was going to ruin and God couldn’t stand to see God’s “partner” ruin God’s creation. Anyone who has created something can identify with God’s horror and sorrow. I know a parent who had to call the Police on her own daughter so she could be arrested rather than die on the street from being a junkie. I realize what it was like for my family when my life was going to ruin. What many of us don’t realize is that it is not just our live’s that are going to ruin, it is also the lives of all those around us, especially the ones we love and that love us. In addiction, the addict’s family is profoundly impacted and the addict doesn’t realize it. The same is true in families that are missatuned to each other. It is true in work places, religious institutions, classrooms, and in government also. I see the ruin that I bring to my daughter and my wife when I am not hearing them, when I am stuck in yesterday or tomorrow. I see how my going to ruin impacts my community, friends, etc. I really understand what Torah is warning us about. We have choice, God trusts us with Free Will and, rather than take it for granted or as an entitlement, we have to be responsible for it and to it as well as to all the people we interact with. We will never get it right all the time, this is another reason that God put T’Shuvah into the world. It is so important for us to not just look at the ways others are ruining life for themselves and us, we have to look at how we are also guilty so we can repair and change our path and connect with the hope that God gives us.
“…since the devisings of man’s mind are evil (negative) from his youth nor will I ever again destroy every living being as I have done. (Gen.8:21) I will establish My covenant with you…. I have set My bow in the clouds and is shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. (Gen.9:12,13)
Here is God’s T’Shuvah to Noah. God realizes God was wrong in destroying everything and God makes his T’Shuvah with a new plan and covenant. What I learn from this is that negativity/evil is not something we are born with. We are born with the Yetzer HaRa, which Rabbi Harold Kushner taught me means Earthly Inclination, and we need it. It is not something to be killed off or thrown away. It is a part of us. The first verse here is teaching us that we have choice as to how to use it. In our youth, either we learn how to use the Yetzer HaRa or it will use us. This is why our religious institutions have to change what they teach, how they teach and when they teach. Transforming and using the Yetzer HaRa to benefit ourselves and society is crucial to living well and most of us don’t learn this. Left to our own devices, we will start to use our Yetzer HaRa to ‘win’ and live in a ‘zero-sum’/either-or world rather than live in a ‘win-win, both-and’ world. It is a choice that God gives us, just as parents have to give their children the ability to make conchs. Torah is teaching us how to prepare children to make good choices that will help them live well: Learn Torah! Learning Torah from a young age will give us the foundation to make good choices and learning Torah means to live the principles and values. When we learn the Spiritual Values of Judaism, we are able to put them into practice. When we don’t learn them early, we form other values as I stated above. Winning is not the end/all be/all. In fact, winning at all costs is what this verse is speaking of, I believe. I think about all the times I allowed the negativity inside of me to rule me and how awful things turned out. Allowing the Yetzer HaRa to rule us (we can have this happen even though we do good deeds) begins in our youth/adolescence. This is why learning is so important. We cannot revere life if we don’t learn how to live well. Even though I had great role models and I went to Hebrew School, etc. I didn’t learn the spiritual values necessary to put their teachings into a good practice. I see this now in a way I never did. Was I taught them, certainly. Was I taught them in a way I could understand, relate to and live, not so much. Torah is teaching us to learn the values needed to rule our Yetzer HaRa and transform the energy to bring joy, goodness, creativity and love to everything we are engaged in. This is the reason I study each day and work hard to live Rabbi Heschel’s teaching more and more as well as Torah more and more each day. What are you studying to help you rule your Yetzer HaRa?
The last verse I chose is a reminder for me that God is on my side! Not like the Bob Dylan song says, not the way people use God’s name to justify their thoughts and ways, rather as God meant it to be. We have a Covenant and God knows we will violate it because we will forget it and we will let our Yetzer HaRa rule us. God is not going anywhere. I know many people speak of God being in TzimTzum, hiding, I just don’t agree with them. God is not going to intervene, otherwise how would we have free will? God knows we form negative paths in our youth, yet God is staying faithful to God’s Covenant. Our questions don’t need to be about God’s faithfulness, rather our own! How are we staying faithful to our Covenant with God? How are we/I remembering that God created the Earth, destroyed it once to show us what our lawlessness, our grab for absolute power does to us and others and gave us another opportunity. When I see all the opportunities that God has given me, I am in awe, and I am in debt. I have a way to repay the debt of my life, live well! How are you repaying the debt of life by living well? The Rainbow is, in my opinion, not for God to remember- it is for us to remember God’s Covenant and faithfulness to us. Each time I se the rainbow, I am relieved, in awe and owe a debt of gratitude that is repaid every time I do the next right thing. Every time I see the rainbow, I am reminded that there is something good I can do to repay God for all the bounty that I have in my life. This Shabbos, let us all look for ways to remind ourselves of the debt of decency, love, faithfulness, compassion and kindness we owe to God and practice these on/with other people. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark