Parashat Noach
Cheshvan 4, 5783 / October 28-29, 2022
Torah Reading: Genesis 6:9 - 11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 - 55:5 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 54:1-10 (Sephardim)
Torah Reading: Genesis 6:9 - 11:32
Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 - 55:5 (Ashkenazim); Isaiah 54:1-10 (Sephardim)
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my uncle, Merwin Erenbaum, whose yahrzeit falls on Wednesday, November 2, corresponding to 8 Cheshvan. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered in memory of my zayde, Sam Flom, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, November 3, corresponding to 9 Cheshvan. Y'hi zikhro liv'rakhah - May his memory be a blessing.
This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov.
NO Lunch and Learn on November 8. We will meet on November 1.
On November 1, we'll be at BT Shabbat 28b - page 114 of Ein Ya'akov Volume 1 -
"...מאי הוי עלה דתחש" - "What remains of the discussion regarding the so-called badger (Tachash)..."
Ein Ya'akov is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at:
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at:
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at:
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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REBIRTH OF MAN – AND GOD
"And God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to blow across the earth, and the waters subsided." Genesis 8:1
In The Five Books of Miriam, author Ellen Frankel suggests that the affair of the Flood is reminiscent of a birth. The waters are amniotic fluid. The ark is an embryo, and contained within that embryo are the seeds of all life. The embryo floats, without direction, in the water. The child is born, and needs to be raised. The child needs food and instruction. These, Noah and his family receive. They learn agriculture, and they are given rules to live by. These are the Seven Noahide Laws, which prohibit, among other things, murder, idolatry, animal cruelty and sexual misconduct, and which require the establishment of courts of justice.
Noah and the Rainbow - Marc Chagall
Thus, the human race is reborn, with knowledge and guidelines which Adam and Eve did not have. I would suggest that God is “reborn” as well. After the disobedience of the first humans, God simply drives them away. In the face of the "corruption of the world", a world inhabited by lawless people, God destroys nearly everyone. But God "reinvents" God’s Self. God remembers - God remembers that God too must have rules, and so God makes a covenant with Noah not to destroy the world again. God finally "gets it" - God understands that those created (merely) in the image of God, the human race, cannot survive without God's guidance.
It's a symbiotic relationship, if you will. God needs us to perfect the world, and we need God to tell us how to do it. Put God's words into action - you might even be reborn.
Have a wonderful Shabbat!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Send requests for dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah to:
Rabbi Emeritus
Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Cyber Torah list management (no salesman will call!):
To subscribe to Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
Send requests for dedications of Cyber Torah in honor of a simchah, in memory of a loved one or for a refuah shleimah to:
ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
To unsubscribe from Cyber Torah, send an e-mail with the subject heading “Unsubscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
