Parsha Noach
October 25, 2025/3 Cheshvan 5786
Shabbat Shalom friends:
There are many questions I have had over the years about this Parsha, but mostly I wondered why a flood? It seems kind of natural to me, in fact I had one in my basement some years ago. If the goal is to show G-d’s might, shouldn’t it be like the plagues of Egypt? Pulverized like Sodom? But no, the world gets destroyed with…lots of rain.
The Talmud has an interesting approach to this question (Sanhedrin 107b), when it discusses people who have no share in the world to come. The generation of the flood, possibly in contrast with some of the other wicked generations, are considered punishment delivered, and will not (according to the Rabbis) be resurrected on the final day of judgement for further reckoning. Perhaps this is an even more severe punishment as they are completely obliterated from the world.
One explanation of their sin is arrogance. The Rabbis quote verses from Iyov (Job) that reference the generation of the flood, indicating that they were extraordinarily blessed with security, fertile animals, and an easygoing lifestyle. But instead of appreciating these gifts, they became arrogant and declared that they needed nothing from G-d, not even rain, as they had abundant rivers and streams. As such, G-d declared they would be humbled through the very thing that they declared they did not need.
This is also indicated in the verse (6:3) where G-d states “my spirit shall not contend evermore concerning man since he is but flesh” alluding to the fact that they were finished – body and spirit. “He is but flesh” also indicates a lack of humility, not realizing from where his greatness arises. While there are many other opinions and verses considering their sins, it may be that the root of all their sins was arrogance. Today, we live in relative safety and security, economic prosperity, and freedom to practice our religion in most of the world. But how often are we thankful for these gifts? Or do we attribute them to our intelligence, strength, or even our hard work? Those are all important, but they too are gifts. If we take our gifts for granted, we may have shocks to the system as warnings, or worse yet, lose our blessings entirely. In recent days we have received huge blessings, so now is a perfect time to humble ourselves and express our gratitude to G-d for all of it – big blessings (like hostages freed) and the seemingly little (yet so important) blessings such as water (of which Annapolis has so much).
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
There are many questions I have had over the years about this Parsha, but mostly I wondered why a flood? It seems kind of natural to me, in fact I had one in my basement some years ago. If the goal is to show G-d’s might, shouldn’t it be like the plagues of Egypt? Pulverized like Sodom? But no, the world gets destroyed with…lots of rain.
The Talmud has an interesting approach to this question (Sanhedrin 107b), when it discusses people who have no share in the world to come. The generation of the flood, possibly in contrast with some of the other wicked generations, are considered punishment delivered, and will not (according to the Rabbis) be resurrected on the final day of judgement for further reckoning. Perhaps this is an even more severe punishment as they are completely obliterated from the world.
One explanation of their sin is arrogance. The Rabbis quote verses from Iyov (Job) that reference the generation of the flood, indicating that they were extraordinarily blessed with security, fertile animals, and an easygoing lifestyle. But instead of appreciating these gifts, they became arrogant and declared that they needed nothing from G-d, not even rain, as they had abundant rivers and streams. As such, G-d declared they would be humbled through the very thing that they declared they did not need.
This is also indicated in the verse (6:3) where G-d states “my spirit shall not contend evermore concerning man since he is but flesh” alluding to the fact that they were finished – body and spirit. “He is but flesh” also indicates a lack of humility, not realizing from where his greatness arises. While there are many other opinions and verses considering their sins, it may be that the root of all their sins was arrogance. Today, we live in relative safety and security, economic prosperity, and freedom to practice our religion in most of the world. But how often are we thankful for these gifts? Or do we attribute them to our intelligence, strength, or even our hard work? Those are all important, but they too are gifts. If we take our gifts for granted, we may have shocks to the system as warnings, or worse yet, lose our blessings entirely. In recent days we have received huge blessings, so now is a perfect time to humble ourselves and express our gratitude to G-d for all of it – big blessings (like hostages freed) and the seemingly little (yet so important) blessings such as water (of which Annapolis has so much).
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh
