In parshat Noah the earth is corrupted and filled with evil. God responds by bringing the Flood, saving Noah and family in the tevah and then, the command to leave the ark. These steps resonate with the recovery process and resilience we are experiencing here in Israel.

First, the Torah alludes again and again to the language of Bereshit as creation is reversed through the Flood. The world is created in seven days. So too, God brings the flood after Noah is on the ark for seven days. In the beginning the world is “tehom” (deep waters) and the flood returns the world to “tehom rabba.” When evil is so deep-rooted and atrocious, the only response is to wipe out the sources of evil entirely. Only then, can the world be recreated again. 

Second, why a tevah? Ibn Ezra points out that an ark has no oars. Meaning, it is fully at the whim of the waters and God’s navigation. This was a period for faith-building. The Netivot Shalom writes that Noah’s tevah is a template for us for all time. It is a metaphoric place we can go to correct or refocus ourselves. When there is corruption or evil around us, we draw inward, unifying with our family and our nation – in hitachdut. We surround ourselves with goodness, with sources of strength and we overcome.

Third, when God tells Noah, “Go out of the tevah,” God speaks to Noah about the sanctity of human life. God says do not murder, and “be fruitful and multiply.” Go out, live and re-create the world. Noah does not fully live up to this mission, but after so much loss, the Torah provides this statement of hope.

Parshat Noah’s legacy for today: 1) Root out the sources of extreme evil so that it may not recur. 2) Find meaningful sources of strength through community, Torah and Jewish unity. 3) Remember even in these dark days, to have hope. Hope, writes Rabbi Sacks, “is the belief that if we work hard enough together, we can make things better.” Shabbat Shalom.  !ביחד ננצח –Karen Miller Jackson