October 20, 2023 /5 Cheshvan 5784
Pictured: Noah receiving an olive branch from the dove. BL Add MS 11639; ‘The Northern French Miscellany’; 1277 CE-1324 CE; f.521r
Noah and family spend 12 months on the Ark. It’s not an easy time, to say the least. The Midrash describes the Ark as both haven and prison; it keeps Noah and family safe and it keeps them trapped. Rabbi Zadok said: For twelve months all the creatures were in the ark; and Noah stood and prayed before the Blessed Holy One, saying: Sovereign of all worlds – Bring me forth from this prison, for my soul is faint, because of the stench of lions. [Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer]
But leaving the Ark is also not a simple matter. By virtue of bearing witness to utter destruction, Noah has earned new knowledge of himself, of the world, of God. Hasidic commentator, R Haim Tyrer of Chernovitz puts it this way: He came to understand what had been sacrificed in front of him. [Be’er Mayim Haim]
Noah’s first act upon leaving the Ark is to build an altar on which he offers a burnt offering. It’s quite a move – Ark to Altar. In Rabbi Miriam Margles’ words: “he moves from a structure that contains and en-wombs to a structure that is open, simple – an early platform.”
And what of us? Rabbi Margles continues: “As soon as we begin to offer, we can already feel the capacity for healing moving through us. And then more energy and life-force become available to us.”
Just this morning, my friend Jessica Steinberg writing from Jerusalem shared this: “The line for Ovad Falafel on Bethlehem Road was very long the other day, and a friend of mine said people just want to eat that quintessential Israeli sandwich right now, and I get that too. I could really go for a falafel right now, in fact, even with Friday night dinner in my near future.”
That’s Noah’s move. May it be ours too; and soon.
Shabbat Shalom
