D'var Torah

Shanah Tovah! I hope you had a fulfilling and meaningful High Holy Days. Now that we have begun the Torah reading cycle again from the beginning, after Simchat Torah, it is remarkable how quickly we are taken through the most memorable stories of the Book of Genesis. Last week, we read about God creating the world from tohu vavohu, bringing order out chaos and ending with Shabbat, the day of rest. This week, we read the powerful story of Noah.

Noah’s name means rest, a name which the rabbis tell us signifies that he invented the plow, making the task of tilling the soil easier and more restful. Whatever the reason, a name meaning rest is ironic for Noah. The experience of filling his role in the flood narrative is anything but restful. The story of destruction is so disturbing that we are thankful we don’t have to take it literally. Instead, we can focus on the moment after the flood ends, when the rain ceases, the ark comes to a rest, the chaos gives way to quiet, and the Keshet, the rainbow, appears, stunningly bright, wide and stretching as far as he can see. In the presence of the rainbow, Noah’s name feels more resonant. With this sight comes a promise that never again will there be destruction like what is now finally over.

These two stories of creation and the flood bring us a cycle of chaos and order, strife and rest. The work of creating the world, and the chaos of human strife, are contrasted with Shabbat and the rainbow, offering us peace and quiet.

This week, the coming of election day brings feelings of unrest, uncertainty, and perhaps a sense of the cycle of chaos in our world. In contemplating the parallels we might find with the Torah portion, I invite us to imagine the sense of a new beginning Noah would have felt in that moment, after the darkness of the storm. The rainbow represents the blessing of the reliability of our world, the promise that there will always be a sunrise, renewing for us each day the experience of God’s creation, and that our darker and more difficult times will be balanced by brighter, smoother, more restful ones. In addition, the Midrash teaches that the dove, which came to announce the appearance of land, arrived carrying not only an olive branch but also olives on it, which Noah then used to make oil for light. We, too, are called to bring light to darkness, to remember Noah’s moment of relief, uplift, and emergence from adversity. As we experience both the uncertainty of events beyond our control and the blessings we enjoy in our everyday lives, we might reflect on our gratitude for the world we have been given, its inspiration, comfort, and beauty, as well as on our own obligation, like God and Noah, to bring light.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jeff Saxe