Parshat Noach
Parshat Noach
(Genesis 6:9-11:32)
Haftara: (Yishayahu 54:1-55:5)
1. [6:9] “…Noach walked with God.” In our generation, we would praise a religious person by saying that “he kept God’s commandments” or “prayed with concentration”. What is the meaning of “Noach walked with God”?
2. [6:12] “…because all flesh corrupted its way…” Rashi explains that this means that all the living things had sexual relations with other species. Why is that so bad that it deserves the flood?
3. [8:22] “While the earth remains, there will be cold and heat, sowing and harvesting, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease”. Is this the same idea as “There is a time for every purpose under heaven (Kohelet 3:1)”? Is there another way of understanding the pasuk?
4. [11:4] “And they said, ‘Let us build ourselves a city and a tower and its top will be in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name…” What was the sin of these people?
5. [Isaiah 54:6] “And all your children shall be taught of the Lord.” What does this messianic vision mean? Will everyone be on the same level of knowledge and wisdom, or will we still need teachers?
Commentary
[10:1] “These are the descendants of the sons of Noach…”
This chapter traces the nations of the earth to the sons of Noah. The principal races and peoples known to the Israelites are arranged as if they are different branches of one great family. Thus, all the nations are represented as having sprung from the same ancestry. All men are therefore brothers. This sublime conception of the unity of the human race logically follows from the belief in the unity of God, and, like it forms one of the corner-stones of the edifice of Judaism.
–R. Yosef Tzvi Hertz, 1872-1946, England.
This study page is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Bella bat Yitzchak Kummer, Chaim Yosef Yechiel ben Eliyahu Kummer and Eliyahu and Margaret Kummer
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