Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Ben Waistein (Benyiamin ben Elisheva) from Israel.

Continue praying for : Stuart Holtzclaw and Randy Shute from Syracuse, NY, Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Noach

Genesis 6:9 - 11:32

The story of one righteous man in an evil generation. The Almighty commands Noach to build the ark on a hill far from the water. He built it over a period of 120 years. People deride Noach and ask him, "Why are you building a boat on a hill?" Noach explains that there will be a flood if people do not correct their ways. We see from this the patience of the Almighty for people to correct their ways and the genius of arousing people's curiosity so that they will ask a question and, hopefully, hear the answer.

The generation does not do Teshuva, returning from their evil ways to the righteous path, and God brings a flood for 40 days. They leave the ark 365 days later when the earth has once again become habitable. The Almighty makes a covenant and makes the rainbow the sign of the covenant that He will never destroy all of life again by water. When one sees a rainbow it is an omen to do Teshuvah -- to recognize the mistakes you are making in life, regret them, correct them/make restitution, and ask for forgiveness from anyone you have wronged and then to ask forgiveness from the Almighty.

Noach plants a vineyard, gets drunk and then occurs the mysterious incident in the tent after which Noach curses his grandson Canaan. The Torah portion concludes with the story of the Tower of Babel and then a genealogy from Noach's son, Shem, to Abram (Abraham).

"Noach was a completely righteous man in his generation" (Gen. 6:9).

The Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 108a, is bothered by the seemingly superfluous words "in his generation." What are these extra words coming to teach us?

There are two opinions:

1) Praise of Noach. Even in an evil generation he was righteous. However, if he were in a righteous generation, he would have been even more righteous.

2) Denigration of Noach. In his own generation he was considered righteous, but had he lived in Avraham's generation he would not have been considered righteous in comparison to Avraham.

The Chasam Sofer, a great rabbi, explained that there really is no argument between the two opinions. If Noach would have stayed the way he was in his own generation, then in Avraham's generation he would not have been considered that righteous. However, the reality is that Noach would have been influenced by Avraham and have reached even greater heights of righteousness.

What do we learn from this?

We are all affected by our environment. When we are close to people of good character, we are automatically influenced in positive directions. Choose well your friends and your community -- they strongly impact your life!

You can understand a person's nature through three things: his cup (when he is under the influence of alcohol), his wallet (his generosity), his anger (easy or hard to anger; easy or hard to appease)  --  Talmud Eruvin 65b.

"And Noah, man of the earth, profaned himself and planted a vineyard" (Genesis 9:20). Previously the Torah called Noah "a righteous man."

What happened?

Rabbi Yeruchem Levovitz comments that by planting the vineyard first, Noah revealed his essence. He should have planted more essential produce first. His choice of priorities lowered his previous spiritual level.

Whenever you have a number of things to choose from, note what you choose first. This is a powerful tool to gain greater self-awareness. Regardless of your present level, strive to build up such a love for doing good that it will be first on your list of things to do!

Try The Three P's of Success: passion, planning, and perseverance and The Three T's: Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah.

Teshuvah (repentance or returning) involves regretting and changing one's wrongdoings. Tefillah (prayer) is a connection with G-d, seen as a way to open the soul and refine one's needs.Tzedakah (justice) is not just charity, but a duty to act righteously and correct injustice by giving to others.  

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention. Your purpose is the essence of who you are.

Shabbat Shalom,

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is a Jewish Chaplain actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.