Weekly D'rash and Parsha Noach
The Weekly D'rash and the Scriptures that we will be reading this Shabbat for Noah from Rabbi Howard Silverman.
TORAH ~ Genesis 6:9-11:32
HAFTARAH ~ Isaiah 54:1-55:5 BRIT CHADASHA ~ Revelation 19:1-6, 21:1-5
This week the Torah portion is about the Flood and its aftermath. Toward the end of last week's portion, we read about the birth of Noah and the significance of his name. "Now he called his name Noah, saying, 'This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed'" (Gen 5:29). Chapter five of Genesis records not only the names of descendants of Adam, but also their ages when they fathered children and when they died. If you add up the years of Adam's life, you see that the next person to be born in the genealogy of chapter five after the death of Adam is Noah! He is a second Adam.
The birth of Noah is hope for the future. He is the man who would build the ark, father three sons, and survive the flood. Noah's three sons would populate the earth. In Noah, we find a type of a deliverance. Noah and his family are delivered from the judgment through the ark. However, the deliverance is short lived—as the sons of Noah and their offspring continue in rebellion and alienation from God. The primary blessing that is described in these chapters of Genesis is the blessing of being fruitful and multiplying. The blessing of descendants is described in the genealogies. Even though mankind continues to sin, God never denies mankind the blessing of descendants. The descendants of Shem are the last genealogies of the three sons of Noah. Shem's genealogy is divided into two parts. In between these two parts is the story of the Tower of Babel.
In this story, God scatters mankind over the face of the earth and people begin to speak different languages. We usually think of this event as a judgment or something negative, but we could call it a "blessing in disguise". What we learn is that in the plan of God the avenue of the blessing comes when people who are different serve as the conduit of blessing to one another. This idea of mutual blessing of the "other" is introduced in the creation of mankind in two distinct types of people: male and female. God desires to bless people through the words and actions of individuals and groups.
A moment ago, I said that the story of Babel appears in between two parts of the genealogy of Shem. A careful reading of the second part of the genealogy gives us the ancestors of Abram. We will learn next week that it is Abram, one of the scattered descendants of Shem, who will be the father of a distinct people group that will be a special conduit of the blessing of God to all of the other scattered peoples. But the lesson for this week is that even though mankind rebels against God, He will bring His desire for blessing mankind to consummation.
God is the one who gave mankind a variety of languages and people groups. He desires, even today, that we bless one another by showing the love of God to each other in a variety of ways. He desires that we be a multiethnic, multilanguage world. We demonstrate His image when we relate to one another according to the morality and ethics of the Bible. That is the challenge that we face in the world in which we live. As a Messianic Jewish community, it is a blessing that at Beth Messiah we have people from a variety of ethnic and language backgrounds who love one another—even as we are one in Messiah. What a model for our world!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard
TORAH READING: GENESIS 6:9 – 11:32
6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with G-d.
10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of G-d, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 G-d looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then G-d said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
14 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 "This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16 "You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 "Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.
18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark-- you and your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
19 "And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
20 "Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
21 "As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them."
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that G-d had commanded him, so he did.
7:1 Then the L-RD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
2 "You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female;
3 also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
4 "For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made."
5 Noah did according to all that the L-RD had commanded him.
6 Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth.
7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.
8 Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground,
9 there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as G-d had commanded Noah.
10 It came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
12 The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
13 On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,
14 they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds.
15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as G-d had commanded him; and the L-RD closed it behind him.
17 Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
18 The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
19 The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.
21 All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind;
22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
23 Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark.
24 The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
8:1 But G-d remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and G-d caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;
3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.
4 In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
5 The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;
7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land;
9 but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.
10 So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark.
11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.
12 Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.
13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.
14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15 Then G-d spoke to Noah, saying,
16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
17 "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the L-RD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 The L-RD smelled the soothing aroma; and the L-RD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
22 "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."
9:1 And G-d blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.
3 "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.
4 "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5 "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man.
6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of G-d He made man.
7 "As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."
8 Then G-d spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;
10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.
11 "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 G-d said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14 "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between G-d and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
17 And G-d said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."
18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan.
19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
20 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.
21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.
25 So he said, "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers."
26 He also said, "Blessed be the L-RD, The G-d of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.
27 "May G-d enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant."
28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.
29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
10:1 Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.
4 The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.
5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
6 The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
8 Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the L-RD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the L-RD."
10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah,
12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
13 Mizraim became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim
14 and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim.
15 Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth
16 and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite
17 and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite
18 and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.
19 The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.
21 Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born.
22 The sons of Shem were Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram were Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash.
24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
26 Joktan became the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah
27 and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah
28 and Obal and Abimael and Sheba
29 and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.
30 Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east.
31 These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.
32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.
11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
5 The L-RD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The L-RD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech."
8 So the L-RD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the L-RD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the L-RD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
10 These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;
11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.
12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah;
13 and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.
14 Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber;
15 and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg;
17 and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu;
19 and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug;
21 and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor;
23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah;
25 and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.
26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot.
28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
30 Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.
32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
HAFTARAH READING: ISAIAH 54:1 – 55:5
54:1"Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman," says the L-RD.
2 "Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords And strengthen your pegs.
3 "For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.
4 "Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
5 "For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the L-RD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the G-d of all the earth.
6 "For the L-RD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected," Says your G-d.
7 "1For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you.
8 "In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you," Says the L-RD your Redeemer.
9 "For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would anot flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you.
10 "For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken," Says the L-RD who has compassion on you.
11 "O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.
12 "Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones.
13 "All your sons will be taught of the L-RD; And the well-being of your sons will be great.
14 "In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you.
15 "If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you.
16 "Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals And brings out a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to ruin.
17 "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the L-RD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the L-RD.
55:1 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.
2 "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.
3 "Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.
4 "Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples.
5 "Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the L-RD your G-d, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you."
B’RIT CHADASHAH READING: REVELATION 19:1-6, 21:1-5
19:1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our G-d;
2 BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER."
3 And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER."
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped G-d who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"
5 And a voice came from the throne, saying, "Give praise to our G-d, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great."
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, "Hallelujah! For the L-rd our G-d, the Almighty, reigns.
21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from G-d, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of G-d is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and G-d Himself will be among them,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."