Parshah Noach: Do Not Be Afraid, You Are Not Alone

I hope you won’t mind if I revisit part of the speech I wrote for our son on his becoming a Bar Mitzvah. I had been struggling on how to put into words the love we have for our son, and how proud we were and how proud we have always been of him. Our family has had a difficult time this past year, and yet, our family is close and we have become even closer as we have lived through these hardships. In the end, it’s not about what you have, it’s how you live your life, and how you take care of the people you love that matters the most.

I think Noah had every right to question authority, and yet, instead of arguing over the task at hand, Noah listened to G-d, followed G-d’s instructions and in doing so, he saved the world as he knew it: his family, and all the animals in the world. Noah trusted in G-d. I think Noah was able to trust in G-d because Noah realized that he and his family would not be alone on that Ark. They would be watched over by G-d.

This is part of what I wrote to our son:

It’s all right to be afraid because you are not alone. I can only imagine how frightened Noah and his family must have been when the rain started to fall. I can’t begin to comprehend how it must have been inside that Ark for 40 days and 40 nights of endless rain. Think for a moment about the constant movement of the Ark on the stormy turbulent water, the noise of the animals, the smell of those animals, not to mention the fear and loneliness knowing that all life outside that Ark was gone. What could have possibly sustained Noah and his family during that terrifying ordeal?

Two things: Family and Faith.

Were they afraid? You can count on it. Did they question whether or not they would ever see dry land again? You bet. Did they argue and complain and get tired of taking care of so many animals? You know they did! So what did they do? Well, they had two things that they could rely on: They had each other and they had faith that G-d would comfort them and sustain them and guide them to safety.

I know on many levels, this Parshah seems more like a fairy tale than a Biblical passage, yet I believe it is a story that still resonates today. No matter where we live, no matter what the weather is, every Friday, we light candles and pray and observe Shabbas. As Jews, we find comfort in our community, in our rituals (both the sacred — our Shabbat Candles and prayers — and the not-so-sacred — bagels & lox or honey cake) and in our Torah