B"H
NO'ACH
This week's Torah
portion is Parshat No'ach - one of the most misunderstood chapters in Torah.
Suffice it for
the time being to say this: The dove in Parshat No'ach is called yonah in
Hebrew.
There is also a Prophet by the name of Yonah.
He's the Prophet who was thrown into the sea by the sailors. Deep water as well as animals feature prominently in Parshat No'ach and in The Book of Yonah the Prophet.
The dove that No'ach sent forth is the Prophet Yonah, who was sent to save the People of Ninveh, even at his own expense.
Not only that, God says to Yonah at the very end of the Book:
And the LORD said: 'Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?'
There is also a Prophet by the name of Yonah.
He's the Prophet who was thrown into the sea by the sailors. Deep water as well as animals feature prominently in Parshat No'ach and in The Book of Yonah the Prophet.
The dove that No'ach sent forth is the Prophet Yonah, who was sent to save the People of Ninveh, even at his own expense.
Not only that, God says to Yonah at the very end of the Book:
And the LORD said: 'Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night; and should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle?'
Everything in Torah
is eternal. Everything in Torah is operative in every generation, as is
written:
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God. - Gensis 6:9
Generations, and not just one generation.
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God. - Gensis 6:9
Generations, and not just one generation.
Would God not
have mercy on all of Humanity? Could the story possibly be as seems on the
surface? Does the deep water that figures prominently in the Chapter of No'ach
and in the Prophet Yonah not indicate clearly that this story is much, much
deeper than appears?
The proof that
the story of No'ach is misunderstood is in our reality. The story of No'ach is
happening now, as is all of Torah - and we are not being inundated in a deep,
hot sea. Not only is HaShem having mercy on all Humanity, even sinners, but
HaShem's love is being extended to the animal world too, as is evidenced in the
growing mercy of the Vegetarian and Vegan movements and the calls to do away
with animal cruelty being heard all over the world.
May it be God's
Will that all of Humanity will merit to understand Torah correctly in their
various languages.
