The story of the Tower of Babel seems to indicate G-d’s desire for diversity. He does not wish everyone to be the same. Yet his method of ensuring that diversity goes beyond the cultural. Not only does G-d create different languages but He scatters mankind to the ends of the earth. It appears that the model for successful differentiation is physical separation. This has great relevance for modern communal life. Even within Orthodoxy one has great diversity of approach to a whole range of issues. According to the model postulated above the correct method of accommodating these differences is to either have many synagogues in one area, as is done in many American cities; or to have different services within one synagogue, as is the case in many larger congregations in London. None of theses models of course works in a small Jewish community with one Orthodox synagogue, such as Edinburgh or Aberdeen. However our Parshah provides another model of diversity: the Ark. Here, by force of circumstance, men, women, children and numerous species of animals, had to live side by side in cramped quarters. This was not simple, as the midrash describing poor old Noah being bitten by a lion for being late with dinner, illustrates. Many communal officials can emphasise with that situation. Yet in the end the Ark worked and it worked using a different method: that of compromise. In the Ark both man and beast realised, that in order to survive, not everyone could have their own way all of the time. Everyone, however, could get some of what they wanted. This model is ideally suited to small communities such as ours. Some people want a slower service; others to finish on time. Some want women to speak; others are against it. In a larger community these views would all be accommodated by different services. We do not have the resources to do that. Yet we can follow Noah’s model of keeping all of the people happy some of the time. If people who don’t like a more informal, inclusive service come along to support it anyway, while those who are less traditional still attend the old style service, then everyone wins. If however one side or the other insists that everything always be according to their tastes, then everyone loses. That is the lesson of the Ark. Only with respect and compromise can everyone feel connected, supportive and involved. In a metaphor Noah would have appreciated: either we float together or sink separately!

 ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS

Parshat Noach

·               has  153  verses;

·               is the  2nd  in Genesis,  2nd  in the Torah

PAST PARSHAH PUZZLE

A violent polygamist. 

Lemech who was a killer who married to wives.

PARSHAH PUZZLE

Gomer, Elam, Zidon.

Which is the odd one out?

WEEKLY HALAKHA