search
Noson Waintman

O Brave New World, That Has No People In It!

It is hard here now. Rockets and sirens. Running to shelters. Fear for the people kidnapped that the world doesn’t care about. Fear for all the soldiers who may die in a ground war. Trauma in millions of people.

Many ask if this fight can be won. Noah’s bad behavior after leaving the Ark in this week’s Torah portion may provide an answer.

Noah was an amazing person; he was able to be righteous in a terrible and corrupt generation. Noah endured the ridicule of building the Ark for many years. Noah cared for all the animals in the Ark for many months. His selflessness and greatness are without any doubt.

So how come Noah “went to pieces” as soon as he left the Ark? 

Perhaps what Noah found after leaving the Ark deeply affected him so much that he lost himself.

Noah found a new world when he left the Ark. He should have been happy and enthralled. His dreams were fulfilled! The world was cleaned of sin. His children could set up new lives. Noah should have been thrilled and stayed by his altar worshiping God. Instead, Noah went to pieces. He got drunk and made a fool of himself or worse.

Why? What made Noah go to pieces?

Perhaps it was this New World that made Noah fall apart. This wonderful New World was perhaps perfect for the next generation, but for Noah, a man of the old world, it was too much.

This new world may have had the potential to be a better world, a more moral world, one full of possibilities, but for someone who was a child of the old world, of the old generation, a righteous man in HIS generation, it was a world of desolation that he could not adjust to. 

Noah was a man of his generation. And his generation was gone. The people were gone. The roads and paths were gone. The streets were gone. The houses were gone. All there was was desolation. Even the hills looked different. The old world of Noah, its paths, its people, his generation, were all gone.

So Noah fell apart. He gave up. 

It is no different today. What will make the “brave” baby killers give up? What will destroy their resolve?

The same thing that made even a great man like Noah up.  Only then will they lose faith in their mission of murder.

Let us hope and pray for a world of peace among us all.

About the Author
Noson Waintman obtained his M.S. from the Zicklin School of Business of the City University of New York and his B.A. and Rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University. A native of Canada, he currently resides in Rehovot, Israel.
Related Topics
Related Posts