Noach

In this week's parsha, Noach, we witness an important parallel--ten generations from Adam to Noach, and then ten generations from Noach to Avraham. Yet there are very different results at the end of these ten generations, in spite of the disappointing performance of human beings during each time period. Because Noach focuses only on himself and doesn't encourage others to improve, a great flood wipes out almost all of humanity. On the other hand, Avraham's greatness and desire to help others become better people saves humanity. Our charge, therefore, is clear. It is not enough to be righteous or observant in a vacuum; instead, we need to reach out to others and inspire their improvement too.

This same dichotomy can be seen when students are assigned to work on group projects. Some students decide to focus only on their portion of the project, and appear almost surprised when the time comes to present the project and their group-mates appear at their side. Others aspire to truly work as a unit, encouraging everyone to do his or her best and to tackle the challenges as a team. Certainly there is no doubt as to which type of student we would want to be our partners!

We could certainly speculate based on the Torah description what kind of partners Noach and Avraham would be. May we all strive to be like Avraham, helping those around us to aspire to greatness in their relationship with each other and with Hashem.

Shabbat Shalom--
Paul Oberman