When you Choose Shabbat, you choose to learn that every Shabbat is different and special. This week I learned that Noah was considered a righteous person “of his generation”. I also learned about the seven Noachide laws; (1) Do not deny G-d, (2) do not blaspheme G-d, (3) do not murder, (4) do not engage in incestuous or adulterous relationships, (5) do not steal, (6) do not eat of a live animal and (7) establish courts and a legal system to ensure law obedience.
Rabbi Michael D Klein of Temple Torat Emet offers his insights on this week’s Torah reading, Noah:
After the time of Noah, we witness an estrangement from G-d. The majority of nations no longer call upon the name of G-d, but instead, descend into idol worship and again into violence and depravity. We notice that the lifespan of these generations is considerably shorter than those of those who lived before the flood and other than the fact that they lived and procreated, nothing significant is ever mentioned about any contributions to civilization. They lived and procreated and then they perished.
The descendants of Shem and Aver, however, appear to follow a different path. They reject the idol worship so prevalent in their generation and acknowledge the oneness of G-d. It is for this reason that we share their lineage and accept the covenant which G-d extended to Avraham and Sarah. It is this covenant that has been the guiding principle of our way of life for all these millennia. May we, and our children’s children continue this covenant forever, rejecting the belief in idols or many deities, to stand as an example of Torah for all our descendants.
Rabbi Michael D. Klein attended Yeshiva College of South Florida and served as Torah Reader, Hebrew teacher, Chazzan and spiritual leader of various synagogues throughout South Florida. In January 2015 he became Ritual Director, Bnai/Bnot Mitzvah instructor and 7th grade Hebrew instructor for Temple Torat Emet of Boynton Beach. In October 2019 he was accepted into an accelerated track and received his shicha from Yeshiva Adath Wolkowisk and has been the Rabbinic leadership of Temple Torat Emet since August 2020. In September of 2022 he was appointed Rabbinic and Spiritual Advisor of the Florida Region of FJMC.
Choose Shabbat; choose to celebrate, to light candles, sing songs and learn a little Torah.
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