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Samantha Stegman Bat Mitzvah D'var Torah

Parsha Noach - October 24, 2009

Shabbat Shalom!

In our parsha this morning, G-d finds that the world has become very evil. So evil, in fact, that Adonai decides to destroy all living beings. Noah, alone, is felt to be righteous and worthy of saving. G-d instructs Noah to build an ark of specific massive dimensions. He is then to take his family and two of every kind of animal onto the ark. G-d then caused it to rain for forty days and nights. And the water level rose higher than the tallest mountain. All living beings were destroyed except for those on the ark.

After the rain ceased, it was still many months until the water dried up. Noah first sent out a raven and then a dove to search for dry land. On the second trip, the dove brought back an olive branch. On the third trip, the dove didn't return. Noah and his family and all the animals could now return to land and repopulate the Earth.

As a covenant to the people of the world, Adonai put a rainbow in the sky to assure those on Earth that never again shall a flood destroy the world. G-d determined that the way to prevent evil from reestablishing itself was to provide a set of laws to guide humanity. These are known as the Noahide Laws.

In the beginning, G-d created the heaven and the Earth. And he saw that it was good. Then he placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and watched as humanity continued to evolve. Apparently, people were beyond disappointing in their behavior and G-d decided that this was not good. After destroying all of humanity besides Noah and his family, G-d decided to go about things a bit differently this time around.

Noah and his family were provided with a set of seven binding laws to be followed by humanity from that time forward. These laws are:
  • do not worship idols,
  • do not use G-d's name in vain,
  • do not murder,
  • do not steal,
  • no illicit sexual behavior,
  • do not eat the flesh of living animals,
  • and establish courts of justice to enforce these laws.
These laws were given to Noah and all of his descendents. According to the Torah portion we read today, Noah is the father of modern humanity. Therefore, the Noahide laws apply to every human being on the planet even though they are part of our Jewish laws since they appear in the Torah.

The cool thing about these laws is that they applied in primitive times and they apply now as well. So whether you're a tribesman, or a chivalrous knight, or an American teenager, you should follow these same laws. The point of these laws is to keep us from going "bad" like the first time G-d put humans on the Earth without direction.

The Noahide Laws set up a system of moral and ethical standards for human beings. They begin with an acknowledgement of G-d and the need to respect Adonai. This respect should be extended to human life, which is also sacred. Marriage should be dealt with respect from both sides. Other people's rights and property should be dealt with honestly and in a fair way. Animals are also deserving of rights and should never be caused to suffer for human benefit.

With these as guidelines, people were directed to begin a system of justice which would interpret and enforce these laws. By establishing this system for society, we'd hopefully stay on G-d's good side and remain civilized in our dealings with each other. The modern American code of laws is really a vast extension of these simple Noahide Laws.

Cheating on taxes, shady business deals, kidnapping, falsifying records and many other things can be considered theft. Giving honest testimony, refusing bribery, not threatening others, and protecting against discrimination can be thought of as part of a system of justice. The laws of Kashrut protect animals from being abused. Almost everything we need to do to be a moral and ethical human being are included in the Noahide Laws.

I have to admit to you that two years ago when it was time to choose a date for this service, I didn't go for the date closest to my birthday. I decided that since I was such an animal lover, I wanted to read Noah's Ark so I could talk about animals. Now, two years older and wiser, while I'm still an animal rights supporter, what really intrigues me in this parsha is that in biblical times, out of all the lawless and evil people on Earth, there was only one man worth saving. And from this man and his family, the entire world was repopulated.

If G-d was so disgusted with humanity, why didn't G-d just wipe us from the planet entirely? G-d could have started again or given up on people entirely and have the planet run by zebras! The fact that G-d chose to save mankind because of the righteousness of one individual shows G-d's faith in the ability of people to learn. This is a pattern that is repeated when G-d affirms to Abraham that he would save the wicked towns of Sodom and Gomorrah if only ten righteous people could be found. When they couldn't, Lot and his family were given the opportunity to escape.

Many people believe that the world today is filled with evil and corruption. Jewish mystical tradition believes that the world is saved from another destruction by thirty-six righteous people called lamed vav-niks. Lamed-vav is how you write out 36 in Hebrew. No one on Earth knows who the lamed vav-niks are, including the thirty six themselves. They are also supposed to be so humble that they would never think they could be one of the thirty six. Since any of us could be a lamed vav-nik we are all supposed to act as righteous people, as if we are one of the thirty six.

This parsha and my new found understanding of the lamed vav-niks makes me realize that we all have the potential to help save the earth, and humanity, simply by following the code of the Noahide Laws (and for Jews, of course, the rest of G-ds ways).

To guide Noah, his family, and the generations to come, G-d gave us a simple set of laws to begin a code of morals, ethics, and righteousness. From these laws came the concept of righteousness and a great system of justice for all times.

Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof. Justice, justice, shall you pursue.

On this special Shabbat, I want to take this opportunity to thank Rabbi David for helping me write this D'var Torah. I also want to thank Cantor Lori for making sure every single note in my Torah parsha is perfect. In addition, I want to thank my fabulous tutor Morah Esther. Thank you also to all my amazing Hebrew school teachers that I've had throughout the years. To all my friends and family who have traveled from both near and far, thank you for sharing this special day with me. My final thanks goes to Mom Dad and my sister Haley. Thanks for everything: from supporting me throughout this process to listening to me practice my drums at eleven at night. But most of all thank you for loving me. You guys are the best!

Shabbat Shalom!