Parshat Noah

The rabbis of the Talmud taught that Noah was one of a select few who “saw a new world.” What did the rabbis mean by that? Certainly Noah saw a new world when he came out of the ark. Nothing was as it had been before.

But at a deeper level, Noah had seen a new world even before the flood, while he was still  living in the old one. Were it not for Noah’s ability to envision something different, a transformed reality, he never would have found the courage and strength to build the ark and get everyone on board.

All transformations, all new realities, begin with an act of imagination, with a vision of something other than what is. One of the purposes of Shabbat is to help us to imagine what a better world might look and feel like. The ancient rabbis taught that Shabbat is a foretaste of messianic redemption. Once a week, we step back from the world as it is in order to imagine what it might be. In that way Shabbat gives meaning to the other six days. It helps us to remember, as we return to work, what we are ultimately working for.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat services are on Friday evenings from 6 to 7 pm, and on Saturday mornings from 9 am to 12 noon. This Shabbat morning, November 5, we will celebrate the (2nd) bar mitzvah of Howard Wernick. The kiddush-lunch is sponsored by Howard and Noreen.
• Childcare is available from 10 am to noon on Shabbat mornings. Our learning service for grades 2 to 4 is from 11 to 11:40 am.
• Please note that there will be no Sunday morning minyan on November 6.
• On Shabbat morning November 12, we will celebrate the bar mitzvah of Elijah Don.
• On Shabbat morning and afternon, November 19, our visiting teacher will be Rabbi David Jaffe.