Dear Friends,
In our Torah portion this week, God sends a flood to destroy the world. Noah builds an ark so that he and his family can weather the storm. It rained for forty days and forty nights, but i was over a year before Noah and his family were finally able to disembark. I can only imagine how anxious Noah must have been to get off the ark and how badly he and his family must have wanted to get back to their lives and the world. But once they did, they realized that the world they were returning to was a very different world than it was before the flood. It was a world they were not ready for. Noah found himself alone and overwhelmed by the whole experience, which according to a Midrash is why one of the first things he did was to plant a vineyard and get drunk.
I think we can all somewhat relate to how Noah must have felt trapped on the ark. Over the past sixth months, we have stayed inside, isolating ourselves from others and the world around us. Like Noah, we cannot wait for this to be over so that we can go back out there into the world. But like Noah, we must also remember that when this pandemic is finally behind us, the world we will return to will be very different from the world we left behind.
But the biggest differences between Noah and us, is that we are not alone. As we eagerly await the moment when we can emerge from our arks, may we continue to be there to support one another, as we navigate the transformed world that awaits us.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if we can be helpful in any way. If you know of someone who could use some extra help and support, please let us know as well.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Josh Dorsch
