Dear Friends,
When you think of Noah’s Ark, what first comes to your mind? Animals, two-by-two? Flood waters? The dove flying about searching for a place to land? The rainbow?
All good responses.
And, I would offer another idea: that of a safe haven.
After all, Noah’s Ark was that refuge for the animals who were fortunate to be selected for the 40-day voyage. And, it was the safe haven for humanity while facing the fury of God’s floodwaters and the destruction of life upon the planet. And, it offers for us that enduring image of the safe haven, itself: that facing any calamity, we all need a place to hunker-down and find safety.
Safety – it is a basic need. Abraham Maslow claimed it was our second most primary, after physiological needs, in his groundbreaking hierarchy of needs. Once our most basic needs are met – food, water and shelter – then we seek measures of safety within community and family. Sometimes we need an ark to carry us over the rocky, threatening waves of life, of pandemics, of tumultuous economic times, of family difficulties, of political chaos.
Thus, this week’s Torah portion comes both to remind us that turbulence happens, and that we are wise to identify our safe places. Whenever we board an airplane (remember that?), flight attendants indicate the exits and escape ramps in the unlikely event of an emergency landing. Elsewhere in Torah, Moses designated six cities of refuge to which a manslayer could flee while an avenger, or magistrates, were seeking retaliation. And, when the Temple was destroyed, we found new homes in Babylonia, and built thriving communities and academies on the banks of the Euphrates, just as America and New York City became such havens, with lady Liberty in the harbor, 2000 years later.
Yes, as rare as a pandemic may be, we are living through one presently; masks, vaccines and quarantine have been our safe havens. Recessions come periodically; careful investing might prove to be our safe havens. And, political chaos comes from time to time, too; caring as a nation and renewing trust might be our safe haven.
Turbulence happens, and safety must be considered.
We need arks.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
When you think of Noah’s Ark, what first comes to your mind? Animals, two-by-two? Flood waters? The dove flying about searching for a place to land? The rainbow?
All good responses.
And, I would offer another idea: that of a safe haven.
After all, Noah’s Ark was that refuge for the animals who were fortunate to be selected for the 40-day voyage. And, it was the safe haven for humanity while facing the fury of God’s floodwaters and the destruction of life upon the planet. And, it offers for us that enduring image of the safe haven, itself: that facing any calamity, we all need a place to hunker-down and find safety.
Safety – it is a basic need. Abraham Maslow claimed it was our second most primary, after physiological needs, in his groundbreaking hierarchy of needs. Once our most basic needs are met – food, water and shelter – then we seek measures of safety within community and family. Sometimes we need an ark to carry us over the rocky, threatening waves of life, of pandemics, of tumultuous economic times, of family difficulties, of political chaos.
Thus, this week’s Torah portion comes both to remind us that turbulence happens, and that we are wise to identify our safe places. Whenever we board an airplane (remember that?), flight attendants indicate the exits and escape ramps in the unlikely event of an emergency landing. Elsewhere in Torah, Moses designated six cities of refuge to which a manslayer could flee while an avenger, or magistrates, were seeking retaliation. And, when the Temple was destroyed, we found new homes in Babylonia, and built thriving communities and academies on the banks of the Euphrates, just as America and New York City became such havens, with lady Liberty in the harbor, 2000 years later.
Yes, as rare as a pandemic may be, we are living through one presently; masks, vaccines and quarantine have been our safe havens. Recessions come periodically; careful investing might prove to be our safe havens. And, political chaos comes from time to time, too; caring as a nation and renewing trust might be our safe haven.
Turbulence happens, and safety must be considered.
We need arks.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
