It’s Biblical! This week: Noah
Everything you ever wanted to know about your favourite Torah characters, and the ones you’ve never heard of…
Rabbi Ariel Abel is based in Liverpool
Noah was a righteous man of his generation, an exception to the rule. Therefore, God told him to save himself from the oncoming flood by building an ark to shelter him and the animals which would survive to repopulate the world.
After rain lasting 40 days and nights and a further 150 days of swelling waters a wind blew, and the waters began to go down.
Noah sent out a raven and later a dove. Neither found anywhere to rest until Noah once more sent out a dove and this time it returned with a torn olive leaf in its mouth.
The dove then left the ark for good and Noah followed suit, sacrificing animals in thanksgiving. God promised to never again to destroy the earth and set seasons to regulate the natural cycle.
God then blessed Noah and his family with fertility to have children and taught Noah the universal Noahide Code.
Those Scriptural commands include to never eat a limb of a living creature or to unlawfully take human life.
The Covenant also instructs respect for and worship of God the Creator and not of idolatry; to be faithful to one’s spouse, not to steal and to maintain a system of law.
The rainbow was shown to Noah as a sign of the Covenant. Noah planted a vineyard and became drunk. His middle son, Ham published news to his brothers Shem and Japheth that their father was naked. The brothers modestly covered their father. On sobering up, Noah cursed Ham through his son Canaan and blessed Shem and Japheth.
Noah lived 950 years; he is the ancestor of billions of descendants and the father of the universal Noahide Code of law and practice.
Rabbi Ariel Abel is Padre to HM Army Cadet Forces and Rabbi of Princes Road Synagogue.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
