Parshah Columnists for Noach

The story does not say where the dove found the leaf, nor how this convinced Noah that it was safe to unseal the door of the vessel that had kept him and his family safe for an entire year.

Siblings. How do we understand the intense rivalry intertwined with unwavering loyalty

It is not by accident that the Ark was shaped like a truncated pyramid.

To touch some of heaven’s radiance, then curve gracefully back towards the earth in a glorious ray of colors that are manmade reflections of G‑d’s truth and hope for mankind . . .

An island of decency in a sea of depravity, was the hallmark of Noah. And so G-d despaired of Noah's generation and decided to begin anew the task of creating a human species worthy of its vaunted status.

Theology can at times be more challenging than keeping Shabbat, avoiding non-kosher food and the other mitzvot that govern our lives. We too are challenged by our faith system...

A famous talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe analyzes the lives of Noah, Abraham and Moses as milestones in humanity’s journey from an instinctive selfhood to a true concept of “love” for one’s fellow. We also encounter the basis of the Rebbe’s groundbreaking approach to “outreach,” and how to relate to those who are supposedly spiritually “inferior” to oneself.

One can well understand then that Noah was worried about bringing new life into the world. Why give birth, toil and work the program that living entails if all that is built could at a point in the future also be destroyed!?

I loved to play with my grandmother's matriyoshki, sweeping the set off the shelf and enclosing one within her mother until all that stood before me was the ancient matriarch of the set. Silent. Robust. Red. Fat and pregnant with maybe fifteen smaller versions of herself. It crosses my mind that these matriyoshki are a visual model for a secret of the universe...

Two men fall down a chimney...

Ascending in holiness is not a simple matter. It involves an intrinsic danger, to which Noah fell prey. When one is occupied with a world that is entirely holy, he lives in it alone, and he is liable to forget that there are other people that exist in the world.

The building of the Tower of Babel represents a dramatic leap in the development of industry.

We are all Noahs. Let us rebuild our world

No person has ever declared on his or her deathbed, "I wish I'd had fewer children"

What lesson is there in seeing evil, observing another person's sin?

The Ark is described as having the spiritual quality of the World to Come, where all is in unity and all conflict is dissolved

Is it always the case that when you see a flaw in someone else it is actually your own flaw you are seeing? Must that always we so? A look at the story of Noah's drunkenness holds the key to the answer.

Noah entered an ark to escape the mighty waters. Where is our ark?

There are 70 families with 70 paths within the great Family of Man. And each individual has his or her path within a path. Yet, there is one universal basis for us all...

All the mighty waters of this world can never extinguish the love that burns inside your soul. They can only lift it higher.

Ours is a world where sunshine can become a rainbow.

According to the Zohar, the development of technology is conducive to spiritual growth and is actually a prelude to the coming of Moshiach.

If the Torah's description of Noah's righteousness can be understood both ways, why do the sages propose a negative interpretation?

You were one with your environment: you were the universe and the universe was yourself. There was no I, she, it or that, for all being was one

The great challenge is: Can I see a trace of G‑d in the face of a stranger?

Are we naturally good or naturally bad? On this great minds have argued for centuries.

While every day is a struggle, we are able to make the best of it by realizing that there is a positive purpose to what we are going through.