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Noah Redux By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it, Alexander Remizov is taking no chances. Amidst rising concerns that global warming will produce rising sea levels from melting polar icecaps, Mr. Remizov's architectural studio has teamed up with the International Union of Architects to produce a modern incarnation of Noah's ark.
Still on the drawing board, the "Ark Hotel" will be a football-field-size floating biosphere, protecting passengers against every kind of hazard from earthquakes to tidal waves while providing a self-sustaining greenhouse environment that collects rainwater, processes solar energy, and grows its own food.
Quoted in the London's Daily Mail, Mr. Remizov explains, "For architecture there are two major concerns. The first is maintenance of security and precautions against extreme environmental conditions and climate changes. The second one is protection of natural environment from human activities." In other words, the designers intend to exploit the limits of modern technology to keep the dangers of the outside world out as they maintain a viable, natural environment within.
In comparison, the original ark that saved Noah and his family from the Great Flood was distinctly low-tech. 300 cubits long (about 450 feet), 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, Noah's ark was little more than a big box, with the top level for people and supplies, the middle level for animals, and the lower level for waste. But what the first ark lacked in technology, it more than made up for through divine intervention.
From its very inception, the ark was a conveyance dependent entirely upon miracles. Clearly, Noah needed miraculous assistance to build the ark single-handed. He needed miraculous protection from the wicked people who first sought to kill him and later attempted to enter the ark by force. Neither could Noah have rounded up every species of animal through natural means, nor could he have kept them under control which cleaning and feeding them for an entire year.
Without miracles, the food Noah gathered for the voyage would have gone rotten long before the first raindrop fell. So too, as the "wellsprings of the deep" bubbled up from underground and turned the oceans boiling hot, all the fish in the seas would have died and the tar that sealed the exterior of the ark would have melted away and rendered the ark unseaworthy.
These kinds of questions can multiply without limit, but the answer is obvious: the project would have been doomed from the start if the Almighty had not infused every step of the process with miracles.
However, this raises a different question: if in any case Noah's efforts could not save him, why did the Almighty require him to work so hard? Why did G-d not simply provide Noah with the means of miraculous salvation and spare him so much hardship?
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The Hebrew word for "miracle" is neis, which translates literally as "banner." Like a flag held high above the fray, a miracle seizes our attention and forces us to take notice. In truth, every detail of our world is a miracle, but the familiarity of nature conceals the wonders of Creation behind the illusion of randomness. Only by cultivating the sensitivity to recognize the hidden miracles that surround us can we keep the goal in our sights and remain resolute in our mission.
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
In the aftermath of the Great Flood, a new generation of mankind attempted a different kind of project: a massive tower that would rise up in testimony to the accomplishments of man and evoke such awe that all memory of the Creator would fade from the consciousness of the human race. For all their schemes and labors, the Almighty intervened and took away their common language, confounding their efforts and compelling them to abandon their objective.
It was with this in mind that King David exclaimed, "These rely upon their chariots, and those rely upon their horses, but we call out in the name of the L-rd, our G-d. They have stumbled and fallen, while we remain upright and have prevailed."
The person who expects G-d to do everything for him is fundamentally no different from the person who believes he can do anything without G-d. The design of Creation is for man to work in partnership with the Almighty, to use his G-d given talents and resources toward the fulfillment of his potential, while remembering always that success or failure resides in the hands of the One above.
Whether or not we are truly in dangers from melting icecaps and rising seas will likely be debated by climatologists for years to come. But as we find ourselves in an increasingly unpredictable world, our spiritual survival demands that we not attempt to seal ourselves off and sail away toward some distant horizon. Rather, our future depends upon raising our eyes in search of the banner of Creation and building a bridge across the abyss back toward the source of all.
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Comment by clicking here. JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. He is author of Dawn to Destiny: Exploring Jewish History and its Hidden Wisdom, an overview of Jewish philosophy and history from Creation through the compilation of the Talmud, now available from Judaica Press. Visit him at http://torahideals.com .
© 2010, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
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