(A previous version of this text was published on this blog in Portuguese under the title "A esperança que supera o desespero")
Some years ago, a very good friend of mine, Rabbi Ariel Kleiner, and I led a study group together on the parashah with midrash and art in my living room. In only the second week of the project, we encountered Parashat Noach, which tells the story of Noah's Ark and which we are reading again this week. Rabbi Ariel and I had radically different understandings of how the biblical text related to contemporary reality. For me, focusing on the Divine decision to destroy the world through a flood, this was a warning to our society of how the irresponsible behaviour of one generation had led the planet to its near-destruction; for him, focusing on the end of the story, when the waters subsided and Noah, his family, and the animals came down from the ark, this was a story about hope, an example of how, even after the worst catastrophes, there is the possibility of reconstruction.
Very much in the spirit of rabbinic debates, the truth is that we were both right! This story from the Torah is as much about destruction as it is about reconstruction; it is a warning and also a sign of hope, and in both these aspects, profoundly necessary in our times.
“The earth had become corrupt before God and was filled with violence” [1] seems like a description of the reality in which we live, which brings us dangerously close to disasters, whether through the depletion of natural resources, the worsening of social and international conflicts, or our inability to demonstrate empathy for the situation of others when crisis situations demand coordinated action, be it the coronavirus or natural disasters. We have been losing our sense of responsibility towards the collective; environmental devastation breaks records every year, without us managing to slow down the speed at which we destroy natural resources. After some decades in which it seemed the world had learned a lesson from the tragedies of the first half of the 20th century and sought to curb radical nationalisms, neo-Nazi movements and other currents based on hatred of the “other”, including many antisemitic movements, have reappeared in various parts of the world. Liberal democracies, based on civil society and respect for institutions, also seem to be experiencing a deep crisis. The multilateral system of international relations, which sought to avoid new conflicts through cooperation between nations, is crumbling, and conflicts between the major powers are increasing. Seen from this perspective, our situation is desperate.
In Jewish tradition, however, despair gives way to the possibility of t’shuvah, the transformation of our conduct which makes possible our return to the best version of ourselves. Despite acknowledging our tendency to be seduced by our eyes and hearts, there is an inherent optimism in the Jewish worldview that we will reform our conduct and, in this process, help to transform the world. Rabbi Ariel was right: the story of the Flood does not end with the destruction of the world, but with its reconstruction and with the hope, brought by the dove, of a very different life. Thus, the Torah does not allow discouragement at the current state of affairs to lead us to give up: it did not permit it in Noah's generation, and it continues not to permit it in our own day.
The Torah reading cycle is just beginning, offering all of us a new opportunity to re-engage with the central text of our tradition and, through this encounter, to seek to transform the world into a just place for all.
Shabbat Shalom!
[1] Gen. 6:11
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