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Dear parents and NCSYers,
This Shabbos is Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan (the beginning if the Jewish month of Cheshvan), which means that we have officially reached the end of the holiday season. Let's ease our transition from the holiday-packed month of Tishrei to the hustle and bustle of normal life by enjoying a dvar torah by Yaakov Wolff, all the way from the holy land of Israel:
The famous opening pasuk of this weeks parsha states that Noach was a צדיק בדורותיו, a righteous man in his generation. Rav Shimon Schwab raises a question on this statement: If Noach was so righteous, how could he have let his generation sink to such depths? We know that "a Mitzvah causes a Mitzvah", so what was happening in Noach's generation?
Rav Schwab answers that the mention of "his generation" helps us understand the reality of that time. Noach was a very righteous man- but he suffered from the same problem of his generation. The people in his generation were extremely self-centered; they did not care at all about others. Noach was also lacking in this regard. So, in his 600 years of life before the flood, he never went out to try and show people the right way. He never made an effort to spread the light. He sat at home and lived his own life. Due to this negative attitude, the people of the generation continued to sin, up until the point where God had to start from scratch.
We learn from this that 'sharing is caring'. When we learn a cool dvar torah, or understand something about a certain mitzvah, we cannot just keep it to ourselves. In addition to all of the good things that we need to do, we need to make sure that those good things spread to our friends and family. If everyone applies this strategy, then one Mitzvah can quickly spread throughout the entire world.
Have a remarkable Shabbos and a rejuvenating Rosh Chodesh!
P.S. If anyone would like to write a dvar torah for the weekly e-mail, please contact ydeutscher@gmail.com. There will be an awesome prize in camp next summer for any NCSYer who writes one!
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