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The world today is not much different than it was in the days of Noah, so its lessons remain relevant.

The week’s Torah portion is “Noach” (Genesis 6:9-11:32) and here we go again! More sins. Ten generations of sins. From Adam to Noah mankind’s spiritual levels continued to deteriorate until God decided that it was time to destroy the world and begin anew. Somewhere, however, even in the worst evil there is always some good.

Meet Noah. Noah “walked with God”. Even when living a moral and upstanding life was unfashionable, Noah stuck to his guns. His devotion to what was right and his devotion to God did not endear him among his peers, to say the least. He was a loner, an outcast. But he didn’t care.

As most readers are surely familiar, God ordered Noah to build an ark in which he would remain while a flood destroyed the entire world. It rained for forty days and forty nights until all signs of life were gone. Noah wasn’t alone in the ark, however! In addition to his immediate family, God commanded Noah to every type of animal in the world into the ark. One pair of animals for the non-kosher species and seven pairs of animals that were kosher. This was, of course, to make sure that the world would be repopulated after the flood.

Things weren’t easy on the ark. You can be sure that Noah’s Ark wasn’t the “Love Boat.” The food wasn’t gourmet, nor was the service too great. No ports of call. And only one window. But everyone managed to get along. Everyone managed to help the other. There was a feeling of mutual respect. A feeling of cooperation. There was give and take. Relationships were built. Indeed, we are even told that the guests on Noah’s ark hesitated to disembark and head their separate ways. It was, without question, the first and possibly most successful kibbutz there ever was.

The State of Israel, the People of Israel, and United with Israel are all one big family. We are all different. We’re not all the same. But we’re together on the ark – the ark of Israel. We must learn to work together, live together, and lobby together for the sake of Israel. We all have different ideas and visions – but this is the lesson of Noah’s ark: We must often set aside our differences, join hands, and work together when our survival is at stake. I have news for you. The world today is not much different than it was in the days of Noah.

Welcome to the United With Israel Ark. We’re happy to have you on board. Together, we will support Israel, the one and only Jewish homeland.

Shabbt Shalom from Israel!

By: Rabbi Ari Enkin, Rabbinic Director, United with Israel

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