Torah Lesson 3 Noah

INTRODUCTION

The stories of Genesis, in many ways, are not children’s stories. They are stories filled with betrayal, adult struggles, and even murder. They present a view of a God who can be forceful, vengeful, and often very personal and “human.” Perhaps of all of the stories of Genesis, the story of Noah is one of the most difficult. And yet, the tale of Noah’s ark is one of the best known (portrayed in children’s art and books) and best loved stories in Genesis.

The story presents a difficult tale in which God, seeing the evil of human beings, decides to destroy “whatever on dry land had the breath of life in its nostrils” (Genesis 7:22). God chooses Noah and his family, the only ones that God sees as righteous, to save themselves and two of each species on the earth.1 Once Noah, his family, and the animals are on the ark, the rain begins and the flood water rises. After forty days the rain stops and the waters begin to subside. Noah, his family, and the saved animals step onto dry land. God promises to the survivors: “Never again will I bring doom upon the world on account of what people do, though the human mind inclines to evil from youth onward; never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have [just] done” (Genesis 8:21). God then establishes a covenant with Noah, his family, and every living creature that God will never destroy the earth by flood. God places the rainbow in the sky as a symbol of this covenant for all generations.

In struggling to authentically teach this story in a meaningful, appropriate way for young children, we have taken two approaches: one utilizing modern biblical study and the other utilizing commentary from our tradition. It would be very helpful to reread the introduction to the Torah strand that appears on page 4 in order to develop your own thinking about how you would like to approach the question of lit- eral versus allegorical meaning in the text.

One view for interpreting Torah consists of using modern techniques to biblical study. This approach, used here, encourages us to think of our sacred text not as “true” in a historical sense, but as a text filled with “true” lessons for every generation. Many Jews today would not feel comfortable saying that they believe in a God who actually destroyed the earth with a flood and saved only Noah and his family. It is a basic tenant of the CHAI curriculum that we do not want to teach things that need to be untaught when a child is older. Therefore, we have chosen in this lesson to leave room for the possibility that this story is merely an allegory whose lessons are so important that our people have preserved it for genera-

1There is some discrepancy in the text as to how many animals Noah was to take on the ark with him. In Genesis 7:2–3 God tells Noah that he should take seven of the “pure” animals and two of every animal that is impure. However, according to Genesis 7:8–9, “of the pure beasts and the beasts that were not pure...two by two they came to Noah to the ark . . . as God had commanded Noah.”

25 26 Torah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life tions. With this approach, when a student asks, “Why would God do something so terrible?” or “Why didn’t Noah try to save everyone else?” we can feel free to state that not all people believe that the story actually happened in the way we read it (or that God would destroy all people in this way), and instead refocus the student on what lessons we can learn from this cherished text.

In the Set Induction for this lesson, the teacher will share a very short version of “The Little Engine That Could,” a well-known children’s allegory to introduce the students to the idea that lessons from a story can be true, even if the story itself is not. Students will be asked to listen carefully to the Noah story to learn what sacred lessons embedded in this story have been so treasured by our people.

To understand the lessons and values that the story of Noah offers a young student, we turn to our second approach, that taken by the Rabbis of the Talmud. The Rabbis struggled to understand life on the ark and derived a wonderful lesson on how Noah cared for each animal, each according to his or her need. The Rabbis taught this story:

R. Chana b. Bizna said: Eliezer [Abraham’s servant] to Shem [Noah’s son], “What was it like for you [in the ark]?” He replied, “We had much trouble in the ark. The animals that usually feed by day we fed by day, and those that normally feed at night we fed by night. But my father did- n’t know what was the food of the chameleon. One day he was sitting and cutting up a pome- granate, when a worm dropped out of it, which [the chameleon] ate. From then on he mashed up bran for him, and when it became wormy, he ate it.

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 108b

Facing the difficulties of life on a large boat, Noah could have easily insisted that all animals eat at a cer- tain time in order to streamline the feedings or to force all animals to eat the same food to cut down on supplies. Our Rabbis tell us, however, that Noah did not do this. He instead treated each animal as an individual, recognizing each animal’s individual needs and wants. He even struggled to figure out exactly what animals he was less familiar with ate, such as the chameleon. In this lesson we have chosen to focus the students’ attention on the Rabbis’ perception that Noah was righteous because he cared for the animals in a virtuous way. The students explore why it would be difficult for different types of animals to live on the ark. They learn from Noah that each of those animals deserves respect as an individual, and they try to figure out what each animal’s specific needs, therefore, would be. The students then take this lesson to the next step, recognizing that people also have specific, unique needs that we need to be respectful of. They begin by thinking about their own unique needs and move to thinking about how they can provide for others’ needs.

As the lesson concludes, students make their own “rainbow covenant” for their Genesis Traveler and explore what they can promise to do to help others in their lives.

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS • Torah is an ongoing dialogue between the text and its students.

• Torah is real in our daily lives; it goes with us wherever we are.

• Developing the skills to study Torah is essential to integrating Torah into our lives.

• I am part of the ongoing story of Torah and the Jewish people. CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Noah 27

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS 1. What does the Torah have to say to me and my world?

2. How can Torah study help me in my everyday life?

3. Why is the Torah different from other books?

4. What is the story of Torah?

5. What does it mean to be part of the story of Torah and the Jewish people?

6. How can I play an active role in the story of Torah?

QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED 1. How were each of the animals on the ark unique, and what were their unique needs?

2. How is understanding how Noah took care of the unique needs of animals similar to our understanding of how to take care of the unique needs of people?

EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING • Students will create a make-believe pet and will write or draw two or three things that this animal would need to feel comfortable and happy.

• Students will decorate an image of a rainbow with a picture or sentence about promises. They will affix an image of a rainbow to their Genesis Traveler.

LESSON OVERVIEW • Set Induction (5 minutes)

• Telling the Story of Noah (10 minutes)

• Animal Charades (15 minutes)

• “If I Was on the Ark” Story Creation (20 minutes)

• Conclusion (10 minutes)

MATERIALS NEEDED • CHAI Level 1 CD, track 5, “Rise and Shine.”

• Copies of charades cards (page 32). (These cards must be copied prior to the lesson and cut apart. Place the cards in a small bag.)

• Markers, crayons, and colored pencils. 28 Torah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life

• Glue/glue sticks.

• Image of a rainbow, one per student (in student workbook).

• Letter to parents (page 36).

READING RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS Genesis 6:9–8:19, 9:8–16 (pp. 33–35)

Arcus, Lorraine Posner. Torah Alive! An Early Childhood Torah Curriculum. New York: URJ Press, 2004.

Steinbock, Steven E. Torah: The Growing Gift. New York: UAHC Press, 1994.

LESSON VOCABULARY righteous Good, or doing what is right. raven The bird sent out by Noah first to see if there is dry land. The raven does not find any land, and the dove is sent out.

LESSON PLAN SET INDUCTION (5 MINUTES)

1. Sing or play the class welcome song.

2. Say together the blessing for Torah study.

3. Explain to the students that today, before you learn the Torah story, you are going to tell another story not found in the Torah at all. In fact, it is a story found in children’s books and may be a story they are already familiar with. Ask students to help you tell the story of “The Little Engine That Could,” if they know it. Here is the story:

Once there was a little engine that saw in front of it a very large mountain. The Little Engine was scared and was not sure if he could make it up and over the mountain. “I think I can, I think I can...,” the little engine said over and over. The Little Engine started up the mountain. It was even harder than he thought it was going to be. “I think I can, I think I can,” the Little Engine said. Finally, the Little Engine made it up and over the great mountain.

4. Ask students, “What is the lesson that we learn from this story?” (Possible answer: never give up, believe in yourself.)

5. Ask the students, “Now, we all know that this is a very important lesson. But, can you tell me, has any- one ever seen a real train talk?” Explain to the students that even though we know that what happens in it (a train talking) couldn’t really happen, the story does teach us a valuable lesson. Sometimes people won- der if all the stories that we read in the Torah happened exactly the way they are described. Nevertheless, we always try to figure out the lesson of the story, just like with “The Little Engine That Could.” CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Noah 29

6. Explain to the students that they are going to learn a story today that the Jewish people thought had such important lessons in it that they have passed it down for generations and generations. They are going to learn the story of Noah and the Great Flood.

7. Look together on the Genesis Journey Map and find the “Noah” square. Explain to the students that after leaving the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. After Cain and Abel, the next major character that we learn about in Genesis is Noah.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES Telling the Story of Noah (10 minutes)

1. Teach the story of Noah by reading the following text about Noah, which can also be found in the student workbook on pages 6–7. Invite the children to follow along.

Noah was a good and righteous man who believed in God and tried to follow God’s ways.

One day God came to Noah and said to him, “The people of the earth have become evil and aren’t following any rules or laws. I have decided that I have to destroy them, for they will not change their ways. But you, Noah, you are righteous compared to these people, and you try to follow My laws. I want you to build an ark, a huge boat, to save your family and two of every kind of animal on earth. Bring enough food for everyone, so you can take care of them all. I will make it rain for days and days, until the flood waters carry your boat away.”

Noah did just as God commanded. He built the ark and carefully brought on the animals—from the tiny ants to the great elephants, from the roaring lions to the quiet swans. Seven days after God spoke to Noah, the rain started to pour down on the earth. God closed the door of Noah’s ark, and the animals and Noah’s family were safe and dry inside.

For forty days it rained and rained, and the ark floated upon the waters. Even the highest mountains were covered with water. In the ark, Noah and his family took care of the animals and waited for the great flood to end. At the end of 150 days, God remembered Noah and all the crea- tures on the ark, and blew a great wind across the earth to start drying the land.

Each day after the rains had stopped, Noah sent out ravens and doves, to see if they could find dry land. Finally, a dove returned to the ark with a branch in its mouth. “You found land!” called Noah. “The earth is drying!”

God spoke to Noah, “Come out of the ark, your entire family and all of the animals that you have saved.” God spread a beautiful rainbow in the sky and said to Noah, “I promise I will never destroy the earth again. This rainbow will be the symbol of all times that the rains will always stop and that the earth will never flood again.”

2. If there is time, play the song “Rise and Shine” and discuss the lyrics with the students.

Animal Charades (15 minutes) 1. Ask the students to close their eyes and imagine life on the ark. Say to them, “Imagine that you live on the ark. The ark is really just a big boat. But on that big boat are people and two of every kind of 30 Torah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life

animal from all around the world. There is enough food to feed all those people and all those animals for a few months. The boat keeps rocking on the water. There is not a lot of room on the ark. Each animal has to stay in his or her small area on the wooden deck. . . . ”

2. Ask students to open their eyes. Once students have done so, explain that they are going to figure out a bit more about the life of those animals.

3. Ask a student to volunteer to act out the first animal. Ask the student to put his or her hand into the paper bag with the charades cards and pick one to act out. As the student acts out the animal, the other students guess which animal he or she is portraying.

4. Once the students have guessed an animal, ask the class the following questions:

• Where does this animal live? What does it need to live and be happy?

• Considering that this is what it is used to having, why would it be very hard for this animal to live on this little ark?

• What could you do, if you lived on the ark, to help this animal deal with living there?

5. Continue having the students volunteer to act out an animal and having the class guess what animal is being portrayed. For each animal, ask the questions listed in step 4 above. Continue until all of the animals have been discussed.

6. Explain to the students that the great Rabbis from a long time ago tried to figure out how Noah took care of all of the animals and all of their special needs. They thought perhaps that he never got to sleep. Since some animals ate at night and some ate during the day, Noah was always up feeding them. The Rabbis also imagined that Noah didn’t even know what to feed the animals and had to just guess or watch them carefully to see what they would eat. The Rabbis believed that Noah was a righteous person (someone who does the right thing) because he worked hard to take care of all the animals and gave them what they really needed.

“If I Was on the Ark” Story Creation (20 minutes)

1. Explain to the students that just like the animals on the ark needed special things to make them happy, so do people. For example, if milk gave you a stomachache, and the only drink you had in your kitchen was milk, that wouldn’t be good would it? Or, if you love to read, but there were never any books around, you wouldn’t feel happy or well taken care of, would you? Ask students to imagine that they live on the ark. What things would they need to be happy and feel well taken care of? (Possible answers: their favorite foods, books, or toys; their friends and family; clothes; a jungle gym to play on.)

2. Ask students to turn in their workbook to the “My New Make-Believe Pet” story page (page 8). For story writing, use the technique of Kid’s Writing that is used in many schools to teach story-writing skills. In Kid’s Writing the students should not focus on correct spelling—the focus is instead on telling the story of their picture. Students may spell words phonetically or ask a teacher for correct spelling if needed. To help students feel comfortable, you may want to ask students for key words they would like spelled on the board (ark, water, animals, etc.). CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Noah 31

3. Ask students to think of a make-believe pet in their head. You can brainstorm ideas together as a class. Then, students should draw the pet (in the box at the top of the page). Provide them with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Last, students should write or draw (alone or with help) two or three things the pet would need to feel comfortable and happy. If time allows, ask the students to tell about their make-believe pets. They can either share what they actually wrote or just tell their story based on their picture.

CONCLUSION (10 MINUTES)

1. Remind students that at the end of the Noah story, God puts a rainbow in the sky to promise that there will never be a great flood like this again. Hand out the rainbow stickers. Ask students to think of one thing that they promise to do to take care of their family and friends (e.g., help with chores, be kind to each other, share and play nicely). Tell students that everyone has different needs. When they learn to recognize those needs and respond to them, they are acting like Noah, who fulfilled the needs of each animal on the ark.

2. Ask students to turn to page 9 in their workbook. Remind students that at the end of each story that they learn in class they will decorate a large version of an item for their Genesis Traveler. When they have completed decorating the item, they will receive a small image of the item to actually put on their Genesis Traveler on the back of their book.

3. Ask students, “Why do you think that we would use a picture of a rainbow to help us remember the story of Noah and the Great Flood? (Possible answer: The rainbow is what God put in the sky as a promise to Noah that God would never flood the world again.)

4. Ask students to draw or write on their rainbow one thing they promise to do. When students have completed decorating their rainbow, have them cut out the rainbow image from page 31 of their workbooks. The students should color in the image of the rainbow. If you have posted the My Genesis Travelers on a bulletin board, take them down and hand them to the students. If not, have them open their workbooks to the My Genesis Traveler page. Give the students glue or glue sticks and have them paste the image of the rainbow over the dotted otuline of the rainbow on the My Genesis Traveler page.

5. Sing or play the class good-bye song.

6. Hand out the parent letter (page 36). 32 Torah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life

Animal Charades Cards

Lion Frog

Shark Bear

Whale Cow

Mouse Spider

Parrot Giraffe

Dog Elephant

Horse CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Noah 33

Background: Torah Text about Noah and the Flood Genesis 6:9–8:19, 9:8–16

Genesis 6:9–8:16 6:9] This is Noah’s chronicle. Noah was a righteous man; in his generation, he was above reproach; Noah walked with God. 10] Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11] The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with violence, 12] and when God saw how corrupted the earth was, how all flesh was acting in a corrupt way upon the earth, 13] God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come [to mind] before Me, because the earth is full of violence on their account; look, now—I am going to wipe them off the earth. 14] Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make the ark with rooms, and cover it with tar inside and out. 15] This is how to make it: 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. 16] Make a roof for the ark, making it overhang from above by a cubit. Put the ark’s door in its side, and make a bottom, a second, and a third deck. 17] “As for Me, I am going to bring the floodwaters upon the earth to destroy all that lives under the heavens, [all] that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth shall expire. 18] With you, though, I will establish My covenant: go then into the ark—you, your wife, your sons, and their wives with you. 19] And take two each of every living creature—of all flesh—into the ark, male and female, to keep them alive along with you: 20] every type of bird, every type of beast, every type of creeping thing—let two of each come to you to keep them alive, 21] and take along edible foodstuffs of every kind; gather them up so that there is food for yourself and for them.” 22] And Noah did just as God had commanded him: that is what he did. 7:1] The Eternal One then said to Noah, “Go into the ark with all your house- hold, for I see that you [alone] in this age are righteous before Me. 2] Take seven pairs of every pure beast, a male and its mate, and two of every impure beast, a male and its mate. 3] Of the birds of the sky, too, take seven pairs, male and female, to give life to offspring on the face of the earth. 4] For in another seven days I will pour rain upon the earth for forty days and nights and wipe all that exists—all that I have made—off the face of the earth.” 5] Noah then did just as the Eternal had commanded him. 34 Torah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life

6] Noah was 600 years old when the flood came—waters upon the earth. 7] Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives came into the ark on account of the deluge. 8] Of the pure beasts and the beasts that were not pure, of the birds and all that creep on the earth, 9] two by two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. 10] After seven days, the floodwaters covered the earth. 11] In the six hun- dredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day, all the springs of the great deep broke out, and the sky’s floodgates opened. 12] Rain fell upon the earth for forty days and nights. 13] That very day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, came to the ark, with Noah’s wife and with his sons’ three wives. 14] They, and every type of animal, every type of beast, every type of creature that creeps on the earth, every type of fowl, every bird, every winged creature— 15] they came to Noah, to the ark, two by two, all flesh that had in it the breath of life. 16] Those who came were male and female; some of every species entered, just as God had ordered him; then the Eternal shut [the door] after him. 17] Forty days the flood was upon the earth; the waters increased and lifted the ark, and so it rose over the ground. 18] The waters gained in strength, increas- ing upon the earth, as the ark coursed on the waters’ surface. 19] High, high above the earth towered the waters, so that the tallest mountains that stand beneath the heavens were submerged. 20] Fifteen cubits higher the waters towered, as the mountains were submerged. 21] Then all flesh that swarmed upon the earth perished—whether bird, cattle, or wild animal, or that which teemed over the earth, or human being. 22] Whatever on dry land had the breath of life in its nostrils, died. 23] [God] wiped out all that existed on the face of the earth—human, beast, reptile, birds of the sky—they were wiped off the earth; there remained only Noah and those with him in the ark. 24] And the waters towered over the earth a hundred and fifty days. 8:1] God then remembered Noah and all the animals and all the beasts that were with him in the ark, so God caused a wind to sweep over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2] The springs of the deep and the sky’s floodgates closed up, and the rain was stopped up from the sky. 3] The waters diminished apace, ebbing and flowing, [draining] from the earth, and at the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had receded. 4] In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest atop one of the mountains of Ararat. 5] The waters kept on ebbing away until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth [month], the mountain peaks could be seen. CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Noah 35

6] Forty days later, Noah opened the ark’s window that he had made 7] and sent out the raven, who went winging to and fro waiting for the water to dry up from upon the earth’s surface. 8] Then he sent out the dove, to see whether the water had eased from off the surface of the soil, 9] but the dove could not find a resting-place for her foot, so she returned to the ark, for [still] there was water on the face of the earth: he reached out his hand and took her, bringing her back to him into the ark. 10] He waited yet another seven days, and again sent the dove out of the ark. 11] Toward evening, the dove came to him, and look—a freshly-plucked olive branch in her beak! So Noah knew that the water had eased from off the earth’s. 12] He waited yet another seven days and sent the dove out; this time she no longer came back to him. 13] In [Noah’s] six hundred and first year, on the first day of the first month, the water had receded from over the earth. When Noah removed the covering of the ark, he saw that the earth’s surface was beginning to dry, 14] and by the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth had dried up. 15] God then spoke to Noah, saying, 16] “Go out of the ark with your wife, your sons, and their wives. 17] Take every animal that is in your care—bird and beast, and all that creep over the earth; let them swarm on the earth; let them be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18] So Noah went out, together with his wife, his sons, and their wives. 19] The animals, the reptiles, the birds, everything that teems upon the earth—all departed from the ark in family groups. Genesis 9:8–16 9:8] God then said to Noah and his sons who were with him, 9] “As for Me, I am going to establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10] and with every living being in your care—the birds, the beasts, and all the land animals in your care—all who have gone out of the ark, all earth’s animals. 11] I am establishing My covenant with you; never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12] And God said, “Here is the sign I am giving you of the covenant between Me and you, and every living being with you, down to the last generation: 13] I have placed My bow in the cloud—it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14] And when I cause clouds to form over the earth, and the bow appears in the cloud, 15] I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living beings, all flesh, and never again shall the waters become a flood, to destroy all flesh. 16] When the bow is in the cloud, and I see it, I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living beings, all that live upon the earth.” CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life

Dear Parents,

In many ways, the stories as literally presented in the Book of Genesis are not children’s stories. They are filled with betrayal, adult struggles, and even murder. They present a view of a God who can be forceful, vengeful, and often personal and “human.” Perhaps of all the stories of Genesis, the story of Noah is one of the most difficult to comprehend.

And yet, the tale of Noah’s ark is one of the best-known (portrayed in children’s art and books) and best-loved stories in Genesis.

In the story of Noah, God tells Noah that the world is filled only with lawlessness and that God is going to destroy the earth with a flood. Noah, as instructed by God, builds an ark to save his family and some of the animals. The great flood comes and covers the earth. In the end, God stretch- es a rainbow through the heavens as a sign of a promise that God will never destroy the earth with flood again.

When exploring the story of Noah in class today, we focused on the positive lessons of this story. The students thought about what life would be like on the ark and explored how Noah took care of each of the animals in the unique ways that they required. This approach helped our students understand that like the animals on the ark, each person has his or her own unique perspectives and needs. The children finished their lesson by writing on a rainbow what they can do to help take care of others, like Noah took care of the animals on the ark.

For further family learning:

• Read together the classic story Why Noah Chose the Dove, by Isaac Bashevis Singer (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973).

• Go to urj.org/Shabbat/genesis and select the Shabbat Family Table Talk for Noach 5760. This Table Talk further explores the lawlessness of the people and the promise to never destroy the earth again.

Sincerely,

______