Student D'var Torah - October 20, 2023

Boker tov!  

As many of you know, last night was the opening night of the high school play, Eurydice. Congratulations to the cast and crew! 

When Rabbi Goldman asked me to write a dvar torah relating Eurydice to Parshat Noach, I realized that many of the central themes of Eurydice are parallel to the story of Noach. Noach is the story of the great flood that God brought to wipe out humanity and everything on earth while sparing Noach’s family and animals of every species.  

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְנֹ֗חַ קֵ֤ץ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם

“God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth.” 

Hamas in this pasuk is not only translated by commentators as  “lawlessness” but also “evil”,“violence”, and “terror”.

God continues and says to Noach:

 “For My part, I am about to bring the Flood—waters upon the earth—to destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life; everything on earth shall perish”

There is a duality in the flood. 

The loss of the entire world is devastating to God as we know from the pasuk at the end of parshat bereishit:

 “וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יְהֹוָ֔ה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃”

 “And יהוה regretted having made humankind on earth. With a sorrowful heart”

’But the same destructive flood will have the positive result of removing evil from the earth. God is renewing the world, giving it a fresh start, and preserving those God distinguishes as righteous and good by saving Noach, his family, and a few of each animal on the ark to wait out the flood. 

Water is a motif that also appears throughout Eurydice. It serves the same function of causing loss and bringing renewal as it does in the parsha. 

Eurydice is a play by Sarah Ruhl that is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice dies, and swims in a river in the underworld that makes her lose her memories, and her ability to understand human language. The process of relearning how to speak and read, and her struggle to remember her loved ones is painful for Eurydice. Yet, there is joy when she is reunited with her dead father, and he helps her regain the abilities she lost. She begins a new life in death with her father.   Noach’s family returned to a land that was safe and dry, yet unfamiliar and devoid of other living beings but were able to start anew. 

Since October 7th, many of us are acutely feeling this duality in our lives as we face a struggle to find a way to function day to day,  to continue on with the responsibilities that we have and trying to live our lives while simultaneously grieving for those who have died in Israel and all whose lives have been irreparably shattered. We are torn and left doubting ourselves. Is it alright for us to enjoy moments of happiness, like the successful completion of a performance, or any of the smachot that we will hear about soon or should we put everything on hold? How do we find the balance? There cannot be just one right answer to this dilemma, however the story at the end of Parshat Noach, of the Tower of Bavel serves as a powerful reminder of how we as a unified community can approach and grapple with this tension.  Both Parshat Noach and Eurydice display the difficulties and consequences that ensue when people are not able to communicate. God punishes the people for building the Tower of Bavel. 

כִּי־שָׁ֛ם בָּלַ֥ל יְהֹוָ֖ה שְׂפַ֣ת כׇּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וּמִשָּׁם֙ הֱפִיצָ֣ם יְהֹוָ֔ה עַל־פְּנֵ֖י כׇּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

“because there יהוה confounded the speech of the whole earth; and from there יהוה scattered them over the face of the whole earth.”

God punishes the people for building the tower by making it impossible for them to communicate and as a result they could not remain a unified community and are scattered across the world. 

It takes time for Eurydice and her father to communicate with each other due to the barrier between human language and the language of stones that the newly dead speak. 

Through both Eurydice and Parshat Noach we are reminded that we as a community must share a common language in order to support each other as we wrestle with the duality in our lives. The language is not English or Hebrew, but a language of compassion and support of one another. We must be committed to respecting whatever approach each one of us is taking to facing this new, intense duality. There is no correct way to experience grief or joy for that matter. What we can do, however, is continue to connect to each other, to communicate with each other and to support each other now and always as a resilient and responsive community.

 After the flood, God makes the covenant,  the brit, with Noach. 

וַהֲקִמֹתִ֤י אֶת־בְּרִיתִי֙ אִתְּכֶ֔ם וְלֹֽא־יִכָּרֵ֧ת כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר ע֖וֹד מִמֵּ֣י הַמַּבּ֑וּל וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֥ה ע֛וֹד מַבּ֖וּל לְשַׁחֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃

I will maintain My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.

The brit is also detailed in the haftorah for parshat noach from the book of Isaiah

 נִשְׁבַּ֛עְתִּי מִקְּצֹ֥ף עָלַ֖יִךְ וּמִגְּעׇר־בָּֽךְ׃

For this to Me is like the waters of Noah:

As I swore that the waters of Noah

Nevermore would flood the earth,

So I swear that I will not

Be angry with you or rebuke you.

כִּ֤י הֶהָרִים֙ יָמ֔וּשׁוּ וְהַגְּבָע֖וֹת תְּמוּטֶ֑ינָה וְחַסְדִּ֞י מֵאִתֵּ֣ךְ לֹא־יָמ֗וּשׁ וּבְרִ֤ית שְׁלוֹמִי֙ לֹ֣א תָמ֔וּט אָמַ֥ר מְרַחֲמֵ֖ךְ יְהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}    

For the mountains may move

And the hills be shaken,

But my loyalty shall never move from you,

Nor My covenant of friendship be shaken

—said GOD, who takes you back in love.

Shabbat Shalom