| * | Bereishit / Summary: Parashat Noach is a new creation story, or a story of re-creation. It tells how, ten generations after creation, the earth had become corrupt and wicked. Therefore, the Holy One decides to destroy the earth with a flood and begin anew. Only one man, Noah, is deemed to be righteous enough to be saved. He, his family and pairs of each kind of creature are herded together in a large boat - an ark. The earth is flooded, and only those on the ark survive. After the flood, they leave the ark and begin to repopulate the earth. God then establishes a covenant, promising never to destroy the earth with a flood again. Some time later, the story is told of how the descendants of the generation of the flood decided to build a great city with a tower reaching all the way to heaven. God sees what they are doing and decided to thwart their efforts by scattering them all over the earth and causing them to speak different languages. The parasha concludes with the listing of the next generations from Noah to Abram (Abraham). |