Parashat Noach 5783

by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

Parashat Noach ends with the story of the Tower of Babel.  The people who originally all spoke the same language, decide to try to build a tower so high, so that they can reach the heavens. Eventually the people began to speak all different languages, and had difficulty communicating, and so were not able to build their tower. Do you ever feel like you are speaking English, but you are speaking a different language from the people around you – and just seem to constantly be miscommunicating? Sometimes it is because of the lingo or dialect, or sometimes it is because of a generational difference. It seems like an abbreviations dictionary is needed to decipher text messages sometimes. We are in good company. God confounded the speech of the builders of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9) and scattered the people across the earth. Therefore, the next time you find yourself feeling like you are in an Amelia Bedelia book, (remember the children’s series by Peggy Parish?) Chazak v’Ematz – Be Strong and Courageous!