Noach נֹחַ - Rest
Torah Portion: Genesis 6:9-11:32
Genesis 8:15–9:7
8:15 Elohim spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ship, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”
18 Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.
20 Noah built an altar to Hashem, and took one of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 Hashem smelled the pleasant aroma. Hashem said in His heart, “I will not again curse the ground anymore for man’s sake, because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”
9 Elohim blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that moves along the ground, and all the fish of the sea, are delivered into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you. 4 But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat. 5 I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for Elohim made man in His own image. 7 Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”
Today’s Meditation:
A common thread throughout the first nine chapters of Genesis is “be fruitful and multiply” (verse 9:1). Many believe this is the first commandment that Hashem gives man. It is considered the “great Mitzvah,” meaning the greatest commandment. What is truly interesting is that in the Talmud, it is believed that when every soul from heaven is delivered to the earth, the Mashiach (Messiah) will come. That is genuinely an interesting thought.
This is an area that each of us really needs to give prayerful consideration. Do we allow Hashem to dictate how many children we have, or do we do things (birth control, abortion, etc.) that inhibit His plans? Think of the souls that Hashem could have placed into His creation that were interrupted by our selfishness and family planning ideas. This is something to pause and pray about for a moment.
Today’s Challenge:
Do some research today on the forms of birth control available. Look at what they actually do. Do they prohibit and destroy a fertilized egg from implanting into the uterus? If so, then is birth control actually destroying conception, a created being? You may be surprised by what you discover.
