by Maggid Zelig Golden

3 Cheshvan 5776 | October 16, 2015

In Noah, last week’s parsha (Torah portion), the flood destroys a corrupt world. When the waters subside Noah sends out a raven and then a dove, symbols for the simple black and white mentality of the time. Yet after the flood, the Creator realizes that humanity is still impure and corrupt, while also holding the potential for peace. This is the covenant of the rainbow. When we embrace the rainbow, we can acknowledge and hold the full spectrum of human reality—love and fear, peace and war, the environmental challenges we face and the solutions we can support.

Below, listen to Maggid Zelig Golden’s entire drash (teaching) on the story of Noah from Kabbalat Shabbat, recorded October 16 at the Kabbalat Shabbat services co-hosted with Urban Adamah.