Noach stuck with God and from people he kept away

This is what saved him at the end of the day.

Cleaving to God made him righteous and strong,

With the others who were destroyed he didn’t belong.

Noach survived because he was close to God and great,

Restarting the world was his reward and his fate.

After the flood he needed to connect with others

to extend his hand and build society with his brothers.

But Noach only knew how to stay in his zone,

So once again he separated himself, stayed alone.

Not reaching out to others led to his downfall,

in the new era he wasn’t a hero after all.

What makes Noach special when he was in his prime

was the same thing that worked against him at a later time.

This is a profound psychological truth:

What we need in old age is different from what worked in our youth.

What at one time can serve as our best protection

can in another context take us in a bad direction.

May we be blessed in life to always behave in the way we need,

to not be held back by old habits but to shine and be freed.

Rabbi Neil Fleischmann, an ordained rabbi from RIETS, has taught Torah for over 30 years, primarily at The Frisch School, where he coached the award-winning poetry team. As an integral part of the Yeshiva Poetry Society, Fleischmann is a passionate advocate for the arts within the Torah world. He was named New York's Funniest Rabbi and has performed stand up comedy, as well as presenting as scholar in residence, across the city and country. His literary work includes the haiku collection In The Field, and he has contributed close to twenty poems to the Stories of Our Lives anthologies, parts 1 and 2. Currently, Fleischmann is working on a book of parsha poems that combines meaningful content with whimsical formatting. You can reach him at [email protected].