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The 21st-Century’s Great Flood
Noah and the Ark. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Believe it or not, the hero of this week’s Torah portion, Noah, needed a not-so-gentle push to get him into the Ark that he himself had built!
“And Noah, his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives went into the ark because of the flood waters,” (Genesis 7:7).
Interpreting this verse, the great commentator Rashi says that Noah only went into the ark because the floodwaters pushed him inside. He himself wasn’t quite sure this flood thing was really going to happen, but eventually, when he was getting rather wet, he decided to seek refuge in the ark.
There’s a very serious and sobering message here for our times. There’s a flood out there, no question about it. A deluge of disinformation and degeneracy, and it’s leading to the ruination of society as we have always known it. I can handle and even admire “disrupters,” but what we are witnessing now is destruction, a sea of moral sickness and chaos amid the collapse of our traditional values. To even use the term “traditional family values” these days is to incur the wrath of every alternative movement on earth. “How dare you!”
All around us, we see a flood of family breakdowns, a deluge of drugs, crime, and the havoc and devastation it wreaks. Never before have we experienced a tidal wave of mass shootings in schools, shopping malls and theaters. I’m not getting into the gun-control issue; this is a mind-control issue. What possesses the minds of these lonely, troubled young men who go out and shoot up the town? And what insanity warps the minds of young Westerners who become influenced by radical terrorist groups to go and join the Jihadi revolutionaries?
This is clearly a societal problem. The Hebrew word for the great flood in Noah’s time is mabul. Indeed, this a mabul of madness!
But if we enter the ark, we discover a new reality. The holy ark inside every synagogue is a symbol of sanctity, refuge and moral clarity. It is a sanctuary that protects us from the ravaging, raging waters outside. Herein lies the sacred treasure of our people, the holy Torah, the eternal wisdom of our Jewish history and heritage. Here, we find a Godly manual for living, one that is far removed from our contemporary craziness. And, yes, it is a repository of traditional values, our faith in God, our commitment to family, to elders and to respect and decency in all our relationships.
We have a choice. Do we pick the torrents of turbulence outside or the haven of tranquility and the anchor of the ark inside?
There have always been religious and non-religious Jews. And we have always argued. And many religious Jews have debated passionately with their non-religious brothers and sisters to embrace a more traditional Jewish way of life. But today, I would humbly suggest that the flood waters of a society out of control should force any objective, reasonable, upstanding person into the arms of the holy ark.
Even if it is not out of religious conviction, and even if it is not from our faithful childhood memories, the wild waters of a world gone berserk should be pushing us to explore the values represented by the holy ark. We should be doing it for our own family’s safety, security and sanity. We need to save our skin, never mind our soul.
Once upon a time, society and people were “normal” and honorable, more or less. Some were religious, others not. But today, with all the insane ideologies out there, we should be lining up to get into the ark. To ignore the calming refuge of the Almighty’s Ark in our current situation is like Noah standing up to his knees in the floodwaters and whistling in the rain while the ark takes off without him.
Our Jewish way of life offers us a lifeboat of survival in these wild floodwaters. Do we want to be swamped by the woke ideologists who seem completely disengaged from reality? If you can be anything you want, well, with that naturally comes an “anything goes” philosophy of life. And what nachas will we have when we discover that our son or daughter at an Ivy League campus has become a flag-waving member of Jews for Palestine?
My dear friends, as a rabbi, I invite you, nay, I appeal to you to take advantage of the great, trusted, traditional Jewish lifeboat. You’ll find it at the synagogue of your choice. Call a rabbi. Send your kids to a good Jewish day school. Enroll in a Jewish adult-education course. Study some Torah online. Volunteer for Israel or help kids with special needs in your community. Visit a senior center. Do a mitzvah. Do something to save yourself and your family from this disastrous deluge.
In the ark of your people, you will find security, serenity, wisdom and knowledge to help you chart your own way in a world that has become a labyrinth masking morality, honor and plain common sense.
The post The 21st-Century’s Great Flood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.