​​​​​​Now that the High Holidays are a few weeks behind us, Parashat Noah offers a quiet invitation to check in with ourselves: How did it really go? Did the themes of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — mercy, judgment, and renewal — take root in us, or have they already begun to fade back into routine? The story of Noah reminds us that Divine judgment is never meant to destroy, but to cleanse and make space for new beginnings. After the floodwaters recede, the first thing God does is establish a brit, a covenant — a promise that even in moments of correction or struggle, mercy remains at the heart of creation. So too in our lives: the hard self-reflection of the holidays may have stirred up some inner “floodwaters,” but the point was never despair. It was to make room for growth. This Shabbat invites us to notice the small signs of renewal — the olive branch moments — that signal hope and the possibility of covenant restored. As we read of the rainbow this week, perhaps we can pause and ask: Where in my own life is the rain beginning to clear?
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