In congregations around the world, every fall, Jewish communities read the early chapters of the Book of Genesis, the first of the five books of Moses. One of these early stories is the story of Noah and the Ark. Many of us grew up on this story, played with miniature models of the ark, arranged the tiny paired animals and played make believe with the toy figures of the family of Noah. This fall, in a three-part education series, we will mine this story for what it has to say about climate crisis. We will ask the audacious question, “Are the lessons we learned from the Noah story actually helpful in this day and age?”

Session Three - Noah’s Ark: a happy children’s story or a moral drama to be re-told in every generation? 

You can attend this session even if you did not attend Sessions One or Two.

If we are ready to move beyond the happy children’s story for little kids, what is the story we want to tell about the threat of environmental disaster, refuge and redemption today? Who and what will be included? What is the ark? What old messages do we have to leave behind in order to sustain thriving ecologies that include humans on this planet? Our resource for today is a brief video by two scholars, one from Arizona State University and one from the University of Delaware. The video is less than ten minutes long and it includes dozens of images depicting artistic renderings of Noah’s ark from centuries past. 

Take a piece of paper and draw your own one-page version of the story of Noah’s ark (your artistic talent is not the point here.) Be prepared to hold up your picture for all to see.

What did earlier generations of artists notice about the story that is not highlighted in the cheerful little kid version?

This program is free, although a donation of $18 is suggested for guests who are not LHI members to attend these programs.

Information for this and all online events will automatically be sent to LHI members, who do not need to register.

LHI guests are welcome, and can request the Zoom information by registering here at least one day in advance, or contact us at info@leyvhair.org or 215-629-1995.