This past Sunday our Gesher community was part of a group of volunteers that worked with Nechama, the Jewish disaster relief organization bringing assistance to victims of the recent flooding in our area. We worked in a neighborhood to the west of the city in Austell where the waters had engulfed the streets and invaded the houses, leaving little but mold and rotting wood. As it turned out our job was not to clean or salvage, but to rip apart what remained – stripping away the frames, tearing off the walls, and demolishing the damaged cabinets and fixtures.
And the Torah portion for this week? Noach: the story of a man, an ark, a ridiculous number of animals and enough rain to wipe out the whole world.
What got me thinking however as we wielded our hammers and pry bars was not just the coincidence of doing flood relief on the week that we read about the Flood. Rather it was how different what Nechama was doing from what Noach did. After all, Noah used his hammer to build a giant boat, but never tried to save anyone beside his family. We were using ours to tear down a house, but we were doing it in order to reach out to strangers in need.
Ironically, Noah’s Hebrew name is found in the Hebrew name of the organization, Nechama. Nechama means comfort. According to the Torah, his father named him Noach in the hope that he would be a “comfort … for the pain…” that was widespread among humanity even before the Flood.
But Noah gets mixed reviews. On one hand he is described as “the righteous one of his generation” and is chosen to survive the Flood. On the other hand his lack of protest on behalf of the doomed earns him a dubious place in history and leads to a lonely and tragic existence after the waters subside.
Something was missing. Rather than act as a comfort (NeCHaMa) to others, Noah simply rested (NaCH) and didn’t ask: what (Ma) he could do to help!
This Shabbat as we read Noah’s story we will be joined by the Nechama volunteers: members of our community and teens from the local Jewish Student Unions who did ask and did do what they could for others. Nechama coordinator Seth Gardner will also be our guest at Shabbat services.
Of course, this Shabbat is the occasion that our 50-plus club is sponsoring a Kiddush in honor of the eightieth birthday of Miriam Watsky.
Those who know Miriam, know the timing of this celebration is also quite fitting. No, not just because she came to us after the devastating floodwaters of Katrina hit her hometown of New Orleans. But rather, because Miriam is an embodiment of the spirit of Nechama, thinking of others and doing whatever it takes to help.
Yashar Koach (Job well done!) to Piyali Cole, Bryan Lint and to all the volunteers this past Sunday.
I’m glad we had a chance to swing a sledgehammer for a good cause this week. Sometimes you have to take something apart to see how it all comes together.
Rabbi Bernstein
Congregation Gesher L’Torah
Alpharetta, Georgia
Sermon 10/23/09

Sam Irwin from Iowa, connected with NECHAMA during the Iowa floods of 2008. Sam recently spent a week with us in the Atlanta area to aid in the clean up efforts. Sam was quoted and highlighted in the Daily Nonpareil, Council Bluffs Iowa. Here are a few of his quotes:
It was Irwin’s third relief project in the past year and a half. He asked the American Red Cross about volunteer opportunities after the flooding in eastern Iowa in June 2008, and they referred him the United Way, which hooked him up with Nechama.

“It’s really been a great experience working with these folks,” he said. “I would encourage folks to experience this – because, let’s face it: We’ve got two creeks running through our town. Who’s to say we couldn’t have a 500-year flood?”

“It was a really great feeling to be able to help and to have the opportunity,” he said. “It’s just good, old-fashioned outreach, if nothing else, and they appreciate that.”