ABSTRACT
Three central figures in the Torah, neither Jewish nor Gentile, represent humankind as such: Adam, Eve, and Noah. Noah is unique in that God makes a covenant of moral law with humankind through him. The biblical description of God’s “remembering” Noah presents a picture that must arouse pity, ours and His: of a family, together with representatives of all the living things, afloat on the waters that cover a dead world. Behind all the factors that make a seemingly simple story compiicated, there lies a fundamental question that has perennially agitated all reflective people who believe in the creation of the world and of humankind by a free and benevolent God. God’s plan for the creation of humanity is represented by “Torah and the seat of glory.” The achievement of this purpose fulfills a religious and moral vision of perfection. A religiously oriented Jewish education is informed by a biblical-midrashic vision of the purpose and significance of human life.
