Noah: Social Influence and Religious Isolation.

“Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age” (6:9)

“You alone have I found righteous before Me in this age” (7:1)

Noah was undoubtedly a righteous man. But the Rabbis noted that Noah is always described as righteous “in his age”. What, they wondered, does this qualifier indicate? Was he only righteous relative to the corrupt generation in which he lived (but objectively not so perfect)? Or perhaps, Noah’s righteousness manifested itself in his formidable ability to retain his personal morality notwithstanding the degenerate and violent society that surrounded him; perhaps it is an accolade which indicates how uninfluenced Noah was, impermeable to the awful state of his environment.

The topic we will discuss this week will, I hope be quite relevant to teenagers and to us all.

So, please discuss:

• What is the relationship between us and our social environment?

• How much do our friends and communit