The Elie Wiesel Living Archive

at The 92nd Street Y, New York. Supported by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

In the Bible: Noah

The Gratitude of a Survivor

Oct 14, 1982

Until now we’ve studied personalities. This year we’ll also study events. What is the uniqueness of Noah that God chose him? The reason has to do not with before or after the flood but during. All Noah wanted was to serve as a living example. To see him was to know that he had heard God’s warnings, as others must have. Yet he was the only one who decided to act. And then in the aftermath Noah was confronted by a choice: anger at what he lost, or gratitude for survival? He chose gratitude, and offered thanks to heaven. No one is as grateful as a survivor. Every moment means grace, for one could have been in someone else’s place.

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Subthemes:
1) Beginning at the End: The end of all flesh
2) 16 years at 92Y and Modern-Day Anti-Semitism
3) Modern-day anti-Semitism in France
4) How Noah Plays Out on a Modern Stage
5) Noah: A Just Man of His Generations
6) The Influence of Lamech, Noah’s Father
7) Grace in the Eyes of God
8) A Flashback to Righteousness, Purity, and Obedience
9) The Talmud and Midrash
10) Did the Flood Change Noah: Noah’s Life Post-Flood
11) Partnership with Satan at the Vineyard
12) Noah: Springing Into Action
13) A Mark for the Mockery of his Fellow Men
14) Caring for All of the Creatures Upon the Ark
15) The Gratitude of a Survivor
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