THE TWIN BRIEF
Flood, ark, rainbow, and a tower that cared more about bricks than people. This week: the reading, two midrashim retold, a longer Dvar on being good in your generation, practical Sephardi halacha (rainbow beracha, Kiddush Levana, tzitzit), and full Bronx zmanim. About a 10-minute read. Illustrated. Open the printable version →
This Week’s Reading
Parashat Noach — Genesis 6:9–11:32
- Parasha: Noach, Genesis 6:9–11:32
- Maftir: Genesis 11:29–32
- Haftarah (Sephardi): Isaiah 54:1–10, “Rani akarah,” which includes “like the waters of Noach” (54:9). Ashkenazim continue to 55:5.
- No special Shabbat this week.
Teen summary: The world has gone corrupt, and Hashem tells Noach to build an ark. The flood comes, Noach’s family and the animals ride it out, a dove brings back an olive leaf, and Hashem promises with a rainbow never to flood the whole world again. Then humanity regroups in Bavel, tries to build a tower “to the heavens,” and gets scattered into many languages. The parasha ends by introducing Avram, who is about to change everything next week.
Parasha Stories
Two midrashim for teens
1. Holding the hand vs. walking ahead
The Torah says Noach “walked with G-d” (6:9). Later, Avraham is told, “walk before Me” (17:1). Bereshit Rabbah 30:10 explains the difference with a picture: a parent walking with two kids. The younger one needs to hold a hand the whole way. The older one is told, “go ahead, I’m right behind you.” Noach needed Hashem’s hand to stay upright in a crooked world. Avraham was strong enough to walk out front and lead others.
Think about it: where in your life do you still need someone holding your hand (and that’s fine), and where is it time to walk ahead and set the pace for others?
2. The brick that mattered more than a person
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 24 describes the Tower of Bavel under construction. It was so tall that hauling bricks up took ages. When a brick slipped and fell, the builders cried: that was a lot of work lost. When a person fell, nobody even looked up. The tower got taller, but the project was rotten at its base.
Teen take: any team, school project, or group goal that treats people as replaceable parts is built wrong, no matter how impressive it looks from the outside. Check what your group actually cries over.
Dvar Torah
You don’t pick your generation
The parasha opens with a strange compliment: “Noach was a tzaddik, tamim (wholehearted), b’dorotav, in his generations” (6:9). Why add “in his generations”? Rashi brings two opinions. One says it’s praise: if Noach could stay good surrounded by a world of violence and cheating, imagine how great he would have been in a better generation. The other says it’s a limit: compared to the people around him he stood out, but next to Avraham he’d have been ordinary.
Here’s the thing: both readings land on the same lesson for you. You don’t get to choose the generation you’re born into. You don’t choose your grade, your class, your team, or the group chat you got added to. What you do choose is what you do inside it.
Reading one says: being good when nobody around you is even trying is real greatness, not a participation trophy. Hashem saw that in Noach and saved the whole world through him. If you’re the one who doesn’t join the roast, who sends the kind message, who davens when it’s easier to skip, that counts more, not less, because it’s hard.
Reading two says: don’t grade yourself on a curve. “Better than the people around me” is a starting line, not a finish line. Noach was told to build an ark; Avraham went out and taught the world. The goal isn’t just to survive your surroundings; it’s to keep growing past what anyone around you expects.
Put them together and you get a healthy balance: be proud of the good you do in a hard environment, and never let that pride turn into “good enough.”
Teen takeaway: you can’t pick your group chat. You can pick what you send, and you can keep raising your own bar.
Sources: Bereshit 6:9 with Rashi; Bereshit Rabbah 30:10; teen framing per Rabbi inputs. Teen reference, not a personal ruling.
Practical Halacha · Sephardi / Shulchan Aruch / Yalkut Yosef
This Shabbat’s checklist
- Rainbow beracha (perfect for Noach): when you see a rainbow, say “Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech ha’olam, zocher habrit v’ne’eman bivrito v’kayam b’ma’amaro” (Shulchan Aruch OC 229:1). Say it, but don’t stand there staring at the rainbow for a long time.
- Kiddush Levana for Cheshvan: Sephardim wait 7 full days after the molad (Shulchan Aruch OC 426:4). Earliest this month is Sunday night, Oct 18; latest is Sunday night, Oct 25. Motzaei Shabbat is the best time when possible, but this month the first Motzaei Shabbat after 7 days is Oct 24.
- Tzitzit check: the Ben Ish Chai’s halachot for Parashat Noach are all about tzitzit. Before you put on your tallit katan or tallit each day, glance at the strings and make sure they’re intact.
- Rain in the Amidah: keep saying mashiv haruach u’morid hageshem. The actual request for rain, v’ten tal u’matar, starts in the Diaspora at Maariv on Friday night, Dec 4, 2026.
- Shnayim mikra v’echad targum: review the parasha twice in Hebrew and once with Targum (or Rashi), ideally before Shabbat lunch.
Teen reference only, not personal psak. Ask a rav for your household.
Zmanim · Bronx NY 10471 · ET
Full Shabbat times
Fri Oct 16 · Erev Shabbat Noach / 5 Cheshvan
- Candle lighting: 5:55 PM
- Sunset: 6:13 PM (candles 18 min before)
Sat Oct 17 · Shabbat Noach / 6 Cheshvan
- Sunrise: 7:09 AM
- Latest Shema: 9:19 AM (Magen Avraham) / 9:55 AM (Gra)
- Latest Tefillah: 10:26 AM (MGA) / 10:50 AM (Gra)
- Chatzot: 12:41 PM
- Mincha gedola: 1:08 PM
- Plag hamincha: 5:03 PM
- Sunset: 6:12 PM
- Shabbat ends / Havdalah: 7:02 PM (Hebcal Bronx, 50 min)
Coming up
- Kiddush Levana window: Sun night Oct 18 through Sunday night, Oct 25
- Next week: Parashat Lech Lecha · candles Fri Oct 23 5:45 PM · Havdalah Sat Oct 24 6:52 PM
- Cheshvan has no holidays: a quiet month to build habits
Times: Hebcal Bronx 10471, cross-checked with the Rabbi’s inputs. Havdalah at 50 minutes per household practice. Confirm with your community custom.
Illustration
After the flood
Closing Comic
Meanwhile, inside the ark
Prefer paper? Print this edition (letter size, B&W-friendly)