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FIVE SHORT MUSSAR, AKA JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL, TEACHINGS AND REFLECTIONS ON NOAH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, VERBAL SPATS, AND THE DONMEH
DEDICATED TO
My beloved mother, Blanche Levine Segal (1926–2025)
From her son, Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal
Traditional Jewish law generally prohibits the study of most Torah texts during shiva because Torah study is considered a source of profound joy (simcha), which is inappropriate during the intense initial mourning period.
During Shiva we are prohibited from having ''Joyful Study''. Mourners are forbidden from engaging in regular, joyous Torah study, including the Bible, Talmud, and Midrash. The reasoning is that such study "rejoices the heart," which is contrary to the state of grief.
However, mourners are permitted to read texts related to mourning, ethical behavior (Mussar), and melancholic sources such as the book of Job, the book of Lamentations, and certain parts of Jeremiah. The purpose of studying these is to inspire repentance or provide somber contemplation, not intellectual delight.
The below reflections are Mussar, aka Jewish Spiritual Renewal. As with all Mussar they are designed to teach us how to be better ethical spiritual people.
TEACHINGS AND REFLECTIONS
[I]. NOAH'S RIGHTEOUSNESS
The Torah says that Noah was "a righteous man, blameless among the people of his generation."
Rabbinic discussion abounds: was he righteous only relative to his corrupt contemporaries, or absolutely?
Rashi quotes both views: one that praises him, another that limits his merit compared to Abraham.
Midrash Tanchuma teaches that even in a broken world, one who holds steady to goodness still saves humanity.
Modern scholars like Heschel, Halbertal, and Leibowitz remind us that righteousness is relational — we are moral within context.
To live righteously is not to be perfect, but to refuse apathy. Noah's silent obedience contrasts with Abraham's bold argument — both paths of faith are needed: one preserves the world, the other challenges it.
[II]. NOAH'S WIFE IN MIDRASH AND TALMUD
Scripture is silent on her name, but Midrash and Talmud give her voice.
Beresheit Rabbah calls her Na'amah, daughter of Lamech and sister of Tubal-Cain.
Zohar expands: she was the song of creation, preserving harmony amidst chaos. She prays while alone.
Rabbinic imagination made her the first rebuilder — tending animals, sewing garments, and rebuilding trust in the world after the flood.
Some Midrashim see her as a proto–Sarah, a matriarch of rebirth.
In Tanchuma and Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, she stands beside Noah as partner in divine mission — proof that righteousness never acts alone.
[III]. TALMUDIC INSULTS — HUMOR AND HONESTY IN THE HOUSE OF STUDY
Rabbinic debate is famously sharp. The Talmud records that "the Babylonian sages hate one another" (Pesachim 113b).
R. Yehoshua calls R. Elazar ben R. Shimon "vinegar son of wine" (Bava Metzia 83b), scolding him for reporting fellow Jews to Rome.
In Berachot 27b, rabbis argue with biting wit about leadership and humility.
Yet these verbal duels reveal not cruelty but passion for truth.
As one scholar quipped, "If you cannot take insult, you cannot study Torah."
In modern reflection: synagogue board meetings often echo these same dynamics — fierce disagreement among people who, deep down, care more than they can express gently.
Such conflict, when sanctified by love, becomes the hammer that shapes wisdom.
[IV]. THE WATERS OF NOAH
Isaiah (54:9) calls the flood "the waters of Noah."
Midrash asks: why name them after Noah, who was righteous?
It answers ''because he did not pray for his generation''. Unlike Abraham who interceded for Sodom, Noah obeyed but remained silent.
Rabbi Levi teaches: "If only he had pleaded for mercy, the decree might have been annulled."
Zohar adds that the flood was as much spiritual as physical — a washing away of indifference.
Thus the "waters of Noah" remind us that holiness without compassion is incomplete.
The world is saved not only by obedience, but by empathy.
[V]. DONMEH — FROM SABBATAI TZVI TO MODERNITY
The Donmeh were followers of Sabbatai Tzvi, the 17th-century mystic who proclaimed himself Messiah and then converted to Islam under duress in 1666.
Secretly, many disciples continued Jewish mystical practice under a veil of Islamic identity.
In the Ottoman world, they became known as "Donmeh," meaning "turncoats."
Historians trace three major divisions — Izmir, Salonika, and Istanbul — each preserving elements of Kabbalah, reincarnation, and messianic yearning.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's father is sometimes said to have had Donmeh roots, though scholars debate this. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the Father of Modern Turkey.
Today, the Donmeh story remains a parable of faith surviving through paradox — loyalty hidden behind adaptation.
[VI]. REFLECTIONS
The waters of Noah, the secret prayers of Na'amah, verbal duels, and the shadowed faith of the Donmeh all speak to one truth and one giant lesson in Mussar, Jewish Spiritual Renewal:
Covenant endures beyond catastrophe.
In every generation, righteousness is tested not in isolation but in community.
As in synagogue boardrooms and family tables alike — where the fiercest "insults" often mask devotion — we learn again that holiness hides in human imperfection.
To be righteous is to build the ark anew each day:
To carry creation through the flood of indifference,
To remember our mothers' strength,
And to bless even the quarrels that refine the soul.
With love, humor, and reverence,
Rabbi Dr. Arthur Segal
SHALOM and BLESSINGS:
RABBI DR ARTHUR SEGAL, retired
WWW.JEWISHSPIRITUALRENEWAL.COM/books
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