Internet-based “Jewish” Zoo Debuts on Chabad-Lubavitch Web Site
For 300 days, Noah, his family and two of every non-kosher species of animal – minus those of the sea – and seven of every kosher one occupied a three-deck ark of wood.
Just what stories did Noah tell his children to pass the time?
The question might be a bit tongue-in-cheek – the Torah records Noah’s age at the beginning of the Great Flood as 500; his children were also well grown and married – but nevertheless underscores an important point for Rabbi Mendy Elishevitz: Judaism sees in the animal world many lessons for our own proper behavior.
“The Talmud says that the rabbis learned from animals,” says Elishevitz, the creator of the newest section of the Chabad.org Web site, Noah’s Ark, which aims to engage children and their parents in a dialogue and exploration of Torah as it relates to the animal kingdom, and vice versa. Chief in the minds of Elishevitz and the Chabad.org development team is to offer an Internet-based Jewish zoo, of sorts.
The launch of the Web page, located at www.chabad.org/noahsark, earlier this week corresponds with this Shabbat’s Torah portion, which tells the story of Noah.
source: crownheights.info
