JTS Torah Commentary

We Plant Again After the Flood

Oct 16, 2026 By Randy Michaels | Commentary | Noah

This October marks what would have been my thirtieth wedding anniversary. My beloved wife, Marlene (z’l), passed away in 2023, and in the years since, I have found myself focused on a strange detail that is in this week’s parashah (Noah)— one I never noticed until I needed it. When the floodwaters finally recede, and Noah steps out onto dry land, the Torah tells us almost nothing about what he felt. There is no accounting of everyone or everything now gone—no crying or description of grief at all. We are simply told of what he did next: he built an altar, and later, he planted a vineyard (Gen. 8:20, 9:20). Before feeling came building. Before understanding came planting.