| The Portion of Noach From the beginning of creation, Man was intended to preserve the beauty of creation. Instead, humankind progressively deteriorated, from the murder of Abel at the hands of his brother Cain to the lowest level of immorality. It reached the point where the Almighty decided to bring a flood to destroy all that He had created, leaving only Noah and all who were with him in the ark to pave the way for a new beginning. But even following the flood, an attempt is made to build a tower stretching to heaven. This dark period, which began in the Garden of Eden with the violation of G-d's prohibition of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, ends with the birth of Abraham. G-d reveals Himself to Abraham and opens a new period of dialogue between man and his Creator. In order to mark the transition between these two periods, the last letter of the portion- the "nun" in the word "Charan", is written backwards. (Rashi)
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