They ridiculed him. They laughed. No one paid any attention to his warnings. For 120 years, he worked on building the ark, so that people would pass by and ask what he was doing, giving them a chance to repent.

"Hey, Noach! What a cornball you are!"

“Hey, Noach, what the heck are you building?”

“An ark?”

“A what?”

“An ark.”

“Why the heck are you doing that?”

“Because Hashem is planning to destroy mankind because of its rampant sexual immorality.”

“Ha ha ha,” they laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m not kidding at all,” Noach answered.

“What a joker!” they scoffed. “Stupidest thing we’ve ever heard!”

In the end, no one took Noach’s warning seriously. No one changed his evil ways. The rest of the story is known to everyone – all of existence was wiped out in the flood, except Noach’s family and the animals he brought into the ark. 

In deference to readers who don’t like discussions of sexual themes on this blog, the more detailed continuation of this essay can be found on our www.jewishsexuality.com website.