This Shabbat, we read the story of Noah and his Ark. Two weeks from now, we focus on boats again as we celebrate Columbus Day, remembering the three ships that sailed to these hallowed shores.

As a young lad, I loved to put model ships together. Those models always came with a set of directions. All you had to do was follow the steps in the proper order. Of course, you also had to figure out which piece was which. The people who directed the building of the ships that Columbus and his crew sailed in were master craftsman, and they had a lot of workers who took and followed orders as to just what to do and how to do it.

But Noah, poor Noah, was like, pardon the expression, “a ship out of water.”

Noah, as far as I know, had never built a canoe before, let alone a gigantic ark big enough for all the animals to fit in. True, he did have some rather heavenly directions, but imagine how hard it must have been to follow those directions.

There was a song out many years ago that asked, “Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know?”

My wife, may she rest in peace, often told me that I had no sense of direction. On the other hand, she would often tell me to take a left turn, and when I followed her direction, she would then say, “I meant the other left.”

Fortunately, we now have this amazing piece of technology called a GPS, which helps give us directions. And, if you fail to follow the directions of the GPS, it will quickly let you know that you have gone wrong.

There are rules for ships to follow out on the water and, while some people might not be aware of it, we actually have rules for driving automobiles in our state (yes, that was me being sarcastic), but we do, indeed, have laws, and, if we would all follow those laws, we would have a much easier and safer driving experience.

There is also something called common courtesy when one is behind the wheel of a vehicle, although there are many days when we are on the road that courtesy does not seem to be common at all.

So I would like to give you some directions from the Sages that we would all do well to keep in mind when we are at the helm of our vehicle. The first is “without law, civilization dies.” If we do not obey the rules of the road, then we lose our civility. The next direction comes from the great Sage Hillel (Talmud: Shabbat, 31a) as he states, “That which is hateful to you; do not do to your fellow…” And how about these wise words: “the beginning and the end of the law is kindness.”

As each of you goes to your car, let me leave you with an adage from none other then that bastion of modern expressions, the television set, from an old show called Hill Street Blues — “Let’s be careful out there.”

For your sake and for mine; for our children and our children’s children; and, for the sake of civility, let’s follow the rules of the road, be courteous, and let us “be careful out there.”

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach at 201 S. Military Trail, where we welcome you to join our warm and caring familyforShabbatservices. We’ll make your heart glow. Who knows, you might even fall in love with Shul all over again