"And so, children, whenever we see a rainbow it should remind us of this story of how God saved Noah from the flood because of his goodness, and how God promised never to destroy the whole world again by a terrible flood. And whenever we see a rainbow we should all of us say this little prayer or _berakah_ which I will teach you, +baru[k.] atah y'hovah elihaynu mele[k.] ha'olam zo[k.]er habriyt vene'eman bibriyto v'qayam b'ma'emaro+ which means, 'Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, King of the world, who remembers His covenant and is faithful to His covenant and keeps his promise'".
The term covenant must be explained to the child in this chapter as an exchange of promises.
The story of Noah contains many appeals to the child's interest which the skillful teacher will know how to make the most of. A Noah's ark with all manner of queer little wooden animals that could be put in and taken out again has been a favorite toy with many a child now grown to manhood. A child is naturally interested in animals and, when you tell of how the animals came into the ark, ask the children to tell you the names of animals they have seen in the zoo or circus.
To emphasize the moral of the story use the _haggadic_ elaboration of it according to which the period that the ark was in process of construction gave the sinners an opportunity to repent, of which however they did not avail themselves but instead merely mocked Noah for trusting in God and obeying him. This _haggada_ is in full accord with the spirit of the Biblical narrative and gives content to the statement: "Noah was in his generation a righteous and whole-hearted man; Noah walked with God."[1]
[1] whenever a _haggadah_ is useful as explaining a biblical passage, it may be taught as part of the biblical lesson. but the teacher should avoid teaching such legends as may misrepresent the biblical meaning and even such as are merely extraneous to the subject, as, for example, the legend of abraham's persecution by nimrod, for we must be careful that these legends do not usurp the unique place which the bible as torah must hold in jewish life and thought. the _haggadah_ is not authoritative; the bible is.
The episode narrated in Genesis 9.21 to 29 had better be omitted as not adapted for children.
