Hashem is all powerful, right? He can do anything He wants to do, right? So why did Hashem choose to save Noach and his family with an ark? Wasn't it kind of risky -you know, leaky boats, sea sickness, and all those noisy animals in one boat? Why didn't Hashem simply lift Noach and his family above the clouds and avoid the rain? Why didn't He give Noach a special rain coat so he wouldn't get wet? Why an ark?

The answer lies in the principle of "measure for measure". The people of Noach's generation were evil to one another. They robbed each other and stole each other's husbands and wives. This is the meaning of the words: "ki malah ha'aretz chamas" -"for the world was filled with robbery". What is the way to correct these sins? What is the way to rectify this evil, in a way which is "measure for measure"? Try to think of an answer.

One way is through "chesed" -kindness. The opposite of stealing from each other is giving to each other. So Hashem chose to save Noach through an ark, where Noach and his family would have to be kind to each other and to the animals -and thus rectify the evil done by his generation.

Hashem wanted the world to continue -through chesed. And so He created an environment where He taught Noach that chesed saves the lives of others -and literally saves the world! It is this message that Hashem wanted to give to Noach and his family -their job was not only to survive the flood, but to keep the world alive with chesed after the flood. So the teivah -the ark -was precisely the way in which Hashem could teach Noach, and us, this eternal lesson