Question:

(from Zac, age 4)

Why doesn't G‑d make a flood to take away all the yucky people, like He did for Noah?

Answer:

Zac, I know you are a very good boy, but have you ever been naughty? Did you ever hurt your little brother, or say something rude to your mommy?

G‑d wants us to be good all the time, but we don't always get it right. Even good boys like you can sometimes do the wrong thing.

It is a pity that we are naughty sometimes, but the most important thing is that we stop being naughty and say sorry. Then it's OK again, and we can start being good and doing what's right.

If a flood would come every time someone did something bad, no one would get the chance to say sorry and change. So G‑d has patience. He is waiting for the yucky people to realize that they are wrong and to start behaving.

In the times of Noah, G‑d warned the people to change their ways 120 years before He brought the flood. The flood only happened because no one changed their bad ways in all that time. They even watched Noah building the ark, and he told them the flood was coming, but they still didn't start behaving themselves. From that story we learn how silly it is to keep on being yucky when we have the ability to change.

G‑d always gives us a chance, because even when we do something bad, He knows how good we can be.