2021/5782

This week’s Parashah opens with Noach and closes with Avraham. The two are often compared and contrasted in many ways. Most notably, the Midrash (BeReishit Rabbah 30:10) claims that Avraham needed no assistance when servicing HaShem, while Noach needed nudges at times. In general, this boils down to the opening Pasuk in this week’s Parashah: “Eileh Toledot Noach Noach Ish Tzadik Tamim Hayah BeDorotav Et HaElokim Hit’halech Noach,” “These are the offshoots of Noach, Noach was a Tzadik and complete in his generation, with Elokim Noach walked” (BeReishit 6:9). The Gemara (Sanhedrin 108a) cites a debate between Rebbe Yochanan and Resh Lakish. Rebbe Yochanan claims that this Pasuk means that he was a Tzadik in his generation alone, but in other generations he would not have been considered as great, while Resh Lakish argues the exact opposite. Seemingly based on the idea of the influence of surrounding people, Resh Lakish claims that Noach would have been greater, and that the Resha’im of his generation had a largely negative effect on him. The Shla makes clear that he believes that Rebbe Yochanan was right, and it appears that the vast majority agree with him. However, it might be valuable to look at the opposing side.

To return to the Pasuk, there are three crucial pieces of information: Noach was a Tzadik, complete, and with Elokim Noach walked. All of those phrases are extremely strange. What defines being “Tamim” - complete? The answer is beyond the scope of this article, but what is important is that HaShem comes to Avraham when he is 99 years old and says “Ani Kel Shakai Hit’halech Lefanei VeHeyei Tamim,” “I am Kel Shakai walk yourself before me and be complete” (BeReishit 17:1). To give some context, this is the opening to the section where HaShem tells Avraham about Brit Milah. So, Brit Milah would make Avraham Tamim - complete. My Rebbe, Rabbi Daniel Fridman, likes to point out the almost paradoxical nature of this statement: one gets rid of a part of the body and becomes complete. This drives at the exact point of Brit Milah: it is not to become some physical deity like the Greeks desired, rather to be complete on a more spiritual level, which can only be done by diminishing the physical. This is what HaShem tells Avraham to do. However, by Noach, the Pesukim never indicate that HaShem had to tell him anything, yet they do say that Noach was Tamim. The same can be said about the fact that Noach was already walking with HaShem, while Avraham was not. The aforementioned Midrash might counter this point, but this whole argument is based on the fact that Noach lived in a generation of tremendous corruption. Arguably, Noach would not have needed nudges had he lived in a different time. 

The biggest argument against Noach is based on the fact that he got drunk after the Mabul. However, the Midrash (BeReishit Rabbah 30:8) has an interesting statement: Rebbe Yochanan says, “anyone that the Torah uses the word “Hayah” by was a Tzadik from their beginning until their end”. So, did Noach do anything wrong? Well, yes, but at the same time, there may be room to excuse Noach. This is best understood by looking into a Mitzvah from Purim.

Every Torah student knows that the Gemara that you are meant to be drunk until you cannot tell the difference between Arrur Haman and Baruch Mordechai. Now, to quickly explain the Gemara, the idea is based on the fact that Purim is the way of the future, when seemingly contradictory/opposite things become one because that is how HaShem views it. The idea is that when you are drunk, you leave the bounds of human logic and you can confuse such diametrically opposed things . To make it clear, this does not mean that one is meant to get drunk, regurgitate, and say things that he will regret. 

Essentially, some explain Noach’s actions this way. Noach saw the world wiped out and tried to restore the world to a state of truth. He wanted to restore the state of Adam HaRishon before eating from the Etz HaDa’at Tov VaRa. Noach was doing what he thought was right based on a logical thought process. Granted, it was not the right thing to do, but this does not mean that Noach was no longer a Tzadik. He was trying to do the right thing! Hence, the Midrash says he was a Tzadik for all his days. 

While Noach gets a lot of bad press, it appears that he was very possibly greater than Avraham, ignoring the context in which they live. It seems simple to say that Noach would have been greater than Avraham Avinu had they lived at the same time. Ultimately, the most important thing is to do what Noach failed to do, and restore the world to the right state - the state it was in before Adam HaRishon ate from the Etz HaDa’at Tov VaRa.