Noach’s Mabul By Rafi Lubetski (‘25)

5785/2024

This week's Parashah, Parashat Noach, describes the Mabul and Noach's actions. Noach is described as an Ish Tzaddik. However, the Mabul is referred to as מי נח, the waters of Noach. Why is the Mabul referred to as Noach’s Mabul if he's such a Tzaddik?

The Zohar say that if Noach had prayed, the Mabul might have been diverted. Sources often compare Noach to Avraham and find Noach lacking in his trait of Chessed. The Sefono comments that, unlike Avraham, Noach didn't spend his time spreading Hashem's light, even when he knew the flood was coming. Hashem puts Noach into the ark forcing him to take care of all the animals to correct this trait of not caring for others. This comparison goes further: Noach could have prayed for the Mabul to stop even though the people deserved it, unlike Avraham who prayed for Sodom. Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev believes that Noaxh didn't see himself as better than anyone else in his generation. He considered himself to be just another member of the “Dor HaMabul. Consequently, Noach reasoned that if he was going to be saved, so will other people in his generation because he felt no better than them. If Noach had felt this idea of communal responsibility he may have been able to avert the flood  

There is a Kabbalistic idea of gilgulim: everyone is created with a specific job to do and if they don't complete it, their soul is "recycled," returning to the world in a new body for another opportunity to fulfill that purpose. The Arizal believes that Moshe was a gilgul of Noach and he corrected this idea of communal responsibility in a real way. One of the first instances of Moshe in the Torah is when he assumes total responsibility for Bnei Yisrael, to the extent that he endangers his life by killing the Egyptian taskmaster. The paradigm example of this is when Moshe begs Hashem to forgive Bnei Yisrael and says ‘Please erase me from Your book’ (Mecheini Na Mi’Sifrecha). Moshe was willing to become totally anonymous and have all his achievements go without any recognition to gain forgiveness for Bnei Yisrael. As commentators point out, the word “Mecheini Na” spelled backwards reads ‘I am Noach’ (Ani Noach), and the word “Mecheini” alone can be rearranged to read “Mei Noach (the waters of Noach). The message here is that Moshe learned from the mistakes of Noach and assumed full responsibility for others. This feeling of responsibility is a key to teaching ourselves to help others genuinely.

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