NOAH, WITH HIS SONS, HIS WIFE, AND HIS SON'S WIVES, WENT INTO THE ARK BECAUSE OF THE WATERS OF THE FLOOD. OF THE CLEAN ANIMALS, OF THE ANIMALS THAT ARE NOT CLEAN, OF THE BIRDS, AND OF EVERYTHING THAT CREEPS ON THE GROUND, TWO EACH, MALE AND FEMALE, CAME TO NOAH INTO THE ARK, AS GOD HAD COMMANDED NOAH.

(Bereishit 7:7-9)

THEY CAME TO NOAH, INTO THE ARK, TWO OF ALL FLESH IN WHICH THERE WAS BREATH OF LIFE.

(Ibid. ibid. 15)

 

Two of each shall come to you to stay alive - He informed him that they would come, two of each, on their own; he would not have to hunt them in the mountains and on the islands. Then he would later bring them into the ark. And He specified that they come male and female. This was the general rule. Afterwards, He commanded that Noah take of every clean animal seven of each; in this case He did not say that they would come on their own, but that Noah should take them, for those who come to be saved and to preserve their seed come on their own, but He did not decree that those who come in order to be offered as sacrifices come on their own to be slaughtered, but Noah took them, for the command of seven of each was so that Noah be able to use them for sacrifices.

(RaMBaN, Bereishit 6:20)

 

Noah... went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood - Rabbi Yohanan said: Noah lacked perfect faith, for had the waters not reached his ankles he would never have entered the ark.

Two of each came to Noah - Falsehood came and wanted to enter. Noah said to him: You may not enter, unless you wed a spouse. Falsehood went and sought a wife. He met Curse, and she said to him: From where do you come? He told her: From Noah - I wanted to enter the ark, but he refused to admit me unless I had a wife. She replied: And what will you give me? He said to her: I stipulate with you that all which I accumulate you may take. She listened to him, and the two entered the ark. When they exited the ark, Falsehood went out and accumulated, and Curse kept taking each thing as it arrived. Falsehood came and said to her: Where is everything that I accumulated? She replied: Was this not our condition, that all which you accumulate, I take? He had no answer. Therefore it is written He hatches evil, conceives mischief, and gives birth to fraud (Psalms 7:15). The parable says: Falsehood begets - but Curse takes all.

(Yalkut Shimoni, Noah, 56)

 

"If Noah had been in Abraham's generation, he would not have been considered of any importance."

Shefer Stollman

Noah's story unfolds in the parasha named after him. Its verses and their accompanying midrashim allow us to inspect his deeds closely. He is called righteous [tzaddik] twice: first in the parasha's opening verse: Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generations; later, the Creator Himself referred to him in this way, when he was called to come to the ark: And the Lord said to Noah, "Come you and all your house to the ark, for I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

However, this idyllic depiction of Noah as the tzaddik par excellence is thrown into question by the disagreement reported in Sanhedrin 109b regarding his being righteous in his generations (Bereishit 6:9). Rashi leaves out the names of the disputants when he cites it is his commentary: "Some of our Sages interpret it favorably: How much more so if he had lived in a generation of righteous people, he would have been even more righteous. Others interpret it derogatorily: In comparison with his generation he was righteous, but if he had been in Abraham's generation, he would not have been considered of any importance" (Judaica Press translation).

The sharp formulation, "If he had been in Abraham's generation, he would not have been considered of any importance," does not appear in any of the earlier sources known to us. Tractate Sanhedrin does report a disagreement between Rabbi Yohanan and Resh Lakish regarding the significance of the word bedorotav [in his generations]. R. Yohanan says: "In his generations, but not in other generations." Resh Lakish was much more charitable. He said: "In his generations - all the more so in other generations." Midrash Rabbah contains another version: "In his generations; R. Yehudah and R. Nehemiah [disagreed about this verse]. R. Yehudah said: In his generations he was a tzaddik, but if he had been in the generation of Moses or in the generation of Samuel, he would not have been a tzaddik. Their statements make no specific reference to Abraham's generation, and the words "would not have been considered of any importance" appear to express Rashi's own personal conclusion alone.

We are left to guess at Rashi's own position in this controversy on the basis of his further comments. When Rashi treats the second verse in which Noah is referred to as a tzaddik (Bereishit 7:1) (this time without the additional appellation, blameless) he cites Bereishit Rabbah: "From here [it is learned that] one utters only part of a person's praises in his presence, and all of them when not in his presence." However, just a few verses later we read and Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives came with him to the ark before the waters of the flood and Rashi tells us: "Noah was among those of little faith. He believed and yet did not believe that the flood would come; he did not enter the ark until pressed upon by the waters." This is really R. Yohanan's opinion (Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishit 7:57), which already stated that Noah was a tzaddik "in his generations, but not in other generations."

From here we can deduce that even though Rashi failed to mention the parties to the disagreement by name, he tends to side with R. Yohanan in his controversy with Resh Lakish. However, the stress that Rashi places upon the notion that if Noah "had been in Abraham's generation, he would not have been considered of any importance" - an idea that cannot be found elsewhere - requires explanation.

I believe that the Sages are telling us about two kinds of tzaddikim. One type of tzaddik defends his generation, i.e. when even one such tzaddik exists, the Holy One blessed be He will not bring down catastrophe upon the world, no matter how bad things get. Through the power of his prayers and personality, such a tzaddik annuls the divine judgment. On the other hand, there is a kind of tzaddik who not only fails to prevent catastrophe - the very presence of someone like him in the world allows the Creator to flood the world, since God has at his disposal a tzaddik from whom a new world can be built.

Noah belongs to the category of tzaddikim who are unable to prevent the flood. Noah did not pray for all of humanity and he did not argue with his Creator regarding His attribute of judgment. He was only able to save himself and his family. His role was fulfilled when the Creator told him: and I shall uphold My covenant with you and you shall come to the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

In contrast to Noah, there are tzaddikim by whose merit the world can continue to exist even if the situation deteriorates to the point where the Creator wishes to return everything to a state of chaos. Our father Abraham belonged to the category of tzaddikim whose presence in the world protects the existence of all humanity. The Holy One blessed be He's relationship to him is expressed through the dialogue that took place between them before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

According to the above, if Noah had lived in Abraham's generation, the latter's influence would have prevented the Creator from flooding the world. In that case, Noah would have been left without a job! He would not have been asked to build the ark or to gather all species of animals into it. This is what Rashi teaches us from his understanding of the disagreement between the Amoraim: "If he had been in Abraham's generation, he would not have been considered of any importance." That is to say, that if Abraham lived in his age, Noah would have remained, as we would say today, a "zero," without purpose or function. That is why Rashi thought it irrelevant whether Rashi was a tzaddik only in his own generation or in other generations as well.

An incident involving Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa sheds light upon the whole subject. The Gemara in Berakhot 61b brings Rav's dictum that this world was created for completely wicked people, while the world to come was created for the perfectly righteous. A biblical figure, Ahab ben Omri, is cited as an example of a completely wicked person. However, the Gemarah does not cite a biblical figure such as Noah or Abraham to exemplify the perfectly righteous; instead, it mentions one of the early Tannaim, R. Hanina ben Dosa.

One might ask: if a biblical figure was chosen to represent absolute evil, why couldn't an absolutely good character be found in Scripture?

The choice of R. Hanina ben Dosa as a example of a perfectly righteous person comes to teach us something regarding the special type of tzaddik by whose merit the world evades destruction. This is what is said of him in Ta'anit 24b: "R. Yehudah said in the name of Rav: Each and every day a bat kol [divine voice] goes forth, saying: "The entire world is sustained for the sake of My son Hanina, and My son Hanina makes do from one Shabbat eve to the next with just one kav of carob..."

Amazingly, when the Sages wanted to describe R. Hanina ben Dosa's special righteousness, they chose to recall a very amusing incident: "R. Hanina ben Dosa was walking down the road and it started raining. He said to Him: Master of the Universe, the whole world is comfortable but Hanina suffers. The rain stopped. When he got home, he said to Him: Master of the Universe, all the world suffers, but Hanina is comfortable. The rain returned."

The Sages were amazed by this tzaddik's power and they asked what point there was to the prayer for rain offered by the High Priest on Yom Kippur, in which he asked that "the prayers of wayfarers [that it not rain] not be accepted before you" if a tzaddik like R. Hanina ben Dosa possesses the power and the merit to stop the rain while he travels?

The wonder-story of the "perfect tzaddik," R. Hanina ben Dosa, allows us to identify the difference between a tzaddik of Noah's caliber and a tzaddik of Abraham's caliber. The complete story of R. Hanina ben Dosa contains three elements that mark the perfect tzaddik: a personality through whose merit the entire world is sustained; a person who makes due with little (a kav of carobs); the ability to stop the rain, despite the prayer offered by the High Priest on Yom Kippur.

Noah lacked all of these aspects. He was not a complete tzaddik. His merit did not guarantee the world's preservation, but rather made possible its destruction. He lacked the power to counter the Creator's will and stop the rain (the flood). When he left the ark, he did not make due with modest sustenance, as it is written: Noah, the tiller of the earth, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent.

Because of this, if had been in Abraham's generation, he would not have been considered of any importance.

Sheffer Stolman is an ordained rabbi and received an MA in education in the USA. He has served for many years in hasbara positions in the Jewish Agency.

 

For in the image of God He made man.      

How were the Ten Commandments given?

Five on one tablet, five on the other. It is written I am the Lord your God - and across from it You shall not murder - the Bible tells us that whoever sheds blood, is considered by Scripture to have detracted from the image.

This may be compared to a king of flesh and blood who entered the country and erected icons, and had statues made and coins minted. After a while, the icons were overturned, the statues were broken and the coins invalidated, and they detracted from the image of the king. So it is with one who has shed blood, Scripture considers it as if he had detracted from the image, as is written, Whosoever spills the blood of man etc., and it is written for in the image of God He made man.

(Yalkut Shimoni, Shemot 20, 299)

 

A Tower with its Head in the Heavens as a Project that Ignores Human Beings

There were seven steps to the tower from the east, and seven from the west. The bricks were brought up on one side, and [the workers] descended on the other.

If a man fell and died, no one paid attention to him, but if a single brick fell, they would sit down and weep, saying, "Woe unto us! When will another one be brought up in its stead?"

(Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, 24)

 

Tribal Morality Contradicts Absolute Morality

If they complete the tower, they will come to think that they must forcibly prevent people who disagree with this opinion, and that involves murder and robbery, which completely corrupt society. The fact that they are currently in agreement will not help. Thus the Prophet Jeremiah cried out, how skillfully you plan your way to seek out love... on your garments is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor - you did not catch them breaking in (2:33-4), which means that they were unified in his day and would boast that they enjoyed love and peace more than any other people, but the prophet disagreed, for on their garments was found the blood of innocents - not because they had committed any theft or such, but because they did not belong to their group. So the groups came to murder, and there is no boast of peace in that, rather only if they had been careful not to do evil against those not in their group.

(Ha-Amek Davar and Harhev Davar, Bereishit 11:6)

 

One Language? One Set of Words?

When they expressed this intention (and let us make ourselves a name), God fully understood their intention and knew well that their end would be the opposite of what they thought. On the contrary, there exists the possibility of a unified nation. When? When a people is dispersed and scattered, with no one having dealings with his fellow - then can it be one people. But should they gather together in one place in order to escape from international conflicts, they will then fall into an even greater war, one man's sword against his fellow, because assembly of the wicked is bad for them, and because they said Let us make for ourselves a name, everyone will want to rule over his fellow and be higher than him, for this is common among groups who do everything for the sake self-aggrandizement, so therefore it is better to disperse them and prevent them from executing this building project.

(Kli Yakar on Noah)

 

It appears to me that this decree (to disperse the Generation of the Scattering) was not a punishment, but rather a tremendous improvement on mankind's behalf. The primary significance of the Tower of Babel narrative lies not in the attempt to erect the tower, but in the preceding words: All the earth - revived post Deluge mankind - was of one language and the same words. After the construction failure, many languages evolved, and consequently, different 'words', different ideas. It seems to me that the basis of the mistake, or sin, of the Generation of the Scattering, was not in the building of the city and the tower, but in the movement to maintain, via these artificial means, the situation of one language and one set of words - of centralization, which we, in modern terms, call totalitarianism.

(From He'arot le'Parshiyot ha'Shavua by Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz, z"l, pp.14-15)

 

 

 

If you enjoy Shabbat Shalom, please consider contributing towards its publication and distribution.

• Hebrew edition distributed in Israel $700

·        English edition distributed via email $100

Issues may be dedicated in honor of an event, person, simcha, etc. Requests must be made 3-4 weeks in advance to appear in the Hebrew, 10 days in advance to appear in the English email.

In Israel, checks made out to Oz VeShalom may be sent to Oz VeShalom-P.O.B. 4433, Jerusalem 91043. Unfortunately there is no Israeli tax-exemption for local donations.

US and British tax-exempt contributions to Oz VeShalom may be made through:

New Israel Fund, POB 91588, Washington, DC 20090-1588, USA

New Israel Fund of Great Britain, 26 Enford Street, London W1H 2DD, Great Britain

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEW ISRAEL FUND IS NO LONGER ACCEPTING DONATIONS UNDER $100.

PEF will also channel donations and provide a tax-exemption. Donations should be sent to P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Inc., 317 Madison Ave., Suite 607, New York, New York 10017 USA

All contributions should be marked as donor-advised to Oz ve'Shalom, the Shabbat Shalom project.

 

About us

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts that have always been central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs is not an option but an imperative.

5,000 copies of a 4 page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's educational forums draw people of different backgrounds, secular and religious, who are keen to deepen their Jewish knowledge and to hear an alternative religious standpoint on the subjects of peace and social issues.

Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom fills an ideological vacuum in Israel's society. Committed both to Jewish tradition and observance, and to the furthering of peace and coexistence, the movement is in a unique position to engage in dialogue with the secular left and the religious right, with Israeli Arabs and with Palestinians.