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Home -> 5787 -> Noach

וישאר אך נח

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5787

Only Noach survived. (7:23)

Noach did not leave the Ark immediately upon recession of the waters.  According to one Midrashic exposition, a lion struck him, injuring him.  Apparently, one time Noach brought the lion’s meal later than usual.  The hungry lion became agitated and attacked him, leaving Noach with a permanent limp. At first glance, this punishment seems difficult to understand.  It hardly appears commensurate with a single instance of tardiness.  Clearly, something more significant about Noach’s delay warranted such a severe consequence. For an entire year, Noach devoted himself to serving the needs of the animals aboard the Ark.  They depended on him…

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Home -> 5787 -> Noach

נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5787

Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

Midrash Rabbah (29:5, end of Parashas Bereishis) teaches us an intriguing lesson concerning Noach.  We find that Hashem acts with kindness to the people of later generations in the merit of people of earlier generations. (Z’chus Avos would be a classic example.)  We can infer an important concept from the pasuk, V’Noach matza chein b’einei Hashem; “Noach found grace in the eyes of Hashem.”  In what merit did Noach find this unusual grace (which spared him from death with the rest of humanity)? The answer is:  B’zchus toldasav, “in the merit of his offspring.”  Apparently, the juxtaposition of Noach finding…

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Home -> 5787 -> Noach

אלה תולדות נח נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5787

These are the offspring of Noach – Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

Noach and Avraham Avinu lived ten generations apart.  Noach was the progenitor of mankind following the Great Flood that decimated the world’s population.  Avraham Avinu became the first Patriarch and father of the Jewish People.  The Torah attests to Noach’s righteousness, calling him a tzadik and tamim, a righteous and perfect man.  Regarding the Avos, however, the Netziv (introduction to Sefer Bereishis) explains that they were distinguished by an even broader designation: yesharim, individuals whose integrity, moral clarity and unwavering commitment to Hashem permeated every aspect of their relationships and conduct. So, Noach was good; Avraham was apparently better.  We…

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Home -> 5786 -> Noach

וישלח את הערב ויצא יצוא ושוב עד יבשת המים מעל הארץ

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5786

He sent out a raven, and it kept going and returning until the drying of the waters from upon the face of the earth. (8:7)

The raven was not happy about being selected to serve as Noach’s agent to determine whether it was sufficiently dry to disembark from the Ark.  Chazal (Bereishis Rabbah 33) relate the dialogue that ensued between the raven and Noach.  “From all the beasts and fowl available to you, why did you pick me as (your agent)?” asked the raven.  Noach countered, “What purpose do you serve me? You are neither edible nor fit to be used as a korban.”  Why did Hashem instruct Noach to send the raven?  Chazal continue; Hashem told Noach, “One day, the world will need the…

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Home -> 5786 -> Noach

ויסגור ד' בעדו

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5786

Hashem shut (the Ark) on his behalf. (7:16)

The Torah seems to intimate that the “door” to the teivah, Ark, was closed, implying that its inhabitants were safe from the menacing rains.  Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonason write, V’agan Hashem b’meimra aleih; “and Hashem shielded him with His Word.”  This implies that the Ark was merely the vehicle for its inhabitants to gather and allow for the word of Hashem to protect them.  The Ark was not their means of protection.  It was Hashem.  Horav Eliyahu Baruch Finkel, zl, offers an explanation based on the Rabbinic maxim K’shebaah andarlemusia l’olam, einah mavcheves bein reshaim l’tzadikim, “When chaos comes…

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Home -> 5786 -> Noach

נח איש צדיק

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5786

Noach was a righteous man. (6:9)

Can one be considered righteous if his righteousness is due to his seclusion from the world for six centuries?  Apparently, the Torah refers to Noach as righteous, despite the fact that he had no influence on the members of the society in which he lived. He really had no alternative.  The evil of his generation was so pervasive that had he attempted to reach out, not only would he have been rebuffed, he himself might have become a victim.  The Zohar HaKadosh observes that the waters of the flood are called mei Noach (Yeshayah 54:9), waters of Noach, as if…

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Home -> 5786 -> Noach

נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5786

Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. (6:9)

The Torah introduces Noach as a person who was the paragon of righteousness and moral/ethical perfection.  These attributes are especially laudable, given that he lived in the most depraved generation in history.  Indeed, that is why the society in which he lived was wiped from the world. At this critical time, Hashem chose Noach to be the progenitor of the future human race.  Having said this, we turn to Chazal (Tanchuma 5) who famously debate Noach’s true level of righteousness.  Was it relative to the evildoers of his generation? Had he lived in Avraham Avinu’s generation, would his standard of…

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Home -> 5785 -> Noach

ויחל נח איש האדמה ויטע כרם

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5785

Noach, the man of the earth, debased himself and planted a vineyard. (9:20)

It seems that the Torah is censuring Noach for planting the grape vine, drinking the wine which he made from its grapes, and then becoming inebriated.  While becoming drunk and losing cognitive control is reason for rebuke, what did he do wrong by planting the grape vine?  Rashi defines vayachel as debasing himself by craving wine so much that he planted a vineyard.  In any event, his craving got the better of him.  Is this activity so odious that Noach is considered to have debased himself?  Furthermore, should we not take Noach’s emotional well-being into account?  He had just witnessed…

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Home -> 5785 -> Noach

וידבר אלקים אל נח לאמר צא מן התיבה

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5785

Hashem spoke to Noach, saying: Go forth from the Ark. (8:16)

The Flood had subsided.  The ground was dry.  Noach removed the Ark’s covering and saw a different world.  The sun was shining and welcoming.  What was he waiting for?  Noach refused to leave the Ark until Hashem commanded him to leave.  Hashem had instructed him to enter, he would wait for His instructions to leave.  Why?  What made Noach remain on the Ark?  The only reason he was on the teivah was in order to be spared from the Flood.  Clearly, one who is in the Ark for protection purposes should leave once the threat has subsided. Horav Naftali Nebentzhal,…

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Home -> 5785 -> Noach

בחדש השני בשבעה עשר יום לחדש ... נבקעו כל מעינות תהום רבה וארבות השמים נפתחו

Sruly Schnair
In Noach, 5785

In the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month… all the fountains of the great deep burst forth; and the windows of the heavens were opened. (7:11)

Someone who does not know (or refuses to know) the truth could read about the commencement of the Flood as if it were a natural phenomenon that went awry and destroyed the world’s population.  Nowhere does the Torah mention that Hashem choreographed everything that occurred.  Indeed, during the destruction of Sodom and Amorah, the Torah writes that Hashem rained fire on the city.  Why is Hashem’s Name not mentioned in connection with the Flood? It was the greatest and most devastating punishment in the history of mankind; everything was obliterated.  Yet, we do not see Hashem’s hand. The Nesivos Shalom…

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