 |
 "G-d said: I will obliterate humanity that I have created from the face of the earth; man, livestock, land animals and birds of the sky. I regret that I created them. But Noach found favour in G-d 's eyes" (Genesis 6: 7-8). What an amazing person Noach must have been. Surrounded by idolatry, corruption, and moral depravity Noach remained righteous and pure. Single-handedly he managed to save humanity from oblivion. Just because of him, G-d decided to keep the human race alive. No wonder the next verse in the Torah tells us that "Noach was a righteous man, faultless in his generation. Noah walked with G-d" (6:9).
Such a glowing description,especially one given by G-d Himself, is hard to find anywhere else. Yet for all that he did, Noach is not one of our "founding fathers." His legacy as far as Jews are concerned is quite minimal. We do not often look to him as a role model for our lives. Abraham and Sarah and their children serve as our models and poor Noach is a forgotten figure, save for the single week yearly that we read about him and his ark. In fact some of our Talmudic Sages claim that Noach was only righteous relative to his generation, but compared to an Abraham Avinu he really did not amount to much.
Why is it that Noach did not merit to be the first Jew and why do many downplay his accomplishments? The Torah, it seems, hints at a possible answer when it first introduces us to Noach at the end of parshat Breisheet. "When Noach was five hundred years old, Noach begot Hem, Cam and Japheth (5:32)." Noah's ancestors all had children at much younger ages, ranging from 65 to 187. Noach however, waited and waited before he had a child. And unlike his predecessors who all begot (many) "sons and daughters" Noach only had three children. Noach did not want to bring children into such a corrupt and depraved world. He may even have been afraid that his own children would follow the ways of the dominant culture. Similarly, Amram and Yocheved, the parents of Moshe Rabbeinu , in fact separated from each other, as they did not want to bring into the world a child who would be destined to be a slave.
While understandable, this is not and can not be a Jewish attitude. It is not up to us to be derelict in our own duties due to possible fears about the future. Furthermore our job is to change that corrupt and morally depraved world by having children who will serve as a living example of righteousness and purity. While we must protect and prepare ourselves from the corrupting influences of the world at large, we must never give up hope of changing the world for the better. In times of despair we need to have additional, not less children. It is our children who are the hope for the future. And Judaism, regardless of the present, teaches that the future can and must be a better one. Without this mindset we could not have survived all these years under extremely trying circumstances.
Noach may have been "righteous and faultless". But he feared he could not instill these traits in his children. Such a person is not worthy to be the first Jew. That designation must await one who, despite living in the vicinity of Sedom, and despite knowing that his children could not marry anybody from his neighborhood, prayed desperately for a child. Abraham never gave up on the world even believing that the people of Sodom could be saved not only physically but also even morally. Being descendants from Abraham, we must carry his positive attitude and constant striving to improve the moral climate. Shabbat Shalom!
|
|
