Parashat HaShavua - Noach

An island of goodness in a sea of evil, is Noach: “Noach was a completely righteous man in his generations / נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו.” (Gen. 6:9) What qualifies him as “completely righteous / צַדִּיק תָּמִים?” In Ha’Emek Davar, the Netziv (Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, 1816-1893) explains that “‘righteous’ is about one’s relationship with God…and ‘completely righteous’ means one who is righteous with people / צדיק משמעותו הוא בין אדם לשמים…אבל צדיק תמים משמש שהוא צדיק גם בין אדם לחבירו.” This type of righteousness, he says, “had existed in previous generations until his, and he still was good towards the people of his generation.”

As the pasuk continues, we learn that the integrity of Noach created a special relationship with God: “Noach walked with God / אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹחַ.” Here too, the Netziv explains that therefore God saved Noach “at a time of danger when the world was a raging tempest…, and Noach overcame its nature to be good to other creatures.”

And yet something still felt wrong to Noach. Even with his goodness, even with God by his side, even after Noach survives the flood, even with God’s covenant that “never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth / וְלֹא־יִכָּרֵת כל־בָּשָׂר עוֹד מִמֵּי הַמַּבּוּל וְלֹא־יִהְיֶה עוֹד מַבּוּל לְשַׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ” (Gen. 9:11), even after seeing “God’s bow in the clouds, that will serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth / אֶת־קַשְׁתִּי נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן וְהָיְתָה לְאוֹת בְּרִית בֵּינִי וּבֵין הָאָרֶץ׃” (Gen. 9:13)  – even with all that – Noach still feels alone. And so the first thing he does is “plant a vineyard, and drank the wine and became drunk /  וַיִּטַּע כָּרֶם: וַיֵּשְׁתְּ מִן־הַיַּיִן וַיִּשְׁכָּר.” (Gen. 9:20-21)

So is that it? Tragedy, loss, and a salvation that does not salve the pain, despite a uniquely close relationship between Noach and God? This melancholia is, I think, expressed in a beautiful song by Roni Keinan and others called Flood. She sings:

If we survive the flood this time, every smile will be different, affected. If I go back over it again and again and again, stay twenty years or until the end of the day. We will have learned from every word how to wait, how to move on, and how to be careful.

אם נשרוד את המבול הפעם, כל חיוך יהיה שונה, נגוע. אם אחזור על זה עוד ועוד ועוד, תשארי עשרים שנה או עד סוף היום. למדנו לחכות ולוותר ואיך להיזהר, מכל מילה.

And still, of course we have hope, and anticipate better. There is perhaps no better symbol of hope in the story of Noach than the yonah, the dove that is sent out when the flood waters begin to recede and dry land first appears. “The dove came back to him toward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! Then Noach knew that the waters had decreased on the earth / וַתָּבֹא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה־זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ וַיֵּדַע נֹחַ כִּי־קַלּוּ הַמַּיִם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ׃” (Gen. 8:11)

In a poem that has become a Shabbat zemer – a song sung at the Shabbat table – Yehudah HaLevi writes “The dove found a place to rest, and those without strength will rest there / יוֹנָה מָצְאָה בוֹ מָנוֹחַ וְשָׁם יָנוּחוּ יְגִיעֵי כֹחַ.” This last phrase, “those without strength will rest there / יוֹנָה מָצְאָה בוֹ מָנוֹחַ וְשָׁם יָנוּחוּ יְגִיעֵי כֹחַ” is the second half of pasuk from Iyov (3:17), the Book of Job. Here is the first half: “There the wicked cease from causing trouble ; שָׁם רְשָׁעִים חָדְלוּ רֹגֶז.” The Malbim (1809-1879) interprets this to mean a place that “one need not even ask for what is needed, wearying from always striving to obtain life’s necessities / בקשת צרכיו ההכרחיים אשר צריך ליגע תמיד להשיג מחייתו וצרכיו.”

May this be our tefillah, that we find ourselves a place to rest, a place where the wicked do not – cannot – trouble us and others, a place of rest for those weary from seeking the basic necessities of life, peace and security especially. We all need this place to different degrees, now more than ever.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor