Parshat Noach

Parshat Noach

In this week's parsha the Torah tells us of the destruction of the world due to the wickedness of man, and its reconstruction through Noach and his offspring. As HaShem tells us at the end of last week's parsha that the situation in the world got so bad that "every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil always" meaning that EVERYTHING that civilization at that time had accomplished was really done with the intention of evil. This is very scary and it shows us just how low a civilization can go. As history has shown, there have been some very advanced cultures which have done the most unspeakable evils. For example, the German culture of the Holocaust which at the time was the most educated and cultured society, yet they killed 6 million Jews coldly, so much so that Hitler Yemach Shemo was (as rumor has it) a vegetarian himself! Or the Greek and Roman cultures which gave the world philosophy and the basics of science was also steeped in pedophilia and murderous games in the coliseum.

HaShem chooses to destroy man rather than allow this type of civilization continue, yet at the very end of Bereishit it says "But Noach found grace in the eyes of HaShem" thus

Obviously this grace that HaShem found in Noach was great, so much so that it was the saving factor in the creation of man. We owe our entire existence to this merit. So the question begs, what was this merit that Noach had?

Perhaps one from Rashi in our parsha. The parsha begins in a interesting way, it first states "These are the offspring of Noach-" seemingly the logical continuation would be for the Torah to list off the children of Noach yet the torah begins to list off the praises of Noach "Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generation; Noach walked with G-d" only afterwards does the Torah list his children. Rashi brings the Medrash to explain this profundity in the pesukim. The Medrash in its second explanation says this is coming "to teach you that the main offspring i.e. creations, of the righteous are good deeds" meaning that the essence of Noach was that everything he created was in order to preform good deeds. This trait of Noach was completely opposite from the world around him! Noach looked at every opportunity for development as a way to perform a kindness, as a way to make the world a better place. Noach looked at the creation of the gun not as a way to rule over and intimidate others; rather he looked at it as a deterrent from evil. This trait which HaShem saw in Noach is the foundation to a civilization which strives to advance and accomplish for the betterment of the world.

This is a tremendous lesson for our generation where many new innovations are taking place everyday. This obligates us to ask, what were the intentions of the inventor? Was it to make loads of money, even though he's destroying the minds of the youth? Or was it to make the world a safer and better place, and if not why am I buying it? Each one of us should to practice this trait in every action which we do. To ask ourselves if our actions are causing harm to others, or if we are making the relationships around us better.

May we be zoche to practice this trait and be like Noach who "walked with G-d"

Shabbat Shalom

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Naftali Kassorla