Noah - A Certain Type Tzaddik

This is the line of Noah.—Noah was a righteous man; he was (simple/perfect) blameless in his age; Noah walked (reflexively) with God.

Genesis 6,9. “these are the generations of Noach;" there are two types of righteous people, both of whom serve the Lord. The first category does so with enthusiasm and profound devotion, but does so as an individual only, not endeavouring to draw other people, admitted sinners, nearer to their Creator.
There is a second category of tzaddik, righteous person, who not only serves the Lord themselves, but who also is instrumental in leading sinners back to their Creator. Avraham was a prime example of the latter type of tzaddik. He was busy converting pagans to monotheism.
According to Ari’zal, Noach was even punished for not ‎rebuking the pagans in his time; his punishment consisted of his ‎soul being reincarnated in the body of Moses in order to ‎accomplish then what it had failed to accomplish on its first ‎round inside a human body. Moses made up for the sin of ‎omission of Noach by constantly rebuking the Israelites for their ‎shortcomings. When our sages in Kidddushin 40 discussed the ‎difference between a ‎צדיק‎, “a righteous individual,” and a ‎צדיק טוב‎, ‎‎“a good righteous individual,” they said that the former is ‎righteous vis a vis G’d, whereas the latter is “righteous both vis a ‎vis G’d, and vis a vis their fellow.” Being “good” to one’s peers ‎involves more than being helpful and charitable; it includes ‎admonishing one’s neighbour when one observes them violating ‎G’d’s commandments. According to Sanhedrin 99, teaching one’s ‎neighbour’s child Torah is one of the most important ways in ‎which to demonstrate one’s concern for them, so much so that a ‎student who has been taught Torah by someone other than their ‎biological parents is deemed as having been sired by that teacher. ‎In introducing Avraham to us, the Torah underlines (Genesis ‎‎12:5) that when heading for the land of Israel from Charan, ‎Avraham and Sarah took with them ‎את הנפש אשר עשו בחרן‎, “the ‎souls they had acquired while in Charan”. (the converts to ‎monotheism)‎
When the Torah refers to Avraham, it never wrote the ‎line: ‎אלה תולדות אברהם‎, as opposed to Genesis 6,9-10 where ‎amongst the ‎תולדות‎ of Noach we are told about his three sons; ‎there is no mention or allusion to any converts that Noach had ‎attracted to monotheism other than his own flesh and blood. The ‎word ‎אלה‎, “these,” is almost always used as a limitation, i.e. “these ‎and none other.” In Noach’s case, he had failed to “acquire souls.”‎
When we reflect on this we will understand why the Torah ‎wrote ‎ונח מצא חן בעיני ה'‏‎, instead of ‎ונח היה לו חן בעיני ה'‏‎. The latter ‎formulation would mean that when Noach faced G’d he brought ‎with him much to commend him, i.e. his converts, whereas the ‎formulation the Torah uses implies that G’d had to go looking for ‎Noach; indeed he was a valuable find, a ‎צדיק תמים‎, a perfectly ‎righteous man, but not one that could not be overlooked such as ‎Avraham’s “Chassidim.”‎
When the Torah testifies that ‎את האלוקים התהלך נח‎, “Noach ‎walked with G’d,” this sounds as proof of Noach’s aloofness vis a ‎vis his fellow humans [at least during the 120 years prior to the ‎deluge when he was busy building his ark. Ed.] He was in step ‎with G’d, but out of step with his peers. This is why the Torah ‎repeats once more (verse 10) that he sired three sons, although ‎the Torah had informed us of this already at the end of the last ‎chapter (Genesis 5:32).‎
Noach, though aware of the many sexual perversions ‎practiced by the people around him, and being steadfast in not ‎copying their behaviour, is attested to by the Torah describing ‎him as ‎תמים היה בדורותיו‎, “he was perfect in his time.” ‎Nonetheless, his loyalty to the Creator certainly did not endear ‎him to his peers, hence “he walked with G’d”, as there was no one ‎else “with whom to walk.” Sadly, only G’d appreciated his self-‎restraint, his righteousness.‎

Going back to the line: ‎את האלוקים התהלך נח‎, “Noach ‎walked with G’d;” the emphasis in this line is on the ‎attribute for G’d used, i.e. ‎אלוקים‎, the attribute of Justice. It was ‎beyond Noach’s kind of tzidkut, righteousness, to turn the ‎attribute of Justice into an attribute of Mercy through his ‎lifestyle. In this respect he was different from Avraham and ‎Yitzchok, concerning both of whom the Torah writes that they ‎‎“walked before G’d,” not merely “with G’d.” (Compare Genesis ‎‎17,1 and 48,15) In those verses the Torah wished to alert us to ‎the patriarchs’ ability to persuade G’d to substitute the attribute ‎of Mercy for the attribute of Justice, on occasion.

Now see, the tzaddik who passed away loses nothing on account of their being concealed and removed. For even though they become concealed and removed from here, they are great and splendid there, in the World to Come, the concept of “Noach walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). But it is a very great pity on the orphaned generation that remains behind and on the offspring, i.e., the children who remain behind. Of them it is said, as if lamenting: “These are the offspring of Noach” (ibid.). It is like one who laments, saying: “These are the offspring and the children of the tzaddik”—the concept of Noach—“who has passed away, and these are the offspring, the orphans who remain behind.”

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man … Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9). Why is Noah’s name repeated three times in this single verse? Because he was one of the three men privileged to experience three changes that occurred in the world. The three were Noah, Daniel, and Job. Noah saw the world inhabited, he witnessed its destruction, and finally he beheld it reinhabited. Daniel saw the first Temple intact, he beheld its destruction, and then he witnessed the erection of the second Temple. Job saw his household established, he beheld its destruction, and he finally witnessed its reestablishment. Noah was a righteous man. Noah was called righteous because he fed the creatures of the Holy Blessed One. Two people were called righteous because they fed the creatures of the Holy Blessed One. They were Noah and Joseph. It is written concerning Joseph: Because they sell the righteous for silver (Amos 2:6), and of Joseph it is also said: And Joseph fed (Gen. 47:12).