YAYNEH STUDIES NOACH Pinchas Teitz

On the pasuk “Noach was a righteous man; he was blameless in his generations” (Gen. 69), Rashi comments:

Some of the sages interpret [the phrase “in his
generation”] as praise - had Noach lived in a
generation of righteous men, he would have
been even more righteous; and some interpret
[the phrase] as criticism - by the standards of
his generation he was righteous, but had he
lived in Avraham’s generation he would not
have been considered at all.

The explanation for the critical evaluation of Noach as contrasted to Avraham has been given by the commentaries in the analogy to a person sitting in an unheated room on a cold wintry day. He has two alternatives: he can put on a warm, heavy garment or he can light a fire or oven. The distinction between the alternatives is that should he choose to put on an overcoat, though he would be comfortable, all those in his proximity would be as cold as before; indeed, the sight of him in his comfort would make them feel the chill all the more by contrast. On the other hand, should he elect to bring warmth not to himself but to the room, everyone with him would share in the warmth he caused.

Both Noach and Avraham found themselves in similar circumstances. Both were unique in that they lived in eras in which Hashem had been forgotten, and they alone were cognizant of His existence and of the fact that the sole purpose of man’s existence is to do His will. The distinction between them was that Noach “put on an overcoat” - he was content to be righteous while the rest of humanity continued in the error of its ways, a path which led inevitably to total destruction. Avraham, though, did not rest on the laurels of his own righteousness, but sought to make the truth known to all who came under his influence. He “kindled a fire” which was a source of light and warmth for all who came in contact with him.

A question nonetheless remains in examining the criticism of our sages. Had the order of generations been reversed, had Avraham preceeded Noach by ten generations, we could understand that Noach could be considered to have fallen short of the standards of Avraham. Since Noach was the predecessor, however, how can he be criticized for not living up to a criterion that had not as yet been established? Until Noach’s time, no one had displayed the moral and spiritual courage of swimming against the stream, of being isolated and alone in his belief. He was the first to defy public opinion, exposing himself to decades of derision, as described in the Midrash. No one until his day had done as much, let alone more. Can he then be criticized for failing to establish a still greater precedent, for failing to achieve a standard the world was not to see for another ten generations?

To appreciate the depth of our sages’ comment, we must consider the generation in which Noach lived. Generations can be classified as “root generations” and “fruit generations.” The distinction in judgment between fruit and roots is that the fruit of a tree is judged solely by the present - how firm and ripe the fruit is, how succulent its taste, how plentiful its juice. Roots, on the other hand, are judged not only by their hardiness in the present, but by the quality of the fruit they eventually produce. So, too, with generations. Some come as the continuation of an era for which the roots were laid in the past, that are the possessors of a proud heritage of spiritual standards. They are “fruit generations,” which are judged by their own acts and deeds. Other generations, however, are not heirs to so well-prepared a heritage. They are not descendants but ancestors, the ones who must show the way for others to emulate. The success in life of these “root generations” is judged not only by their own righteousness, but by the deeds of their successors as well.

It was this lack that chazal found in Noach. His was a “root generation,” with no heritage from the past. His duty was not only to himself, but to the generations to follow. Yet, when Avraham’s time came, he was forced to begin anew. The very knowledge of Hashem’s existence was forgotten and had to be freshly discovered by Avraham. Thus, “in Avraham’s generation, Noach was not considered at all”; his influence was in no way felt; he did not pass the test for a “root generation.”

Our generation, too, is a root generation. Not only has the heritage of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov been weakened by the catastrophes of the recent past -- the physical catastrophe of annihilation in the war and the spiritual catastrophe in the neglect of Torah and Yiddishkeit in America, with the ensuing assimilation and loss of true Jewish values. We also live in an era of new problems and new opportunities which our forebearers could not anticipate, an era which calls for construction rather than consolidation. Ours is the task not merely to care for ourselves, but to prepare the way for the generations to come.

Rabbi Pinchas Teitz, dean of the Jewish Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey and is a member of the presidium of Agudate HaRabanim, is advisor to the Yavneh House at Princeton University.