Rabbi 360

This week in the Torah we read the famous story of Noah and the Flood. We learn that God has decided that the people on earth are too evil, and therefore they need to be destroyed. Humanity itself—along with the other life on earth—will survive as God instructs Noah to build an ark and load it with his family and all the animals. They will be kept safe on the ark throughout the flood until the waters abate and they are able to start life again on dry land.

So who is Noah that might explain why he was chosen? The Torah teaches, “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9). This seems to indicate that he was a particularly good person. Our ancient commentary is not so sure.

The ancient rabbis in the midrash and Talmud focus on the phrase, “blameless in his generation” (tamim hayeta b’dorotav), with the key word being “in his generation.” The rabbis argue that this could be interpreted either as a complement or an insult (or, more accurately, damning with faint praise:

With regard to the verse: “he was blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9), Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Relative to the other people of his generation he was righteous and wholehearted, but not relative to those of other generations. And Reish Lakish says: In his generation he was righteous and wholehearted despite being surrounded by bad influences; all the more so would he have been considered righteous and wholehearted in other generations. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 108a)

In other words, Rabbi Yohanan says that calling Noah “blameless in his generation” is somewhat of an insult, because the people of his generation were not very righteous. It was therefore a low bar to be considered righteous, one needed to be only slightly better than evil. Compared to people around him, he was righteous, but if he lived in a more righteous age, Noah wouldn’t have been anything special.

On the other hand, Resh Lakish says that “blameless in his generation” is a great compliment, because of who he was despite the evil of his generation. The fact that he was able to be righteous during such an evil time shows all the moreso how righteous he was. That he remained “blameless” while surrounded by negative influences, that he did not turn to evil—or indifference—in the face of these, proves his greatness.

The point here is that how we are in the world is influenced by those around us and the society in which we live. We do have a choice, however, as to how to act and what to do, especially when we are surrounded by so much evil. I think about this midrash these days as wars and conflicts continue around the world and as attacks on individual rights and wellbeing and institutional norms and foundations continue here at home. It feels so easy to fall into overwhelm, indifference, and possibly even evil ourselves.

It is true that Noah was a controversial figure. When learning of God’s plan he was content to save himself and he didn’t argue on behalf of others as Abraham would do generations later. That is a conversation for another time.

But according to this midrash he was, despite great odds and temptation, able to withstand the influence of the forces of evil and live a good, righteous, and wholehearted life. Thus he was worthy of being saved, thus he became the ancestor to all of humanity, thus he can be an inspiration for us in our own generation.