v'noah matza hein b'einei Ha-Sheim. eileh toldot noah, noah ish tzadiq tamim (These are the generations of Noah; Noah was a perfectly just man) (Genesis 6:8-9)
In my youth my father, my teacher, my master, the gaon (R. Abraham Glasner 1826-78) often told me not be proud of my success in my studies. He used to say: "Know that it was your forefathers who conquered the path before you. They labored and toiled for your sake, and the Torah always returns to its lodging place." In this way he explained the following Midrash:
"The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon" (tzadiq ka-tamar yiphrah k'erez ba-l'vanon yisgeh) (Psalms 92:13). These are the children of Levi. "They are planted in the house of the Eternal" (sh'tulim b'veit Ha-Sheim) (Id. 14). These are children studying with their teachers. "They flourish in the courts of our G-d" (b'hatzrot Eloqeinu yaphrihu). (Id.). For they stand and serve in the courtyard of the Holy Temple.
This Midrash tells us that the children of Levi, who are sanctified in the womb before their birth, easily rise to ever higher levels without great effort or toil, and, even at a young age, achieve greatness. But this is not so for one who is not a Levite. A non-Levite will not be successful without many years of toil, nor achieve greatness until old age. This is what is meant by "a righteous person will flourish like a palm tree." It refers to someone who begins to advance at a young age and quickly develops into a cedar of Lebanon (i.e., a Torah scholar), so that even in his youth his name becomes great. But only for the children of Levi is this so, because, from conception, they are destined for Torah scholarship, for they alone are "planted in the house of the Eternal," and are devoted, even as young children, to studying with their teachers. Although they begin by studying in the house of their teachers, the Levites are soon in the courts of our G-d, flourishing in the performance of the Divine service in the Holy Temple. They stand at the head of the people, and from their mouths Torah is sought, which is why they cause others to flourish (yaphrihu).
So it was with Noah and Avraham. For Noah, who was a descendant of righteous and upright ancestors, Lemekh and Metushelakh, was called a righteous man from the beginning of his life, indeed a perfectly righteous man (tzadiq tamim). And it is written, "Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." It was as if by chance that Noah found favor, for he achieved righteousness with little effort or exertion. However, Avraham, as the son of Terah, was required to undergo ten tests before the Blessed One could call him G-d-fearing.
How sweetly may the words of the Midrash at the end of porashat Noah be explained in this manner:
R. Simon said the Holy One Blessed Be He found three bargains (m'tziot) in the world: Abraham, David, and Israel. Abraham, as it is written (Nehemiah 9:8): "and Thou didst find his heart faithful before Thee" (u-matzata et l'vavo ne'eman lephanekha). David, as it is written (Psalms 89:20): "and I have found David, my servant" (u-matzati et david avdi). Israel, as it is written (Hosea 9:10): "Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel" (ka'anavim ba-midbar matzati yisrael). The other scholars asked R. Simon: "Is it not written (Genesis 6:8): 'And Noah found favor in the eyes of the Eternal'? He replied to them: "He found, but the Holy Blessed Be He did not find.
The meaning is clear. In Avraham, the Holy One Blessed Be He found an unexpected bargain, for in the Midrash the Sages say about him: "Who was the one who was defiled and became pure? Abraham who came from Terah." Similarly, who could have imagined that David, who had a ruddy complexion, was derided as the son of a maidservant, and a descendant of a Moabitess who had been allowed to marry into the nation only by virtue of a special halakhic inference from the Scripture [mo'avi v'lo mo'avit], would became the singer of songs for Israel or the sovereign of Israel? So David, too, was a bargain for the Holy One Blessed Be He. And similarly Israel left Egypt into the desert as if it were a foreign nation (am lo'eiz), but soon (Psalms 114:2) "Judah became His sanctuary and Israel His dominion" (hayta yehudah l'kodsho yisrael mamsh'lotav). The Sages in the Midrash, therefore, make the following comment on the verse (Exodus 13:17): "When Pharaoh let the people go" (va-y'hi b'shalah paroh et ha-am).
Who was it that cried "vai"? [The Sages understand the verb "va-y'hi to be an expression of lament based on the first two letters which are pronounced "vai" or "woe."] It was Pharaoh who cried "vai" upon seeing the people of Israel marching in formation, traveling triumphantly to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
The Midrash compares the reaction of Pharaoh to that of the owner of a field in which there was a heap of debris which he therefore sold cheaply. The buyer cleared the heap, used it for planting, and eventually grew three myrtle trees. It was thus that the Holy One Blessed Be He found a bargain in Israel.
The question why Noah, about whom it is written that he found favor in G-d's eyes, was not also a bargain for the Almighty is now easily answered. For Noah did, indeed, find a bargain, since, owing to his distinguished lineage, he found favor, with no great effort of his own, in the eyes of G-d. However, the Holy One Blessed Be He found no bargain in Noah, for Noah, owing to the efforts of his forefathers on his behalf, had already been destined from conception to be a righteous and faithful person. (haqdamah to Dor Revi'i)
eileh toldot noah noah ish tzadiq tamim hayah b'dorotav: (These are the generations of Noah; Noah was a just man; blameless in his generation.) (Genesis 6:9)
Rashi comments:
Some of our Sages understood this verse to be praising Noah, inferring from the word "b'dorotav" (his generation) that if Noah had lived in a generation in which there were other righteous people, Noah would have been even more righteous than he was in his own generation. But others understood the verse to be denigrating Noah, inferring from "b'dorotav" that he was considered a righteous person in his own generation, but if he had lived in the generation of Avraham, he would have been insignificant by comparison.
The question arises, why does Rashi, in describing the first view, say "if Noah had lived in a generation in which there were other righteous people," and, in describing the second view, "if he had lived in the generation of Avraham" instead of repeating "if he had lived in a generation in which there were other righteous people"?
And our master explained as follows. It says in the Midrash that Noah was judged unfavorably because he did not try to influence his contemporaries to repent of their wicked conduct. The reason that he did not try to do so was that his own faith was lacking, because his faith was merely a tradition which he had inherited from his ancestors who had been the righteous ones in every previous generation. However, lacking that received tradition, he would have been unable to recognize G-d with just his own knowledge and understanding. Noah, therefore, was not brave enough to challenge others in matters of faith, fearing that his own faith might be compromised and that he might become, just like his contemporaries, a man of deceit and corruption.
Our first father, Avraham, was not like this. When he was just three years old, he recognized his Creator. He was the one who could see the Lord in a vision; he knew with absolute certainty that a just G-d judges the land, and he had no fear that he might be ensnared by the forsaken opinions of his contemporaries. He therefore went out boldly to do battle for G-d, winning many converts to G-d in Haran, proclaiming, wherever he went, the name of the Lord, the everlasting G-d.
Both of the opinions about Noah mentioned by Rashi referred to this aspect of Noah's character. The opinion that understands the Scripture to be praising Noah, because he remained righteous in a thoroughly wicked generation, believes that the Scripture wishes to tell us how much more righteous Noah would have been had he lived in a generation in which there were other righteous people who believed in G-d. With their support, he would have dared, on G-d's behlaf, to wage with a mighty hand a battle against the wicked. He would not have been afraid of being ensnared by their wickedness, because he could have relied on the support of all the other righteous and holy ones of the generation. The second opinion that understands the Scripture to be denigrating Noah agrees that Noah would have been an even greater person had he lived in a generation in which there were other righteous people. But the second opinion is drawing a contrast between Noah and Avraham. For Avraham also lived in a generation in which everyone was backsliding and there was no one else who acted righteously. But, unlike Noah, Avraham went out singlehandedly to do battle against the wicked, and risked his own soul in order to cause others to repent and to teach them how to conduct themselves.
et Ha-Eloqim hithalekh noah (Noah walked with G-d) (Genesis 6:9):
Rashi comments:
And concerning Avraham the Scripture says "Whom I walked before" (asher hithalakhti l'phanav). Noah required support to bolster him, but Avraham strengthened himself and walked righteously by himself.
It appears to our master that this is referring to the Midrash that says that during the generations from Adam to Avraham when mankind was sinning willfully, G-d was continually withdrawing and distancing the Shehinah from the world. Because of His anger at the oppressors who filled the earth with violence, He removed Himself to the farthest corner, the Seventh Heaven, and because of the evil that was upon the land He rose to dwell in the highest abode. But from Avraham to Moshe, G-d was bringing the Shehinah closer to mankind and coming nearer to dwell on earth until He finally descended upon Mount Sinai.
According to this Midrash, the Scripture, in writing "et ha-Eloqim hithalekh noah" (Noah walked with G-d), was teaching us that just as the Shehinah was rising ever higher and departing from the earth, Noah, too, was distancing himself from his contemporaries and dwelling alone, because he was afraid to mingle with them lest he be influenced by their conduct. But concerning Avraham the Scripture says: "asher hithalakhti l'phanav" (Whom I walked before) because Avraham took pride in saying that he walked in front of G-d to bring Him closer to a rebellious mankind. Because Avraham admonished them and led them to the wellsprings of belief, the Shehinah eventually followed Avraham and returned to dwell on earth.
ki otkha ra'iti tzadiq l'phanai ba-dor ha-zeh (For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation) (Genesis 7:1)
In the Midrash Yalkut it says that we praise a man partially in his presence, but praise him fully outside of his presence. This apparently means that above where the Scripture is speaking about Noah (Genesis 6:8), it says "a completely righteous person" (tzadiq tamim) but here where G-d is speaking directly to Noah, the Scripture says only "a righteous person" (tzadiq).
But our master explained to us in the name of his father the gaon that the meaning of the Midrash can be understood in relation to the fact that a human being is the composite of a G-dly component from above and a parental component from below. Compared to the component from above, a person can never be called "complete," because in comparison to his Heavenly likeness, he will always be found lacking. But if a person is compared to his material component, he may be called "complete in his actions" (tamim b'ma'asav). This is what the Midrash means by the maxim "we praise a man partially in His presence" (i.e., with comparison to G-d) because in relation to Heaven ("tzadiq l'phanai") a man is only a fraction of what he should have become. But when the Midrash says "we praise him fully outside of His presence" (i.e., in comparison to his material component) it is referring to the verse "These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a perfectly righteous man in his generations," which speaks of Noah's birth and ancestry. In comparison to his material origins, as opposed to his heavenly component, Noah was indeed completely righteous in his actions.