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Shiurim & Adult Education
THOUGHTS ON NOACH BY RABBI AVI SON
“Noah was a righteous man; he was perfect in his generation; Noach walked with G-d.” Our Parsha begins with these lofty words, praising and lauding Noach. Yet, confusingly, our sages read this in a different light and actually criticize Noach and highlight his failures and weaknesses. The root of Noach’s shortcomings seem to stem from a comparison with our forefather Avraham. There is a subtle hint to his comparison in the words of the Torah.
Noach walked with G-d. Avraham walked before G-d. The difference is subtle, but immense.
At the end of this week’s parsha where evil once again began to sweep through the earth with the building of the Tower of Bavel and the seemingly ubiquitous desire across mankind to challenge G-d, there is a powerful question, where was Noach? He was still alive, so why did he make no attempt to intercede and dissuade the general populace?
The answer lies in the aforementioned distinction. To walk with Hashem is to listen to what He says and fulfil his commands, no more, no less. This is not our role, we are not the inheritors of Noach, but rather Avraham, we walk before Hashem, we actively look to bring G-d into the world, we forge new paths and if we see wrongdoing and evil we will not stay silent but rather embolden ourselves to stand against it.
We live in a time where unfortunately, much like during the Tower of Bavel, there seems to be a large majority willing to endorse, support or at least excuse evil and terror in the world. It is our role as the descendants of Avraham to stand strong against this, to stand up for what’s right, to stand up for morality, even if it feels we are pushing against the current. This is what it means to go before Hashem, and in doing so, to live up to our role as a holy people and a light unto the nations.
Shabbat shalom.
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