Rabbi's Corner

In this week's parashah, Parashat Noach, we read the following: "Noach was a righteous man; he was perfect in his generations...." (Bereshit 6:9) Our Rabbis argue about this description of Noach, with one conclusion being that he was not as righteous as the main character of next week's parashah, Avraham Avinu - Abraham, our Father.  But the fact remains that our Torah tells us this about Noach as well: "...with G-d did Noach walk." (Bereshit 6:9) In anyone's eyes that would make Noach appear to be just as the Torah describes him: "tzadik" --- "righteous," maybe even as righteous as Avraham.  It is interesting to note, however, that our Torah tells us how Avraham received the flowing order from HaShem: “…walk before Me in purity." (Bereshit 7:1) “Wait a minute,” you say. “Noach walked with HaShem, but Avraham walked before Hashem? Nu? So, what is the great difference between these two righteous men?"

Rashi tells us that Noach was "mi-ketanei emunah" --- "one who had little faith."  Even though HaShem had told him to enter the ark, he hesitated until the rising waters finally forced him to do so.  And when the waters receded allowing Noach and his family to leave the ark and repopulate the world, what did he do?  Again, he hesitated.  The Torah tells us that Hashem ordered Noach: "Go forth from the ark...." (Bereshit 8:17) One would think that after being cooped up in the ark with his family and all those animals that Noach would be more than willing to exit into the brave new world that awaited him.    But the fact remains that Noach never wants to move far from the current spot in which he finds himself.

So, Noach does not want to march forward to make a new life for his family!  What does he do instead?  He plants a vineyard and gets drunk on its produce.  In fact, he gets so inebriated that he returns to his tent and lies there naked in front of the world, in front of his family, and, worst of all, in front of HaShem.  Because of his failure to take action and his witnessing of the destruction of his world as he knew it, Noach once again refuses to do anything.  Why?  Because he has decided to give up both on himself and on life.  Noach has decided to continue to be a failure.  Avraham, on the other hand, is entirely the opposite.

As we will see in next week's parashah, Parashat Lech Lecha, Avraham is the paradigm of the person who never thinks about failing Hashem.  We will see by way of our Torah that Avraham does more than any other human being to fulfill everything Hashem expects of him and then some.  The concept of failing HaShem never enters either his mind or his soul.  More than any other figure in the Torah, Avraham teaches us that the only true failure we can possibly suffer in life is when we fail to try in the first place.  Indeed, Avraham was so concerned about his world that he literally became "the Father of Nations" both in name and in action.  May all of us be like Avraham, never once accepting failure as an option in our lives as Jews!