Parasha Noach
SAN DIEGO — In the whole of the Torah, there are only six portions that are named after an individual. Don’t look for parasha Avraham or Moshe. But we do have the Noach Ish Tzaddik Tamim Hayah BeDorotav the wholehearted, righteous man, “perfect in his generation.” Yes, there are, of course, many interpretations of tzaddik, tamim, dorosav, and even ish.
And there are many who focus on aspects of Noach’s life that may not be especially “perfect.” Trauma, as the Zohar explains, can surely lead to a “mind that is addled,” and make it difficult to move forward with wisdom and equanimity. But the Torah describes Noach as righteous, with all of its meanings.
For example, the Rambam explains, “A person should always see himself as though he is half guilty and half meritorious. If he performs one mitzvah, he is fortunate, for he has tilted himself to the side of merit. If he commits one transgression, woe unto him, because he has tilted himself to the side of guilt” (Kiddushin 40b). Only one merit more is all it takes to be seen as righteous. And in Mishlei (24:16) it says of a righteous person, that s/he falls seven times, rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. Shlomo HaMelech reminds us in Koheles (7:20) that even righteous people sin. It appears that what one does following a sin makes the difference. Do you give up and continue down a path of self-destruction? The righteous don’t. This is a reason Noach is considered righteous.
Regardless of one’s understanding of the terms to describe Noach in the parasha, one thing is clear – words found in the Torah describing Noach, reflect essential components of ideal humanity: integrity, devotion, compassion, righteousness, just, wholehearted, humble, kind, grateful, unblemished, blameless, and more.
Look at the world Noach lived in. Greed, oppression, corruption, sexual excess and worse. Wait. What’s changed? Look at our world. How do we cope with no ark to escape into? Floods, figuratively at least, surround us. Our response, our Jewish response, is to continue to be resilient, to build, to grow, to move forward…always as menschen.
Noach serves as a special role-model. He is a mensch in a world where there were no menschen. Noach was told to make a tzohar, a window, in the ark to bring in light. He did so and we see that even in the darkness of the ark, there must be room for, and always is, light. Every step of our lives ideally brings light to our world, and like Noach, we must build – or be – a window to reflect light in the darkness surrounding us…to be a tzaddik tamim.
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Dr. Mantell writes a d’var Torah each week for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship.