By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
EL CAJON, California — This week’s Torah reading teaches us profound lessons about how our social environment shapes our behavior.
First, we would be wise to be mindful of the company we keep. Living among those who can only see darkness in others – often because they themselves are steeped in poor behavior – poses a subtle but serious spiritual danger. Through the psychological mechanism of “priming,” constant exposure to improper conduct can lead us to unconsciously adopt similar behaviors, even when we consciously reject them.
Second, we would be wise to resist the temptation to normalize destructive behavior simply because it has become commonplace. In our current era, society often celebrates and mainstreams conduct that the Torah clearly identifies as harmful. Just as Hashem brought the מבול (flood) to cleanse a world that had strayed from its purpose, we would be wise to not accept a “diluted” version of Torah values. The Torah remains our eternal blueprint for living a meaningful and ethical life, regardless of shifting societal norms.
Along this line, this week we read of two calamities, “climate change” and “immigration.” Sounds familiar and contemporary, doesn’t it? And we learn from how Noah and the builders of the Tower of Babel responded to their individual challenges, just how to prevail when dealing with misfortune, catastrophe and blows in life – real or imagined. I was struck by what our parsha can teach us about proper interpersonal relations and having compassion for others. Read on.
Hashem saw the earth “filled with wrongdoing and corruption and robbery,” and chose Noah to respond, who did so by following Hashem’s word and built an ark with “seven pairs of all the clean animals and two pair of animals who are unclean” before Hashem blotted out everything in existence that He had made. Hashem then replaced divisiveness with a mindset of unified purpose, with one tongue.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra described the people of Babel as seeking to impress later generations with their accomplishments. “Come, let us make bricks and build ourselves a city and a tower whose top shall reach to the heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered all over the earth.” They reacted from fear. Hashem saw this and said, “Lo! They are now one people and they have all one language and this is the first thing they undertake!”
Noah by literal definition, was serene, calm and though yes, he demonstrated normal doubts, nevertheless he was filled with clear-sighted F.A.I.T.H. – “Feelings Anchored In Trust and Hope.” Not the people of Babel. No, their desire for personal greatness, their concern with personal reputation and fame was their undoing. What they feared most, dispersion, was exactly what they experienced. When they uttered, “Let us make a name for ourselves,” they sealed their fate. Unlike Noah who was free of arrogance and above reproach, who walked with Hashem, the tower builders were filled with one purpose – making their own name great.
In the whole of the Torah, there are only six portions that are named after an individual. Don’t look for parsha 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 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 parsha, 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. Despite the presence of disorder, cruelty, and indifference in the world, Hashem recognizes humanity’s capacity to rise above these challenges and manifest goodness and virtue.
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.
The lesson is clear. Let’s seek out the righteousness of Noach, not the arrogance of Babel. Let us answer the sacred call to transform our world into a sanctuary of Divine presence. While we celebrate our own accomplishments, may we never rest content within their bounds, but instead extend ourselves to lift others. In every person we encounter – regardless of their path or circumstance – dwells a spark of possibility.
Through acts of kindness and compassion, we can help nurture that potential, fostering growth and goodness in all whom we meet.
*
Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun.