mls@ittvax.ATC.ITT.UUCP (Michael Schneider) (10/16/85)
NOACH In examining the parsha, a problem arises in the first verse: "These are the offspring of Noach - Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noach walked with G-d." The problem with the verse is its construction. When we see the phrase "Aleh toldot Noach" (These are the offspring of Noach), we would expect to see a listing of his children. For example later we see "V'alach toldot Terach" (These are the offspring of Terach) followed by a list of his children. In some cases, we are told the age of the person. In the case of Isaac, we are told "And these are the offspring of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac." But in the case of Noach we told of his character: "...a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noach walked with G-d." The key to the verse is in the interpretation of TOLDOT. This word can have two primary meanings: offspring (or as some translate it generations) and history. Ibn Ezra translates it as history, since it states in the next verse "and Noach begat three sons....". The Ramban, and Rashi indicate that the correct translation is offspring. After looking at the remainder of the verse, we will return to the problem of TOLDOT. The second part of the verse, "Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations," raises the following question: should the word perfect (TAMIM) modify righteous of Noach or his position in his generations. That is, should we read the phrase as "a perfectly righteous man in his generations" or as "a righteous man, perfect in his generations." The Ramban translates TAMIM as whole-hearted. He quotes from Ibn Ezra who said that Noach was righteous in deeds and whole-hearted in his heart. However the Ramban brings down a verse from Ezekiel (28:15) to indicate that Noach was whole-hearted in his ways. From this we learn that he was "guiltless and perfect in his righteousness." On the other hand, we can also say that TAMIM refers to Noach in terms of his generations. Rashi gives two different interpretations to "in his generations." One view is that he was righteous even though the moral level of his generations was low. If he lived in a better generation, he would have been even more righteous, owing to the force of good example. This view praises Noach, since it places his righteousness on an absolute scale. However, the opposite view can be taken. He was righteous in his generations by comparison to the others. In the time of Abraham, he would not have stood out. To say it another way, he was only the best there was at the time. Both views are supported by the Gemora (Sanhedrin 108a). The Ramban takes the latter meaning: that of all the people who lived at that time, only Noach was worthy of being saved. He further points out that generations in plural; many generations has passed since the time man became corrupted. Although the Ramban does not explain why he took the relative view of Noach's righteousness, we can assume that he used the last phrase of the verse: "Noach walked with G-d." Rashi says that, in the case of Abraham it states that (Genesis 24:40) "[G-g] before whom I walked. Noach required G-d's support in keeping his righteousness, while Abraham drew his moral strength from himself. Where does this analysis place us? We can look back to the first question, the meaning of TOLDOT. If we accept the view of Rashi and the Ramban that it refers to his offspring, then who or what were Noach's offspring? As Rashi says, his offspring were his good deeds, not his children. We thus learn that the true progeny of a righteous person is good deeds. Second, we learn that even the most righteous person of a generation must rely on G-d, using the mitzvas given to us for guidance. Shabbat Shalom Michael L. Schneider