NOACH_ GENESIS VI,9 – XI

In the first chapters of the Torah, we learned the story of Adam and Chavah, the first human couple, and their banishment from Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden. We read about the first human death, and it was not the result of illness or old age. The first death of a human being is the product of murder. Cain murders Abel. The reasons and why of the murder are neither clear nor well defined in the biblical text. But the important lesson is, according to Elie Wiesel, to become aware that when a person murders another human being, he is killing a brother. The Bible continues with the story of the first generations culminating with the appearance of Noach, the hero of this week’s reading.

According to the conception of our sages, the Chachamim, Dibrah Torah bileshon bene’i adam, the Torah uses words and concepts that are within the reach of human understanding. Therefore, on many occasions, the text uses terms that could be interpreted as a personal and human representation of God, while the sole purpose is of conveying a more understandable message. For example, the Torah speaks of God’s “outstretched arm,” and according to our understanding, God is a wholly spiritual being and entirely “other” when compared to any being or object, result of His creation. God lacks arms, in the usual sense of that word. The last lines of Bereshit’s text read, “And the Eternal repented of having made man on earth…” What is the meaning of God’s repentance? Does God change his mind? Does God make mistakes?

Scientific commentators on the Bible admitted that different words were used to designate God. Their study led them to conclude that our biblical text is the product of an editor who relied on several primary sources, which were identified according to the word used to designate God. Our Chachamim also noticed the use of different words to designate God.

As for the diversity of words, these differences serve to point out certain specific qualities with which the Divinity is manifested. The word Elohim, for example, serves to point out the characteristic of Absolute Power and Justice of God, and the word HaShem refers to Divine mercy. Our sages say that in the beginning, God created the universe with the criterion of absolute justice. But human beings are human, err, and need forgiveness. Therefore, God modified His original intent, adding His attribute of mercy to the process of creating our world. The world then became more welcoming to human beings.

The chapters of this weekly portion tell the story of Noach, the only character whom God considered worthy of life, within a depraved world. God decided that through Noach a new opportunity will be given to the human species, to this creature that has very special characteristics. Animals, for example, are content to do what they must do, each according to an instinct-based schedule. 

The human being is different. One is not satisfied with his individual condition. He always seeks to relate to the world around him. He is committed to change and seeks to improve his situation. Dissatisfaction is one of his basic characteristics. Therefore, it is a being that has the capacity to build or destroy what is in the environment. He is not willing to be a mere spectator. He is always a protagonist and actor. His attitude is not apathetic to things. It is active and dynamic. It is never odorless, parve. The history of our globe is closely related to the constant process of pollution and destruction of the planet by man.

In that world in a state of disrepair, Noach excels, because he is an exception. Noach is the only one in his generation whom God regards as the possible progenitor of a new society for the world. The keyword is Bedorotav, “of his generation” because Noach does not follow the overwhelming current of corruption and depravity. Our Chachamim consider Noach’s exception to be meritorious; on the other hand, other sages consider it to be a sign of spiritual poverty. They support their opinion by stating that in “his generation” Noach was fair and honest, however, had he been a contemporary of the patriarch Avraham, he would not have received such an honorable description.

Why this pettiness with Noach? It is possible that our Chachamim criticize the fact that Noach had saved himself along with his immediate family, but never managed to have his integrity reflected in any of his fellow men. And if he was sincere in his personal behavior and firm in his convictions, how then do you explain that no one joined his ranks? According to the Midrash, it took Noach one hundred and twenty years to build the ship that would give him refuge during the period of the flood. However, none of his fellow humans identified with his spiritual vision or imitated his behavior. This fact suggests the possibility that Noach himself was not very convinced about the course of events and proceeded to build the ark only, as a precaution, not because he believed the deluge to be imminent.

When the waters of the flood returned to their course, the total desolation and destruction of the earth were seen as total. What sense could it have made for Noach and his relatives to return to plowing and tilling with the sweat of their foreheads, when everything could be taken away or destroyed again? But the human being has enormous spiritual reserves and hopes that lead him to rebuild, even under the threat of defeat. 

What was the point of instructing children in the Ghettos of Europe during the Nazi era, when death and annihilation were imminent? Because by constitution we are optimistic and even in the most pressing situations we find a reason to dream of a more humane and promising future? In The case of Noach, God offers him the rainbow as a sign of a Brit, a covenant, of His commitment that He will never destroy the world a second time. This Brit requires, like any convention, two parties, two interlocutors. God is committed to giving sustenance to the world and not destroying it, and humanity is committed to complying with certain elementary and basic rules, which according to our tradition are called the Sheva mitzvot deBene’i Noach, the “seven rules of the descendants of Noah”.

The biblical message is taking shape. Basically, what is proclaimed is that the world and humanity cannot coexist without certain elementary rules of behavior. It is interesting to note that one of these seven basic laws provides for the establishment of courts of justice. It insists on the superiority of the concept of justice above all, including love, and alludes to the severity of Judaism and its demands for purity.

It is clear that justice is a much more important, fundamental, and indispensable principle for the development of any society. Ask the people of Venezuela or Nicaragua that are subject to wrong and discrimination without any recourse for redress. Concepts such as nobility and love, no matter how valid they may be are trumped by justice when tyranny reigns.

In the course of time, these seven principles will be seen as insufficient to ensure the future development of the human species on earth. The Eternal will then decide to reveal Himself at Mount Sinaí and select the Jewish people to be the spokesman for a much broader code that would serve as an example and inspiration to the rest of humanity.