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The opening sentence of this week's Torah portion, Parashat Noach, presents us with an opportunity to engage in a classic rabbinic discussion. Genesis, chapter six, verse 9, states, "Noah was a righteous man, wholehearted in his generation."
The rabbis ask, why does the Torah tell us that Noah was righteous "in his generation?" We could have simply been told that Noah was "righteous." There must be significance to the Torah's specification.
"In his generation" can be understood to imply at least two very different things. One is that Noah was righteous only by comparison to those who were around him. His neighbors were wicked and selfish, while he was a decent human being. And yet, according to this perspective, if Noah had lived in another generation, one of relatively good people, he would not have stood out as particularly righteous. It was only the contrast with his neighbors which made him seem special.
On the other hand, there is a completely different rabbinic teaching which suggests that the Torah is telling us, in fact, that Noah was especially righteous. He would have been considered deeply righteous in any generation! For, imagine how difficult it must have been for Noah to remain upright and just even while being constantly surrounded by the very worst of what humanity has to offer. Most anyone else would have been brought down and diminished by their surroundings, and yet Noah remained faithful to God even under these extraordinarily challenging circumstances. By this logic, Noah should be praised at length and certainly considered deeply righteous in any generation.
We are ultimately left with the question, was Noah righteous only for his own times, or was his righteousness transcendent? Just as the rabbis do not all agree, so too are we not expected to agree with each other, or even with ourselves! Instead, it is our privilege to consider multiple possibilities and perspectives.
Shabbat Shalom!
Cantor Zachary Konigsberg
cantorzkonigsberg@gmail.com
917-696-0749
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