Noach is an interesting parsha for so many reasons. Before, we learned in some rabbinic commentaries that prior to this world, HaShem had created and destroyed other worlds. So, he creates what he feels is a perfect world, and here goes Chava (Eve) and Adam disobeying his one command. HaShem then kicking them out of the lush gardens in which they resided. Cain allows his emotions to take control and he kills Abel. HaShem has failed to reckon with the dual nature of humans, to commit both good and evil.
Now, ten generations later, we find Noach (Noah), an innocent among the worst of humanity. Rabbi Yochanan says he was the best of all humanity. Resh Lakish said he was but the best of his generation. He was no Moshe for instance, Noach only working to save himself and his family, not the rest of humanity.
Anyhow, HaShem has Noach build an ark to hold him, his wife, his three sons, and their wives, and all the animals of the land two by two. Flood waters will come higher than the highest peaks and destroy all mankind.
Now Noach was 600 years old when the rains came. At 75, I reflect on my own arthritis and can’t even fathom how bad it would be at 600! The waters rise for 150 days. Then HaShem remembers Noach and the winds begin to blow, a sound portending the lowering of the water. Compare this to Babylonian flood myths where their gods lose control of the weather. In comparison, HaShem simply says let it be, and it is done. In another memory of Babylonian myths, Noach sends out a raven, then a dove. It returns, then goes out again and has an olive leaf in its beak. It is time for the people and animals to depart the ark.
Upon departing the ark, Noach chooses the select of the animals and offers a sacrifice to HaShem. HaShem promises to never destroy all the people and animals again. He places the rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant.
Noach prepares a vineyard and sampling his produce, he drinks too much of his wine. Now that does not seem surprising to me. I mean, he is all alone except his family. He’s witnessed the death of all other humanity. I practice sobriety, but under such circumstances, I’d be tempted to drink too. He passes out naked in his tent. Ham sees him, but rather than simply cover him, he tells his brothers. They enter backwards to protect his modesty and cover him. Noach is furious when he finds out and curses Ham. Ironic that this righteous man at the end responds so soon with a curse. Torah shows us that Noach cursed him, but HaShem never does. The Rabbis suggest that more was done than simply viewing his nakedness, but Torah does not tell us what. It is left to our imaginations.
More genealogies, and the focus turns to Mesopotamia. Assur builds the great city of Nineveh. The people, enamored by what they can build with mudbrick, proceed to build a tower (ziggurat) that reaches towards the sky. They forget who is behind it all. HaShem is angered and scatters the people throughout the world and confounds their languages. It becomes known as the tower of Babel. What follows is a lineage stretching to Shem and then Abram who marries Sarai.
Rabbi Sacks of blessed memory suggests this resembles from the beginning of Bereishit to the end of Noach, a four-part story leading to humanity as we know it today. There’s Adam and Eve who eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, then Cain and Abel, followed by Noach and finally the Tower of Babel and the lineage that leads to Abram and Sarai who will be the progenitures of our people. It’s about humanity maturing over this time.
In this story, we find ourselves wrestling with humanity’s capacity to do both good and evil. Are we good? Yes. Are we evil? Also, yes. A midrash tells us the angels of chesed (loving kindness) and tzedakah (charitable thought and action) argued yes for creating humanity, while the angels of shalom (peace) and emet (truth) said no because he tells lies and fights wars. HaShem create us anyway. We have a natural inclination towards empathy or sympathy per Rabbi Sacks, but even stronger instinct for fear which can lead to violence. Which is why we move from tov (nature) to brit (covenant), a moral law for us to adhere to. If we depend on our nature alone, well, chaos ensues.
Many years ago, I had to deal with my abuse of alcohol. I entered a 12-step program to deal with my addiction. Part of the process is to do a rigorous moral inventory, identifying and writing down every time I ever hurt another, identify the reason (sex, society, security), to share what I had done with another, and to do teshuvah, that is make amends. As I reviewed that list of a lifetime’s wrongdoing, it became clear that in every single incident, the underlying cause was fear. Others in my program had similar findings. Our emotions stemming from fear can bypass our better inclinations.
A recurrent thought worth mentioning I believe. It is not only us that has been on a learning curve. It seems like HaShem is also learning as we go. His creation was not perfect, but HaShem is adapting as we move through our creation story. Despite our tendency to do wrong, HaShem chooses to leave us here, ultimately with a message to go and heal the world. We wrestle with Torah, confront, adapt these millennia later. Yes, we have yetzer hara (evil inclination) and yetzer ha-tov (good inclination), but we have through some thousands of years developed a moral code to help confront the yetzer hara through ethics, laws, and basic morality. Plus 613 mitzvot, IF we so choose. Sometimes we get it wrong. For that we have teshuvah, making things right to the best of our ability. None of us are perfect, but we can all strive towards making a better world.
One last thought. Rabbi Aviva Richman observes that Noach begins and ends with loss and tragedy. First with the death of all humanity save Noach and his family. At the end with Abram and Sarai not able to conceive a child. We all face struggles and disappointments in a lifetime. But, using her words, “From the lessons of our divine and earthly parents, we learn the bravery to risk creation and relationship, the vulnerability of confronting loss, and the strength to try again.”
Shabbat Shalom.
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