From: Yeshivat Har Etzion Office <office@etzion.org.il>
To: yhe-parsha@etzion.org.il
Subject: PARSHA62 -02: Parashat Noach
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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PARASHAT NOACH
Survival and Revival -
On the Righteousness of Noach
By Rav Chanoch Waxman
I.
The story of Noach ends tragically. We part from
Noach and his family not after the deliverance of a
divine blessing (9:1-7) or the establishment of a divine
covenant (9:8-17), but rather after the strange and
disturbing events at the end of Chapter Nine.
And Noach began to be a husbandman, and he planted a
vineyard: and he drank of the wine and was drunk;
and he was uncovered within his tent. And Cham, the
father of Kena'an, saw the nakedness of his father,
and told his two brothers outside. And Shem and
Yefet took the garment, and laid it upon both their
shoulders, and went backward, and covered the
nakedness of their father; and their faces were
backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
And Noach awoke from his wine, and knew what his
younger son had done to him. (9:19-24)
The story itself abounds with difficulty. What
exactly happened? What did Cham, the father of Kena'an,
or Kena'an and Cham on some interpretations, do to Noach?
What does the text hint at in the opaque phrase "done to
him?" The options suggested range from the relatively
mild acts of observing and publicizing (Ibn Ezra, Ramban)
on the one hand, to the far more sinister acts of
castration or rape on the other hand (Rashi). Either
way, whether one interprets the action of Cham-Kena'an as
mere disrespect and mockery or as more serious crimes,
the story depicts Noach drunken, sexually vulnerable and
perhaps even sexually abused by his children. In sum, he
is completely disgraced - a surprising twist in the story
of a righteous man.
II.
A complex parallel between the end of the Noach
narrative and the Lot story should help reinforce this
sense of unease. In a general sense, the story of the
destruction of the generation of the flood in Parashat
Noach and the account of the destruction of Sedom in
Parashat Vayera are thematically parallel. Both present
stories of God's destruction of a bad
society/place/world. In line with this broad thematic
parallel, we can easily note numerous specific linguistic
and narrative parallels. The Torah utilizes the word
"ra," meaning bad or wicked, to describe both objects of
God's wrath when they are first introduced (Bereishit 6:5
and 13:13). Similarly, the verb for destruction
(shachot) is the same in both stories (6:13 and
19:13,14,29). In both cases, the term first appears
(signifying destruction) in a speech by God or a divine
emissary heralding the incipient destruction to the
leader of the single family destined to escape the
destruction - Noach (6:13) and Lot (19:12-14).
Furthermore, in both cases the Torah utilizes the same
verb stem, m.t.r. (meaning "rain down"), to describe
God's method of destruction. Just as the flood is
wrought by "raining down" (7:4), so too the "brimstone
and fire" storm that devastates Sedom comes "raining
down" (19:24).
A closer look at these stories reveals that they
parallel each other in more than just destruction theme
and language. As mentioned previously, in both cases a
single family is saved, seemingly escaping just in the
nick of time (see 7:6-7, Rashi and 19:16-17,21-24).
Furthermore, in both narratives, God's mercy and rescue
are connected to His "remembering" a single "perfect" man
who "walks" with God. In the story of Sedom, God
"remembers" Avraham (19:29), who had been commanded by
God to "walk before Me and be perfect" (17:1).
Consequently, due to Abraham's merit, God saves Lot. In
the story of the flood, God "remembers" Noach (8:1), a
man previously described as "perfect in his generations,"
a man who "walked with God" (6:9). Of course here, it is
the virtuous Noach himself who is saved. Unlike the
undeserving Lot, who is saved only by virtue of his
relation to a righteous man, Noach is rescued on the
basis of merit. He is the righteous man, both the cause
and the object of God's rescue.
Finally, these destruction-rescue stories are
parallel in one last and crucial fashion. We all
remember the sad end of Lot. (For a refresher, take a
look at Bereishit 19:30-35.) Alone with his children in
a small enclosed space (19:30), he is drunk, sexually
vulnerable, and exploited by his very own children -
debauched and disgraced. But this of course is the end
of Noach, alone with his children, in a small enclosed
space (9:21), drunk, sexually vulnerable, and exploited
by his very own children - debauched and disgraced.
All of this should come into focus if we map out the
parallel logically. In stage one, which we may term "the
righteous man," Noach is the cause of the rescue and
stands in parallel to Avraham, the cause of the rescue
from Sedom. Stage two, "destruction," apparently
contains no human characters in either story, and need
not concern us now. In stage three, "rescue," Noach
stands parallel to Lot, a wholly undeserving and morally
crippled creature who had chosen to settle in Sedom
despite the evil character of its citizens (13:9-13).
But this is not necessarily disturbing. As pointed out
previously, unlike Lot, Noach is saved by his own virtue.
The point of the parallel and contrast at this point is
to denigrate Lot, not Noach. However, in the fourth
stage, "end," once again Noach parallels Lot. Like Lot,
he is withdrawn, drunk, abused and disgraced. Here the
point of the parallel seems to be the opposite of stage
three: not the denigration of Lot, but the denigration of
Noach. Noach has become Lot.
Put a slightly different way, as we moved through
the parallel, on the literary plane Noach moves from the
Avraham role, the role of the righteous man, to the Lot
role, the role of the undeserving man. At the end of the
story of Sedom, we find Avraham standing and observing
the destruction (19:27-28). He stands literally and
metaphorically "in front of God," outside the desperation
and disgrace of Lot. But such is not the fate of Noach.
He stands only in the Lot role, inside the wretched
drunkenness and disgrace, far from the face of God.
What strange circumstance has transformed Noach into
the equal of Lot? What has happened to our "perfect" and
righteous man by whose virtue Mankind was saved?
III.
Let us turn to the question of Noach's
righteousness. In its preface to the story of the flood
at the end of Parashat Bereishit (6:1-8) and also
throughout the early parts of Parashat Noach (6:9-7:5),
the Torah informs us repeatedly of Noach's unique status
and righteousness. Noach is described variously as
"finding favor in the eyes of God" (6:8), "righteous and
perfect in his generation" (6:9), "the sole righteous one
of this generation" (7:1) and as one who "walked with
God" (6:9). Noach is different than those around him; he
does not participate in the social, moral and sexual
corruption of his era (see 6:1-12, Rashi 6:11).
However, in addition to this method of description,
the Torah also employs another far subtler tool to
emphasize Noach's uniqueness. After reporting the
instructions given by God to Noach for building the ark
and gathering the animals (6:13-22), the Torah informs
us, "And Noach did according to all that God commanded
him; so he did" (6:22). As if for emphasis, the phrase
appears again in slight variation just a few verses later
(7:5) after additional commands from God (7:1-4). At
first glance, the conceptual pair of God's command and
Noach's obedience might not strike us as significant;
after all, when God talks one should listen. But let us
reconsider.
The term "comman (and its verb stem, tz.v.h.) has
appeared in only one other context until this point.
This is in fact the term utilized to describe God's
forbidding the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (2:16-17).
Likewise, God's Himself uses the command term in
interrogating Adam. God inquires whether he has ".eaten
from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from it?"
(3:11).
Unlike Adam and Eve, who proved themselves incapable
of obeying the simple command of not eating a particular
fruit, Noach proves himself capable of obeying the most
arduous commands. Noach does not evade, disobey or even
reply. He simply carries out God's word, no matter how
Herculean the task, no matter the size of the boat, the
number of animals to be gathered or the amount of food to
be collected. Noach's uniqueness lies not just in his
uprightness and morality, but also in his obedience to
the command of God.
IV.
Undoubtedly, as argued above, the command-response
section of the flood narrative describing Noach's
obedience and righteousness (6:13-7:5) provides crucial
insight into our understanding of Noach and consequently
the story of the flood. A deeper examination of the
section should help us further sharpen our insight into
Noach, the ark and the flood. Let us begin our
examination at the end, taking a careful look at 7:1-5.
And God said to Noach: Come, you and all your house
into the ark; for only you have I seen righteous
before Me in this generation. Of every clean
(tahor) beast you shall take sevens, male and
female: and of beasts that are not clean two, male
and female. Of birds of the air, also sevens, the
male and the female; to revive seed upon the face of
earth. For in another seven days, I will cause it
to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights;
and I will blot out every living substance that I
have made from the face of the earth.
And Noach did according to all that God commanded
him.
Logically, the subsection contains the following
points: 1) an instruction to Noach to enter the ark, 2)
the information that Noach is a righteous man, 3)
instructions to Noach regarding the animals, 4) God's
intention to destroy the world, and 5) the statement that
Noach did exactly as God commanded. But none of this is
particularly new. In the command-response section until
this point (6:13-22), Noach has already been told about
entering the ark (6:18). With regard to the second
point, we of course already know that God's rescue is due
to the fact that Noach is righteous (6:9). Furthermore,
Noach has already been instructed regarding the animals
(6:19-20) and told that God intends to destroy the world
(6:17). Finally, we already know that Noach did and does
precisely as God commands (6:22). We may very well ask
ourselves: What purpose does this second command-response
section serve?
Perhaps the answer to this problem lies not in
noting the similarities to what has come previously, but
rather in focusing on the differences between the second
command-response section and the narrative until this
point. As pointed out by Ramban, the second section
includes for the first time the command to gather seven
male-female sets of "tahor" animals and birds.
Previously, Noach had been commanded to take into the ark
"two," apparently one male-female set, of "all flesh,"
"the birds to their kind" and "the cattle to their kind"
(6:18-19). According to Ramban, the purpose of the
"tahor" animals is to serve as a resource for sacrifices
after Noach emerges from the ark. By implication, the
entire second command-response section exists solely to
implicitly command Noach in the "mitzva" of sacrifices.
But this explanation seems difficult to maintain.
Could not this information and "command" have been folded
into the first command-response section, as part of the
command to gather animals?
Alternatively, we may focus on a second crucial
difference between 7:1-5 and all that has come
previously. In explaining the purpose of gathering the
animals and entering the ark, the text utilizes the
phrase, "lechayot zera al penei kol ha-aretz" (7:3).
However, previously in the first command-response
section, the term used as the rationale for gathering the
animals and entering the ark is the subtly different
"lehachayot" (6:18-20), bereft of the additional, "zera
al penei kol ha-aretz." But what exactly is the
difference?
In fact, the phrases possess very different
connotations. The bare phrase, "lehachayot," is probably
best translated as, "to keep alive," or colloquially, "to
survive." In the first command-response section, the
rationale of the ark is survival. God the Creator wishes
that something of His labor be preserved. He chooses
Noach and two of each species as "survivors," or perhaps
even "relics," representatives of the world that once
was. In contrast, the different and full phrase,
"lehachayot zera al penei kol ha-aretz," is best
translated as, "to make alive seed upon the entire face
of the earth," or in more colloquial terms, "to revive
life upon the earth." The rationale of the ark is far
more than mere survival. Rather, it is about reviving
the entire world. It is future-oriented rather than past-
oriented, its inhabitants intended as prototypes for a
new world rather than just survivors and relics of an old
one. God wishes that the world be made anew and charges
Noach with the task.
On this account, the command to gather the "tahor,"
clean, animals can be seen in a new light. Quite
possibly, they are for the purpose of sacrifices. A
world in which man expresses thanksgiving to God is far
better than one in which he fails to acknowledge God.
However, we might also claim that "tahor" here does not
necessarily mean "clean" in the halakhic sense of
permissible for sacrifice. Perhaps the term connotes
"pure" in contrast to "corrupt," as in the "corruption of
all flesh upon the earth," the all-encompassing
distortion of nature which includes even the animal world
(see Rashi 6:12). Just as Noach, the righteous man, is
chosen as a prototype for a new humanity, so too the
"tahor" animals, the uncorrupted flesh of the animal
world, are chosen as a new majority in the animal world,
to remake the world as a new and better place.
All of this should bring us to a good understanding
of Noach's character, the purpose of the ark, and the
text of the first part of the flood narrative. Noach is
righteous, and has been unique in obeying God's command.
The purpose of the ark is dual, and hence the text deals
with a dual theme. It is about survival, but also about
much more. It is also about revival, the process of
remaking the world. Without doubt, Noach fares well at
the task of survival. He builds the ark, gathers the
supplies and animals, and enters the ark exactly as
commanded by God (6:22,7:5,9,16). But what about the
second task? What about reviving and remaking the world?
How well does the righteous and obedient man bear this
task?
V.
Let us take a look at the latter part of Chapter
Eight, the emergence from the ark. God commands Noach as
follows:
.Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons
and their wives with you. Bring out with you every
living thing that is with you, of all flesh, both of
birds and of cattle, . and swarm on the earth, and
be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. (8:16-17)
Noach is given three commands. The first is to
leave the ark in male-female pairs. The second is to
actively bring the animals out of the ark. Both of these
commands anticipate and constitute preparation for the
third command, the demand to swarm across the newly made
earth and procreate. Noach and his band stand at the
cusp of a new world, both opportunity and responsibility,
facing the demand to revive and remake the world.
Immediately following the command, the Torah records
Noach's response to God's threefold command.
And Noach and his sons went out, and his wife and
his son's wives. every beast, every creeping thing,
and every bird and whatever creeps on the earth
after their kind went out of the ark. (8:18-19)
Quite clearly, something has gone awry. In place of
Noach leaving the ark along with wife, in male-female
pairing, he leaves in the company of his sons. Likewise,
Noach is not depicted as bringing out the animals; they
are left behind and seem to emerge by themselves without
the help and assistance of Noach. Rather than an image
of a mixed group of male-female pairs emerging prepared
to repopulate the world, we are presented with a linear
image of three separate groups: men, women and animals.
Furthermore, the apparent purpose of leaving the ark, the
imperative to procreate, the third aspect of God's
threefold command, is wholly neglected in the "response"
stage. In fact, Noach's segregated, linear emergence
from the ark and neglect of the animals seems calculated
to negate the procreation re-population imperative (see
Abarbanel).
On the simplest level, we are confronted with an act
of disobedience. For the first time, we find Noach not
being Noach, not obeying the command of God. In fact,
this is the first command of God to Noach regarding which
the text does not state, "And Noach did as God
commanded." On a deeper level, the refusal or perhaps
inability of Noach to procreate, swarm over the earth,
assist the animals, etc., signals Noach's inability to
succeed at the "revival" aspect of his task. While
confronted with the task of survival, Noach excelled. He
was the perfect divine servant. But now confronted with
reviving the world, he no longer obeys the word of God.
VI.
This key should help us unlock the mysteries of the
remainder of the story of Noach and the riddle of his
"transformation." In line with the claims made above,
Abarbanel points out that much of Chapter Nine can be
viewed as a divine attempt to rescue Noach, this time
from himself. At the beginning of the chapter, God
blesses Mankind, expresses special concern for Mankind,
and distinguishes Man from the animals by allowing Man to
consume meat (9:1-7). The blessing begins and ends with
the imperative to "be fruitful, multiply and fill the
world." God follows with a covenant and a sign, a
promise never to destroy the world again (9:17). All of
this is intended to bolster Noach. God cares about
Mankind and the world. He desires their revival. He has
promised a covenantal relation and permanent existence.
Noach should be revived and begin to revive the world.
This brings us full circle to the end of Chapter
Nine and the drunken Noach. Rather than finding a
renewed Noach, roaming and remaking the world, we find
Noach in an enclosed space, withdrawn, drunk, engaged
only in the bliss of the bottle. Rather than engaging in
the imperative of procreation and filling the world, we
find Noach, naked and sexually compromised by his son.
In sum, the story of the "end of Noach" is not so
much the story of the transformation of a righteous man
but the story of the limits of Noach's righteousness.
His righteousness is capable of surmounting and surviving
great challenges, from upright existence in the midst of
an evil society, through the daunting multi-year task of
building the ark and living in it. It is even a
righteousness that is capable of enduring the destruction
of the world and emerging to thank God for His mercy and
rescue. It is this very righteousness that fostered
Noach's spiritual survival and thriving amidst the
society of the flood generation. But at the end of the
day, it is a righteousness of survival. It is oriented
solely along a God-self axis that does not include the
world. Consequently, it is not a righteousness that is
oriented to the world. It is not a righteousness that
cares about the world and is capable of its renewal,
rebuilding and revival.
A final return to the Sedom-flood parallel and the
Noach-Avraham-Lot triangle should help buttress this
point. As pointed out earlier, the person-parallels
shift as the parallel progresses through its various
stages: "the righteous man," "destruction," "rescue" and
"end." In stage one, "the righteous man," Noach is the
cause of the rescue and stands in parallel to Avraham,
the cause of the rescue from Sedom. As of stage three,
"rescue," Noach overlaps with Lot, but at least as the
cause of his own rescue. However, by the time we reach
stage four, "end," Noach stands in complete parallel to
Lot, debauched and disgraced, his righteousness in
shambles. When making this point earlier, I claimed that
stage two, "destruction," apparently contains no human
characters and is not relevant to our person-parallel
progression. In fact, the key word here is "apparently."
The destruction of Sedom does indeed contain a human
character. His name is Avraham.
The story of the destruction of Sedom begins
textually with God sharing His plans of destruction with
the "righteous man" (18:17-21). This section is framed
on either side by verses describing the ongoing journey
of the "men" towards Sedom and its imminent destruction
(18:16,22). Avraham's response is immediate and well-
known: he prays (18:22-33). He prays for justice, for
mercy, for the bad society of Sedom, for even ten good
men. The silence of the "righteous man" in the flood
story thunders by contrast. Noach is silent. He builds,
he gathers, he obeys, he enters the ark; the world is
destroyed, he survives, and he even thanks God. But he
never expresses a sentiment or prayer for the world
around him. Once again, his righteousness is the
righteousness of the self, an isolated and private
righteousness. It is not a righteousness oriented to the
world, capable of praying for the world before disaster,
or rebuilding it afterwards.
Noach is not Avraham in the second stage of our
parallel. His righteousness may be thought of as a two-
place relation, a pair consisting of self and God, rather
than a triangular relation of God, self and world. From
there on, it seems that the slow slide to complete
overlap with Lot, the undeserving survivor, is just a
slippery slope away. Perhaps we are to derive that
righteousness of the self, isolated and private, is not
only limited but also prone to decay. Perhaps the lesson
is to be a little bit less like Noach and a little bit
more like Avraham, to construct a righteousness engaged
with the world, a righteousness of revival and not just
survival.
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