THE FAITH OF NOACH
A HISTORICAL & SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
OF THE SEVEN UNIVERSAL LAWS - PART
TWO
“A Darkening World”
We are told
by Chazal that there are “seven heavens”.
Kabbalistically, we understand this to be progressive realms whereby the
Creator of the Universe constricted Himself with veils of concealment in order
that this finite Creation might be able to exist within His Presence. Torah tells us that the Glory of Hashem fills
the earth. Everything that exists does
so purely because He Is and He is the Sole Source and force that sustains all
life. Chazal tell us that even the rocks
have souls of a very low level. This is
to say that Hashem creates all, fills all, and sustains all. The world exists because He Was, He Is, He
Will Be.
At the time
of Creation, the world was on a much higher level. Adam and Chavah had luminescent coverings as
opposed to our present bodily covering of skin.
In other words, they were more spiritual than they were physical. Parasha Bereishis tells us that Hashem moved
about in Gan Eden during the cool of the day, towards twilight, and we are
given the distinct impression that the first couple were in the habit of
communing on a very personal level with their Creator. All this changed with their initial rebellion
against the Divine Will.
In Bati
l’Gani, a Maamar of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the sixth Lubavitcher
Rebbe, on Midrash Rabbah, Song of Songs, 5:1, we are told that when Adam and
Chavah transgressed G-d’s command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil, the Divine Presence withdrew from the Earth to the level of the
First Heaven. Thus began a progression
of withdrawals that diminished the Divine Presence upon this earth. When Cain murdered Abel, the Divine Presence
withdrew to the Second Heaven; when Enosh called upon idolatrous gods, Hashem
withdrew His Presence to the Third Heaven.
The Generation of the Flood, with their rampant idolatry, sexual
immorality and theft, brought about a further withdrawal of the Divine Presence
to the Fourth Heaven. This process of
withdrawal continued until the Divine Presence, the Shechinah, had withdrawn to
the Seventh Heaven … details of which will be covered in the next in this
three-part overview of the Seven Universal Laws. The further the Divine Presence from earth,
the greater the spiritual darkness upon the earth.
In the
aftermath of the Flood, Noach became the second father of mankind. The Torah tells us was blameless in his
generation and “walked with G-d”. The laws
which had been commanded by G-d to Adam (with the instruction to teach them to
his descendents), the same laws by which the wayward generation of the Flood
were deemed corrupt, were renewed to Noach as a covenantal responsibility to
pass on to his descendents. For the
first time in the history of man, human beings were allowed by G-d to eat meat,
provided that they not eat the flesh with the lifeblood within it (Genesis 9:1-4). G-d called them out of the
“G-d’s Bow”
This ‘bow’
of G-d is often admired, but it’s significance is frequently understated, as we
saw in Part One of this series, ‘Adam to Noach’. In that article, we learned that the
appearance of a rainbow in the sky tells us that we are deserving of Divine
judgment, but that in His mercy, G-d is remembering His covenant with
Noach. There is also another aspect of
the rainbow that can be considered …
A rainbow
is formed when sunlight is refracted through mist in the sky, with the droplets
of moisture acting as prisms reflecting hues of light. Did rainbows not occur before the Flood? Was there no rain? No moisture in the air? How did vegetation flourish to sustain
mankind?
In his
commentary on the Pentateuch, the Russian-born Rabbi and author known as the
Malbim, Rabbi Meir Lob ben Yehiel Michael (1809-1879), explains that the climatic
environment upon earth before the Flood was very different. The earth’s position relative to the sun was
constant, so there were no variations in climate, in other words, there were no
annual seasons. Rain fell once every
forty years, on the anticipated day, irrigating the fields and filling the
reservoirs. Vegetation flourished in
abundance in response to man’s toiling of the soil. Yet, in Pirkei Avot 5.6, we are told that the
rainbow was among the ten things G-d created on Erev Shabbat at twilight. The rainbow had always existed in potential,
but the atmospheric conditions simply did not exist prior to the Flood to
enable formation of a rainbow.
Rabbi Uziel
Milevsky, in his Torah commentary, Ner Uziel, explains that the idyllic
pre-Flood existence was a contributing factor in man becoming so self-confident
and independent that he deluded himself into thinking he controlled his own
destiny … the very thing Moshe later warned the Children of Israel not to do: “Beware lest your heart grow haughty and you
forget Hashem your G-d – and you say to yourselves, ‘My own power and the might
of my own hand have won this wealth for me” (Deuteronomy 8:14, 17).
Mankind
discovered they did not control their own destiny. When Noach exited the ark, the world was
devastated and a very different place from skies down! Reflecting on this, the rainbow reminds
mankind of our vulnerability.
“Why a Vineyard?”
Immediately
after the account of the rainbow in Genesis 9, we are told that Noach planted a
vineyard. Most Biblical commentators,
including Rashi, are very critical of this act on the part of Noach. In fact, Rashi goes so far as to say that
Noach profaned himself by becoming a man of the soil and planting a vineyard,
that Noach “should have first engaged in a different sort of planting.” [1] Some
commentators say Rashi was referring to plants without the potential for harm,
others suggest he meant that Noach should have focused on more spiritual
matters. Other Biblical commentators,
however, offer the explanation that Noach’s intention was to rectify the sin of
Adam and in so doing to bring about Redemption.
After all, it seems a bit out of logical sequence to focus on growing
grapes and making wine when the earth is only beginning to revive from the
destruction of the Flood. Surely there
must have been other more pressing things to attend to?
In Talmud
Bavli, Brachot 40A, one opinion states that the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge
was the grape. There is a principle in
Torah called middah k’neged middah, which translates to ‘measure for
measure’. Applied to sin, this principle
means that in whatever manner we sin, it is in that area that we must rectify
and atone for the sin. Adam sinned by
improper use of the grape, therefore, rectification of that sin would involve
proper use of the grape. The Talmud
offers that had Adam waited just a few hours until the first Shabbat had begun,
the grapes could have been elevated from a sin into a mitzvah by using them to
sanctify the Shabbat through Kiddush.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explains in the Zohar that Noach wished to
examine the sin that Adam had committed with the intention of avoiding it
himself and learning how to rectify it and the world, but he could not unlock
its secrets.
“Bitter Wine x Two”
In Ziv
haZohar, a commentary on the Zohar, it is explained that Chavah squeezed
grapes from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and gave Adam to drink. This offering of juice from the grapes, the
commentary says, is an encoded analogy referring to secular wisdom, wisdom
other than Torah, such as philosophy which tries to examine Divine secrets by
way of intellect only, and witchcraft which attempts to harness the forces of
impurity. Rather than relying solely on
the all-encompassing wisdom of the Torah, man opened himself up to facets of
wisdom that are only partial and not whole because they are not infused with
the Light of Torah and the Inner Essence of the Creator. They represent external wisdom that is
missing its central purifying essence, consequently, it is wisdom that is
flawed and can lead man astray.
Noach
failed in his attempt to rectify Adam’s error and became drunk. He was discovered naked in his tent by his
youngest son, Ham. Ham then brought
shame upon his father by calling his brothers to witness his nakedness. The Biblical expressions “to uncover the
nakedness of” (Leviticus 18) or “to see the nakedness of”, such as in Genesis
9, refers to more than a literal exposure of flesh, it is a phrase that refers
to sexual relations. Rashi comments that
Ham either emasculated or had homosexual relations with his father. This blatant sin resulted in Noach’s curse
upon Ham. It also rendered Noach unable to
fulfill the original Divine command to be fruitful and multiple. Needless to say, it was not a day that the
Divine Presence was pleased and Adam’s sin was definitely not rectified. The Divine Presence withdrew to the Fifth
Heaven, and the world continued on its course.
Noach’s
sons and their wives bore children and their children bore children and the
earth was repopulated, with the families spreading out across the land. The Seven Universal Laws were in effect, but,
just as before the Flood, few heeded them.
Rashi and several Midrashim tell us that Noach’s son Shem and his
grandson Eber established houses of learning for the purpose of understanding and
fulfilling the Noahide Laws. Rashi
brings down that during the fourteen year gap in the recorded history of
Yaakov’s life, after he left his father’s house and went towards Paddam-Aram,
he was studying in the Yeshiva of Eber.
“The Faith of Noach”
What can we
learn from the faith of this man who merited being the only family spared from
the Flood, yet who came to such an unseemly fate shortly thereafter?
Rashi makes
an interesting observation on the verse, Genesis 7:7:
“Noach,
along with his sons … entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.”[2]
Rashi
comments: “Noach, too, was one of
those with little faith; he believed, yet he did not believe fully that the
Flood would come, and he did not enter the ark until the waters compelled him
to.”
Rashi more
or less calls Noach a skeptic and seems to suggest that Noach’s faith was
lacking! Could this be the reason Noach
did not ask Hashem to avert the decree in a manner similar to how Avraham would
later beseech G-d before the destruction of
Should
Rashi be criticized for being so hard on the only believer that the Torah
records at the time of the generation of the Flood? Or, should we perhaps try to define faith and
what it does and does not entail?
The
Thirteen Principles of Faith, compiled by the Rambam, are regarded as the tenets
that define the parameters of Jewish faith in Hashem. Each of the thirteen principles begins with
the statement, “I believe with perfect faith that …” Recitation of Thirteen Principles follow the
daily morning prayer service. What if
someone is not totally convinced of all thirteen statements of belief? Should he simply not say one or not say any
of them? Is one a hypocrite if he
recites all thirteen, but doesn’t really understand a few of them? Should he wait until all questions are
resolved and he is firm in his resolution and belief?
If we
answer in the affirmative to the above questions, then we are saying that faith
cannot exist together with uncertainty. To
be honest, is there a person alive who has not had, does not have, will not
have in the future, some questions about G-d?
The Torah tells us that G-d is unseen and unknowable in His
Fullness. He is Infinite and we are
finite. How can we NOT have questions?
Rabbi Uziel
Milevsky, speaking on Parasha Noach, makes a beautiful comparison between how
Christianity and Judaism approach faith.
“Christianity
demands from its followers blind faith.
Logic and reason are viewed as extrinsic to religion, and doubts are
undesirable reactions that are to be stifled and purged from the mind of the
believer.
The
approach of Judaism, on the other hand, is one that encourages questions. Faith that is not based on reason is
considered fragile and dubious. Blind
faith is for fools; the Torah demands that people think, that they attain faith
by means of the intellect. One is
expected first to examine every aspect of one’s belief in G-d through the lens
of reason before taking the final alogical step that is called emunah (faith).”[4]
Rabbi
Milevsky uses the example of a surgeon to demonstrate how faith and uncertainty
can co-exist. Before operating, a
surgeon takes into consideration the percentage of probability that the
procedure will be successful. Rarely is
a surgeon blessed with 100% probability.
After weighing both the risks and the chances of success, a surgeon may
decide to go ahead with surgery having only a 60 percent chance of
success. There is a 40 percent chance
the patient might die, but the greater potential lies in success. Once in the operating room, however, the
surgeon performs as if he is 100% certain.
Rabbi
Milevsky comments:
“The
same can be said of emunah. A highly
intelligent person must by definition entertain doubts in his mind. Even so, he can make a 100-percent commitment
to serve G-d on the basis of a 60:40 decision.
Someone who is 60 percent convinced that G-d exists can commit his
entire life to that element of the equation, deliberately ignoring his 40
percent of doubts regarding this matter.
Even though he many remain unconvinced regarding certain aspects of
religion, he has the ability to make an honest decision to observe the laws of
Torah through choosing to act in accordance with one side of his doubt
equation. This decision is called emunah
(faith).
Avraham
embodied this concept. He, too, had
doubts, yet he attained an unprecedented level of righteousness. Why?
Because emunah is evaluated according to the quality of one’s actions,
not one’s thoughts. Actions must be
one-sided; thoughts may entertain a wide range of possibilities.”[5]
Yes,
Avraham did have moments of doubt. Think
of when he threw himself down on the ground before Hashem and laughed at the
suggestion that he and Sarah would have a son, despite all of the times Hashem
had so clearly intervened in their lives.
The difference between Avraham and Noach, was that Avraham, like the
example of the surgeon, acted on probability. Noach reacted to his overall intellectual
uncertainty and his doubts manifested themselves in his actions. As a result, he did not pray for Hashem to
avert the Divine decree, nor is it recorded that he proactively tried to warn
the people of the impending doom, and he did not enter the ark until the waters
forced him to.
“The Family of Man”
When Noach
and his family left the ark after the Flood, their entire world had
changed. Encased within the ark for an
entire year, Noach and his family members truly learned to become family as opposed
to individuals. The generation of the
Flood had exceeded all boundaries in acting as individuals independent of their
fellow man and their Creator. Human
kindness in the world was all but non-existent. A year in their floating hotel
infused Noach’s family with a sense of community, which is what Hashem desires
for mankind.
“Dedication to G-d”
When Noach
left the ark, the world looked different and the climate was different. There were seasons and temperature variations
instead of a constant climate with single period of rain every forty
years. The world had become unstable and
Noach felt his vulnerability. According Rabbi
Uziel Milevsky, Noach’s awareness of vulnerability is indicated by the offering
he brought upon leaving the ark.
“Noach built
an altar to G-d. He took from each
species of pure animals and from each species of pure birds, and he sacrificed
burnt offerings (olot) on the altar. G-d
smelled the appeasing fragrance; and G-d said to Himself, ‘Never again will I
curse the land because of man, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from
his youth … As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night shall never cease.” (Genesis 8:20-22)
There are a
number of interesting points in the above passage: It describes Noach’s offering to G-d. It contains the Torah’s first mention of the four
seasons, and it is worth noting G-d’s statement that “the inclination of
man’s heart is evil from his youth…”
This latter point stands in clear contradiction to religious doctrines
of a person’s soul being tainted with sin from birth.
Noach is
the third person recorded in Torah as bringing offerings to Hashem. Cain and Abel were the first two. They brought an offering from the field and an
offering from the flock, respectively.
The context of the Hebrew text is that they were moved to share their
bounty with G-d, which represents what is called a shelamim offering – a
voluntary offering to express gratitude to G-d (Leviticus 3:1). A portion of the shelamim offering
would be burned on the altar, a portion was given to the priests and the
remainder was eaten by the worshipper.
An olah
offering, on the other hand, is different.
The offering is completely consumed by fire upon the altar, there is no
portion shared by either the priests or the person bringing the offering. Conceptually, an olah offering
represents an individual’s desire to give himself completely to G-d.
Noach
brought an olah offering. His
entire world had been turned upside down, and probably a lot of his previous
doubts had been turned on their ear, too.
Upon disembarking the ark, it was clear from the devastated world around
them that they could not exist independent of Hashem. The world had a long road to recovery ahead
of it. In a statement of acceptance and
submission, Noach brought an olah offering.
“Elevating the Mundane”
From the
perspective of Torah, human beings were created upon earth with a single
purpose and that is to acknowledge and serve their Maker. We do that, not by closeting ourselves away
for endless hours of study and prayer, but by embracing life and elevating
every aspect of life, even the mundane things, by training our motivation in
all things, mundane to sublime, to be in service of Hashem. Study and prayer are vitally important to our
success in this area, because without knowledge of Hashem and His commandments,
how can we properly serve Him? But we
must apply this knowledge to each aspect of life … whether we “feel like it” or
not. Rabbi Milevsky notes that “Torah
does not recognize the notion of “I feel like it”. Man was not placed on the earth to simply
follow our own whims and desires…”[6]
We were placed upon this earth to make
it a Dwelling Place for the Presence of G-d through our actions in elevating
the physical and finite through the spiritual.
Rabbi
Milevsky summaries the lessons of Noach’s faith beautifully in the following
quotation from his commentary on Parasha Noach:
“Noach
was the progenitor of the principle … that mundane acts can be transformed into
mitzvoth when they are performed for the sake of Heaven. He established this principle by means of his
olah offering, which symbolized his intention to dedicate every facet of his
existence to divine service.
The
constant vicissitudes of life chip away at a person’s false sense of
self-reliance and sharpen the focus of his spiritual perspective. G-d made man vulnerable precisely in order to
help him renew his relationship with G-d.
If we will internalize the lesson Noach taught to mankind, we can
succeed in fulfilling the ultimate purpose of our existence.”[7]