"A man of the earth”
(Genesis 20:9) Marcheshvan 5, 5781/October 23, 2020
"These are the generations of Noach, Noach was a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noach walked with G-d." No one, but no one, merits the introduction that the Torah grants Noach. Not Avraham, not Moshe. A righteous man. A perfect man. A walker with G-d. Noach undoubtably earned these unparalleled honorifics. He found chen - grace - in G-d's eyes. He did precisely as G-d instructed him. He saved humanity. We are all here today thanks to Noach.
Traditionally, Noach comes under some criticism, either for not trying, or for not succeeding, in convincing his fellow man to repent. An entire generation, with the exception of Noach and his family, was lost. Noach is often compared to Avraham, who reached out throughout his entire life to others, bringing them into the tent of the faithful, even coming to the defense of the reprobate city of Sodom. But in all fairness, G-d told Noach: "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth has become full of robbery because of them, and behold I am destroying them from the earth." (Genesis 6:13) G-d didn't ask Noach to address the people, nor did He present repentance and rescue as a viable option. G-d had made His decision. His mind was made up. Perhaps the saddest words to appear in Torah were these: "And HaShem regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and He became grieved in His heart." (ibid 6:6) G-d was brokenhearted. His dream of enjoying His creation in the company of man was shattered.
Noach heroically navigates his ark through the tempest and, at last, runs ground upon Mount Ararat. Upon emerging with his family and with all the species which he saved, and witnessing, for the first time, the utter devastation that had taken place, he could have easily fallen into despair. He could have cursed his fate. He could have cursed G-d. Being one of a total of eight sole survivors whose entire world has been wiped away is not necessarily a blessing. The utter loneliness, the silent desolation which greeted him, would shatter many a man. Who wouldn't cry out to G-d and beg for his own death when facing the cosmic emptiness which confronted Noach? The reality facing Noach was overwhelming. Where to even begin?
Noach, without hesitation, did the following: "And Noach built an altar to HaShem, and he took of all the clean animals and of all the clean fowl and brought up burnt offerings on the altar." (ibid 8:20) The first thing Noach did upon emerging from the ark was to build an altar and express his utter gratitude to G-d. Without question, without reservation, without any misgiving, Noach reached out to HaShem. He was not instructed to do so. This was Noach's initiative. The very first thing the second father of mankind did upon meeting his new reality was to make an offering to G-d.
"And HaShem smelled the pleasant aroma, and HaShem said to Himself, 'I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done.'" (ibid 8:21) G-d responded to Noach's gesture. Had Noach not reached out to G-d, what would G-d have done? Did G-d have a plan for after the flood? G-d, crushed and crestfallen by the perfidy displayed by His prize creation, called for man's obliteration in a moment of cosmic despondency. G-d, it seems, was ready to throw in the towel concerning man, but for Noach, who "found favor in the eyes of HaShem." (ibid 6:8)
It was Noach's expression of faith and trust and thanks to HaShem that revived G-d's spirit. "HaShem smelled the pleasant aroma!" Pleasant aroma in Hebrew is ray-ach ni-cho-ach. Ray-ach, meaning aroma, is from the same word as ru-ach - spirit, and ni-cho-ach, translated as pleasant, is from the same word that the name Noach derives, meaning rest, and grace, and favor. Noach's offering of love to G-d revived G-d's faith in man and His love for man. G-d blesses Noach and his children, and in a spirit of contrition, G-d vows to Noach that "So long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (ibid 8:22) Noach's simple gesture of making an offering to G-d inspires G-d to proceed to enter into a covenant with man, the covenant whose sign is the rainbow in the cloud.
Following the flood Noach is no longer given the epithet of righteous or perfect. Following G-d's declaration of His covenant with man, Noach is referred to as ish ha'adamah - "a man of the earth." (ibid 9:20) This may be the highest form of praise that Torah could have ascribed to post-flood Noach. Noach was grounded, and by reaching out to G-d, Noach was reconnecting G-d to the fate of humanity. Noach re-invited G-d to His creation with the promise of a new beginning, one of faith and allegiance to G-d, and G-d reciprocated in kind.
G-d would never forget this gesture. On Mount Sinai, immediately following the giving of the ten commandments, G-d instructs Israel, "An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall slaughter beside it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. Wherever I allow My name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you." (Exodus 20:21) An altar of earth - first made by a man of the earth. Man's reaching out to G-d is the pleasant aroma that so pleases G-d. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Noach for weathering the storm of G-d's dismay with man. We owe Noach as great a debt of gratitude for the faith he maintained in G-d throughout his ordeal, which he expressed with sublime humility in building an altar to HaShem.
Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem!
Yitzchak Reuven
The Temple Institute
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Haftarah For Shabbat Noach Isaiah Chapter 54,1-10: "Sing you barren woman who has not borne; burst out into song and jubilate, you who have not experienced birth pangs, for the children of the desolate one are more than the children of the married woman," says HaShem... "
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