In the Gemara (Sanhedrin 108a), comparison is made between Noach and other generations, Rashi specifically mentions Avraham Avinu. In this shiur I would like to explore the view of the Zohar HaKadosh who compares Noach, not with Avraham, but rather with Moshe.
Everyone knows the story of Noach as described in the Midrashim HaKadosh Baruch Hu resolved to destroy the world with a flood because that generation was evil. He tells Noach to build an Ark. It takes Noach 120 years to build, not because that is how long the actual construction takes, but because Noach has to grow (from scratch) the cedar trees for the wood, since all the existing cedars were being used for idol worship.
In all these 120 years people see Noach building the Ark and ask what he is doing. Noach tells them that HaKadosh Baruch Hu is going to destroy the world and that only those who believe in Him will be saved. The generation mocks him and do not repent. HaKadosh Baruch Hu unleashes the flood and the world is destroyed. Noach and his family are saved, they are on the Ark for 376 days and then they exit to find the world destroyed.
Besides building the Ark, what was Noach doing in the 120 years of its construction? We know from the Midrash above, that the actual construction did not take 120 years, perhaps 5-6 years, tops. How was Noach occupied in those 120 years?
The Zohar (New Zohar, vol. 1, Noach) tells us (or at least it tells us what he was not doing). When Noach alighted from the Ark and saw the world destroyed, he burst into tears and said “HaKadosh Baruch Hu You are merciful, why did You not have mercy on Your creations?”
HaKadosh Baruch Hu replied – “False shepherd! now you ask Me this? I gave you 120 years to plead for mercy for the world, but when I told you that you will be saved on the Ark, you did not think about the rest of the world. Now that the world is destroyed you open your mouth to ask me for mercy?”
There is no doubt, it is not even a question, that Noach was G-d-fearing. Noach was not part of the depravation of the world, he did not commit adultery, he did not steal, he did not worship idols, etc. Noach was the grandson of Metushelach, the previous Gadol HaDor, he learned Torah from Metushelach, he was the new Gadol HaDor and of the stature that he could have saved even that depraved generation from oblivion. Yes, people saw him building the Ark and when they asked him why, he told them.
However, did Noach comb the land preaching doom and destruction and beseeching people to repent (like Yona did in Ninveh)? Did he pray for his generation, his “flock,” including all the sinners amongst them? The Zohar tells us that he did not. For this reason, the flood is forever remembered in his name, “Mei Noach” (Isiah 54:9).
Contrast Noach with Moshe Rabbeinu. When Am Yisrael sinned with the golden calf, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says to Moshe “I will destroy them all and reseed Am Yisrael from you!” Moshe is safe, he is to be spared. Despite this, Moshe pleads with HaKadosh Baruch Hu for his flock.
Moshe says to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, “If you destroy Am Yisrael, then erase my name from the Torah.” Moshe prays for his generation, even though they are sinners and deserving of obliteration. HaKadosh Baruch Hu acquiesces and forgives Am Yisrael.
The Zohar calls Moshe – faithful shepherd.
The Ari HaKadosh (Likutei Torah, Breishit) brings perhaps the biggest “mindblower” of all.
The Ari, z”l, says that Noach was born with three neshamot, Yosef, Noach and Moshe – all in one. This is hinted at in the name that Lemech gave his son when he was born – “Ye-nach-em,” Yud for Yosef, Noach and then Mem for Moshe.
Lemech was not sure which of the three neshamot would be the dominant one, he was waiting to see. Metushelach (or according to the other opinion HaKadosh Baruch Hu), called him Noach – the end of the story is that Noach became the dominant neshama and neither Moshe nor Yosef.
According to the Midrash (Breishit Rabbah 34:14), HaKadosh Baruch Hu intended to give the generation of Noach the Torah. For this reason, He heaped abundance and prosperity on them. HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave them a perfect climate. When they sowed seeds, it yielded crops for 40 years! Nobody ever became ill, they possessed superhuman strength and they all lived to over 800 years of age.
This was the very same situation that Am Yisrael were in before Matan Torah. HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave them Clouds of Glory, to provide a perfect climate environment and protection from the elements. HaKadosh Baruch Hu gave them unlimited free food (mann) and water (well of Miriam) that cured all their physical ailments and gave them superhuman strength.
Instead of expressing gratitude to HaKadosh Baruch Hu for this abundance, Noach’s generation rejected HaKadosh Baruch Hu and became a depraved society worthy only of destruction.
Noach could have saved his generation, he could have pleaded for his generation, he could have spent his life in sackcloth and ashes, fasting, roaming the land beseeching people to repent, like R’ Tzadok prior to the destruction of the 2nd Temple (Gittin 56a). Instead, Noach stayed put, secure in the knowledge that he and his family would be safe – and did nothing. Did he defy HaKadosh Baruch Hu?
On the contrary, he did everything HaKadosh Baruch Hu told him to the letter. However, he failed as a leader. A leader is required to go beyond the letter of the law and act out of love for his flock. Instead of being a Moshe, Noach was simply Noach.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 108a) above says that Noach in fact also deserved to die like the rest of his generation, and if not for the fact that he “found favor in Hashem’s eyes,” he would have perished. HaKadosh Baruch Hu kept him alive because the neshama of Moshe was to be descended from him. According to the Ari HaKadosh, Noach’s neshama did not achieve its intended purpose and had to return 17 generations later with Moshe.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: How many inches is a “cubit?”
Answer to Last Shiur’s Trivia Question: The pasuk says “Yesovevenhu Yevoneneihu” (Devarim 32:10). HaKadosh Baruch Hu surrounds us. With what? HaKadosh Baruch Hu surrounded us with the Clouds of Glory, which, according to R’ Eliezer (Gemara, Sukkah 11b) is the origin of the mitzvah of sitting in the Sukkah.
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