D'var Torah - On Goodness

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Genesis - Noah

On Goodness

Elyse Eisenberg
Agudath Israel
North Caldwell, New Jersey
October 3, 1994

My parsha, Noah, asks important questions -- like how should we measure the goodness of a human being?

Noah was a righteous man in his generation; Noah walked with G-d. (Genesis 6:9) Did the wickedness surrounding Noah make him seem more right-minded or would he stand out as a good man even among good men? What does it mean that Noah walked with G-d?

Noah did all that G-d had commanded him. He did it [exactly]. (Genesis 6:22) Is that what being righteous means -- just taking orders? Shouldn't Noah have argued with G-d about the flood, like Abraham did to try and save Sodom and Gomorra? I wonder how Noah compares to my generation. How would we measure up to Noah? Noah seems a little bit crazy to me, building a gigantic ark and thinking that two of every animal were going to suddenly appear and come aboard. Today Noah would most likely be put in a hospital, at least until the rain started.

I wonder what Noah would be doing if he were living today? Perhaps he would be protesting at the U.N. against nuclear weapons, or helping the sick in Rwanda, or waiting for a sign from G-d. Maybe the evil in Noah's time wasn't as horrible as the crimes being committed in Bosnia today.

Many people ask "What has this world come to?", but has it ever been different? The world was corrupt before God, and the land was filled with crime. (Genesis 6:11) The corruption in Noah's generation might have been the same as today or not even as bad. Look at what is happening in Bosnia. If that is so, how can I be optimistic about the future? If the same evil is with us as thousands of years ago, how can we possibly think that things are going to improve?

What a waste of life. G-d must have not been thinking ahead, even though He is supposed to know everything including the future. "I Myself am bringing the flood. Water shall be on the earth to destroy all flesh." (Genesis 6:17) What was God's purpose in flooding the world, killing all those people, and all the innocent animals. I have even more trouble understanding why G-d killed the animals than the people. How can animals be corrupt? And no good came of the flood anyway. Noah and his family must have carried within them the evil that made today's evil possible, even if they themselves were good. Maybe G-d's plan didn't succeed because humanity isn't meant to be perfect. Every human being has a little evil in him even from the day of creation. Hopefully, in most people's hearts the good outweighs the bad.

I may never be able to completely understand the lessons of Noah, but I do know that his goodness saved a little piece of the world, and from that, all life started again. If everyone believed that the survival of the world depended on their own goodness, then I think we would see some changes for the better. If G-d ever weighs the good and evil of the world again, I hope that my life will count on the side of the good. I hope my Bat Mitzvah is the beginning of that kind of life.