Noah was righteous in his generation. There are many sources one can go to which explains what this is really saying. The typical comparison is made to Abraham our father, and that Noah might not have been considered as righteous or as a Tzadik in the time of Abraham. Typically sources would point out that Noah did not do a good enough job in his day to bring the people of his generation to repent. Additionally the sources would say that the flood waters were called “the waters of Noah” as a way to point a negative aspect in his character. Yes, the above is perhaps an oversimplification, yet it may contain the seed of the idea.

However, that may not be what brought me here to my keyboard to write about today. It is in some of the esoteric teachings of Torah which speaks of the “Lamed Vav” tzadikim (36 righteous people) who are on this earth at any given time. There are those who say that by their merit the entire world is saved from destruction. These people are believed to be hidden. so that one would not ever be able to approach one of these individual and ask “Hey, what are we supposed to do about:___________,  __________ and ________? What do you think about, so and and so? Whats going to be with the economy? Should I invest in __________, _________, or ___________?”…

It kind of sounds like a good thing that these people are hidden. However the first obvious question should be, what about the generation of Noah? Where were these 36 righteous people then? One reading this might recall, the way Abraham “negotiated” with Hashem (G-d) to try to save Sodom and Gomorrah. In this example Abraham did not stop at 36, and ask Hashem to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the 36 tzadikim, because Avraham knew that the 36 tzadikim never all live in the same particular location, at the same time. (No source, pure speculation, and idea that I just made up and believe). No, in this case Abraham stopped at 10. So now we have another valid question which could be, how come Noah did not think to negotiate (or daven-pray) to G-d, not to destroy the earth, and all of its animals and plants? Well now that is exactly the point, the explainers or commentators (meforshim) tell us that Noah was righteous in his generation.

No related posts.