What is our obligation to our neighbor? This is one of the fundamental moral questions any society faces and is a question that is central to Jewish moral thought. Our sages have grappled with this issue for millennia. Are we obligated to help our neighbors turn away from destructive behaviors? Must we step in to help those who are suffering or in need? Can we interfere to right an injustice or prevent one from happening? In all these cases our Torah and our rabbis answer with an emphatic yes.
This week’s Torah portion begins with these words, “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9) Rashi (12th C. Germany) asks, why does the text add the modifier “blameless in his age” to Noah’s righteousness? Why didn’t it simply describe him as righteous? He answers by bringing a discussion from Talmud Sanhedrin 108a, “Some of our Rabbis explain it to his credit: he was righteous even in his generation; it follows that had he lived in a generation of righteous people he would have been even more righteous owing to the force of good example. Others, however, explain it to his discredit: in comparison with his own generation, he was accounted righteous, but had he lived in the generation of Abraham, he would have been accounted as of no importance.” While Noah may have been righteous for his time he would never have measured up to Abraham.
When God tells Noah to build an ark to escape the flood and save himself, his family, and select animals, he follows God’s command but does nothing to help his neighbors. Abraham, on the other hand, when informed by God of the plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, argues with God to save these communities, as sinful as they may be, to save the innocent from being killed along with the guilty. In other words, one of the measures of righteousness, of moral behavior, is to follow God’s commands, but just as important is standing up for our neighbors. In our time are we more like Noah or more like Abraham? Are we righteous for our generation or are we simply righteous? Our actions make all the difference.
Noach, Genesis 6:9-11:32 , Parshat Hashavua for Shabbat, October 28, 2022
October 28, 2022 by Dean Kertesz • Drashot
What is our obligation to our neighbor? This is one of the fundamental moral questions any society faces and is a question that is central to Jewish moral thought. Our sages have grappled with this issue for millennia. Are we obligated to help our neighbors turn away from destructive behaviors? Must we step in to help those who are suffering or in need? Can we interfere to right an injustice or prevent one from happening? In all these cases our Torah and our rabbis answer with an emphatic yes.
This week’s Torah portion begins with these words, “Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9) Rashi (12th C. Germany) asks, why does the text add the modifier “blameless in his age” to Noah’s righteousness? Why didn’t it simply describe him as righteous? He answers by bringing a discussion from Talmud Sanhedrin 108a, “Some of our Rabbis explain it to his credit: he was righteous even in his generation; it follows that had he lived in a generation of righteous people he would have been even more righteous owing to the force of good example. Others, however, explain it to his discredit: in comparison with his own generation, he was accounted righteous, but had he lived in the generation of Abraham, he would have been accounted as of no importance.” While Noah may have been righteous for his time he would never have measured up to Abraham.
When God tells Noah to build an ark to escape the flood and save himself, his family, and select animals, he follows God’s command but does nothing to help his neighbors. Abraham, on the other hand, when informed by God of the plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, argues with God to save these communities, as sinful as they may be, to save the innocent from being killed along with the guilty. In other words, one of the measures of righteousness, of moral behavior, is to follow God’s commands, but just as important is standing up for our neighbors. In our time are we more like Noah or more like Abraham? Are we righteous for our generation or are we simply righteous? Our actions make all the difference.