לקוטי שיחות חלק ל״ה - נח א

Parshas Noach

1. On the verse "Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations," the Zohar states: "But in other generations he would not be considered anything — such as the generation of Avraham, the generation of Moshe and the generation of David."

Now, an interpretation of precisely this kind (that "in his generations" is meant to exclude other generations — "to his discredit") is cited in several places in the words of our Sages — with variations as to which other generations are meant: in the Gemara — "in his generations, but not in other generations," without specification; in the Tanchuma — that "had he lived in the generation of Avraham our father, he would not have found his hands and feet" (and similarly in Rashi's commentary on the Torah: "had he lived in the generation of Avraham, he would not have been considered anything"); and in Bereishis Rabbah — "had he lived in the generation of Moshe or in the generation of Shmuel, he would not have been a tzaddik."

Now, the interpretation of the Tanchuma, that the intent is to exclude "the generation of Avraham," is simply understood, for Avraham was the tzaddik who came closest in time after Noach's generations. It is therefore reasonable to interpret the intent of the verse "a righteous man, perfect in his generations" as meaning that specifically "in his generations," those of Noach, he was a perfect tzaddik, but had he lived in the generation of Avraham, which came after "his generations," he would not have been considered anything;

The interpretation in Bereishis Rabbah, "had he lived in the generation of Moshe or in the generation of Shmuel," can also be explained simply, that its intent is to limit the "discredit": specifically in the generation of Moshe and the generation of Shmuel he would not have been (considered) a tzaddik, for Moshe was the choicest of the human race, the father of all the prophets, with whom G‑d spoke face to face; and likewise Shmuel, who was equal to Moshe and Aharon. Therefore, specifically in their generations Noach would not have been (considered) a tzaddik, but in other generations he would have been (considered) a tzaddik, etc.;

But the interpretation of the Zohar, that the precise wording of the verse refers to three generations, "the generation of Avraham, the generation of Moshe and the generation of David," requires explanation: why specifically in these three generations would he "not be considered anything"?

2. It appears to me that the three tzaddikim of the three generations named by the Zohar were the ones in whom and through whom began the three fundamentals in the fulfillment of the purpose and intent of creation (which is for the sake of Israel, who are called "first," and for the sake of the Torah, which is called "first") — namely, Israel, Torah and kingship: Avraham our father is the beginning of the Jewish people; Moshe's chief distinction is that through him the Torah was given to the entire Jewish people; and the Jewish people are in a state of completeness in the world when they are in a state of kingship — and David is the start and beginning of "the essential kingship."

[These three tzaddikim are alluded to in the name Adam (אדם), whose letters are the initials of Avraham, David, Moshe. That is, the completion of the purpose of the creation of "adam," man, is through the three modes of Divine service of Avraham, Moshe and David.]

This is the content of the Zohar's interpretation: although Noach "saw a new world," which, simply understood, was after the Flood — similar to Adam, the first man, from whom the entire human race descended — and Noach, too, through his service fulfilled the role of "adam," nevertheless, compared to the three tzaddikim of these three generations, he is not considered anything.

The reason for this is understood, as explained above: the essential beginning of the service of fulfilling the intent of creation came about through the three tzaddikim ("Adam") in these three generations.

3. In greater detail, it may be said:

The novelty here — that despite Noach's greatness and righteousness, his service is not considered anything compared to the level of the service of Avraham, Moshe and David — is because Noach's own service contained something resembling the unique service of these three generations through the aforementioned tzaddikim.

The explanation of this will be understood by first noting what was new in man's service in these three generations, which are three stages and levels in the order of Divine service:

In the generation of Avraham: Of Avraham, who was the first Jew, it is said "Avraham was one," meaning that "the whole world was on one side and he (Avraham) was on the other side" — the entire world worshipped idols, and "Avraham labored and grew wise on his own and served the Holy One, blessed be He." He stood firm against the whole world, and knew that the whole world was mistaken, etc.

This is also the basic and primary element in man's Divine service in general: that the Jewish people strengthen themselves in their attachment to G‑d and stand firm in their service — against the seventy nations and the entire world that obstruct and hinder them, etc.

The generation of Moshe, the generation of the Giving of the Torah: The novelty in the service of the generation of the Giving of the Torah is that (not only does the world not interfere with man's service, but on the contrary) man's service brings about the world's existence and stability. As our Sages say on the verse "the earth feared and was still": at first it feared and in the end it was still [for the Holy One, blessed be He, made a condition with the work of creation: "If Israel accepts the Torah, you will endure; and if not, I will return you to chaos and void"]. Before the Giving of the Torah the earth (the world) was in a state of "fear," and through Israel's acceptance of the Torah it became "still."

This is the second stage in man's service: the existence of the world through the Torah. Through the service of the Jewish people in Torah study and the fulfillment of the mitzvos (which is possible only in this world), they bring about the very existence of the world.

The generation of David: "The essential kingship" is the kingship of the House of David, whose purpose is to make the Holy One, blessed be He, King over the entire world. And so it was literally: through David the conquest of the Land of Israel from the nations of the world was completed, culminating in a state of complete sovereignty right from its beginning, as it was in the days of Shlomo, when the nations brought gifts to Shlomo — for through the kingship of the House of David there was a revelation of the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the world.

This is the novelty of the generation of David over the generation of Moshe: through Torah and mitzvos the world is sustained as it is, whereas through the revelation of kingship an elevation is brought about in the world.

The completion of this will come through the last "king" of the House of David, the "final redeemer," who is called "a king from the House of David," with the coming of our righteous Moshiach. Then the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He, will be revealed in the entire world: both among the nations of the world, as he "will perfect the entire world to serve G‑d together, as it is said: 'For then I will turn to the peoples a pure language… to serve Him with one accord,'" and "many peoples shall go and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of G‑d, to the house of the G‑d of Yaakov, and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths"; and also among all created beings in the world — "they shall not harm nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G‑d as the waters cover the sea."

[A basis and support for this interpretation (of the words of the Zohar) can be found in my father's explanation of the Zohar there, in our parshah. These are his words: "He counts these three: Avraham, Moshe, David. That is because these three are the three crowns: the crown of priesthood, the crown of Torah, the crown of kingship. Priesthood — Avraham, the man of kindness, and the priesthood was given to Avraham, as it is written: 'You are a priest forever.' Torah — Moshe, for the Torah was given through Moshe and is called the Torah of Moshe. Kingship — David, for the kingship was given to David forever."

For the matter of "the crown of priesthood" is similar to what was explained above regarding the definition of "the generation of Avraham," since the role of the kohen is that he is set apart to serve G‑d and minister to Him, which in general is the role of the Jewish people. Moreover, the title "priesthood" applies to every Jew, as the Rambam writes that it applies to anyone who wishes "to set himself apart to stand before G‑d, to minister to Him and to serve Him and to know G‑d," and to cast off "from his neck the yoke of the many calculations which men have sought; (then) he is sanctified as holy of holies."]

4. Now, (something resembling) these three modes of service were present in Noach at the time of the Flood:

a) In his own service — which resembles Avraham's being "on one side, etc." For although the generation was at the lowest possible level — "all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth" — Noach nevertheless held strong and "was a righteous man, perfect in his generations." He was not drawn after the conduct of the entire generation; on the contrary, "Noach the righteous would rebuke them and say to them: Repent."

b) His service likewise had an element of effecting something in the world (like the effect of the Giving of the Torah), for through him the entire world was saved, to the point that the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that "all flesh shall never again be cut off by the waters of the Flood, and there shall never again be a flood to destroy the earth."

c) Furthermore: Noach's deeds also brought about an "elevation" and change in the world (like the effect of the kingship of the House of David). For in Noach's ark there were all kinds of animals and beasts, etc., including predatory and ravenous beasts, and yet they did no harm whatsoever to one another. It is explained that this was because in Noach's ark there prevailed a state of peace resembling what is said of the Future to Come, "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb… they shall not harm nor destroy…," for then (in Noach's ark) there was a "revelation" of what is above the limitations of the world (as it is in its own right).

[In truth, this state existed not only while they were in the ark, but even before they entered it. As explained in the words of our Sages and in Rashi, only those that had cleaved to their own species and had not corrupted their way came into the ark; moreover, they came of their own accord — all of which is an extraordinarily wondrous and great miracle:

a) that the living creatures of the world came of their own accord; b) the choicest of them (the pure species) came seven by seven, while of the other species they came two by two; c) as they went into the ark they walked in orderly fashion, etc., without harming one another.]

This is the deeper intent of the Zohar's words here: although Noach's service was a lofty and unique service, suited to serve as the foundation for the conduct of the world anew, and therefore included all three of the above elements in completing the service of "adam" in creation [a) to stand firmly at one's post, in such a way that one is not affected by and takes no account of one's surroundings; b) to bring stability and permanence to the world; c) to elevate the world higher than it is in its own right, even in its ultimate good] — nevertheless, "he is not considered anything."

The reason is that this was merely something resembling chinuch, training, toward the completion of creation — toward these three modes of service as they were in their true form in the generation of Avraham, the generation of Moshe and the generation of David.

5. The explanation of this may be as follows:

Although in the actual deed of a mitzvah there is no difference between fulfilling it merely on account of "chinuch" and fulfilling it out of obligation (one who is commanded and does) — for when a minor is trained in a mitzvah he should be trained (according to several opinions) to perform it in a fully valid manner, like an adult — nevertheless, there is a fundamental difference between them in the content of the fulfillment. Namely: the purpose of chinuch is only to accustom the minor to the mitzvos in which he will be obligated when he grows up; this is essentially a matter of restraint and separation. That is, since "man is born a wild ass's colt," he must be trained and accustomed to walk on the straight path, so that when he grows up he will walk in the way of the Torah.

For this reason: a) although chinuch applies to all the mitzvos, the obligation of chinuch applies more to the prohibitive commandments than to the positive commandments; b) "they train them (the minors) to serve out of fear," meaning that the way a minor fulfills the mitzvos is not the way they are fulfilled by an obligated adult, who "does what is true because it is true."

It follows that the essential difference between the definition of a minor's chinuch and an adult's fulfillment of the mitzvos is this: fulfillment on account of chinuch has no purpose in itself; its purpose is that he be trained and accustomed to the mitzvos in which he will be obligated when he grows up. Whereas an adult's fulfillment of G‑d's commands has its purpose in the fulfillment itself — to fulfill G‑d's commands.

This is the difference between Noach's service and accomplishment in the three above-mentioned areas (Israel, Torah and kingship), which was only in the category of chinuch, and their essential nature as it was in (the generation of) Avraham, Moshe and David:

That Noach "was perfect in his generations," that is, relative to the people of his generation, refers (mainly) to those matters in which that generation was wicked. And since the chief wickedness of that generation was in matters between man and his fellow — robbery, immorality, etc. — and "the decree against them (the generation of the Flood) was sealed only on account of robbery," it follows that Noach's service, too, was (mainly) in matters between man and his fellow. Now, matters "between man and his fellow" have (in general, relative to matters "between man and G‑d") no purpose in their own right, but serve only so as not to disrupt "the settlement of the world" — similar to chinuch, whose purpose is not in itself but to accustom the one being trained and to prepare him for the time of obligation (as explained above). Moreover: even this was not so much out of his recognition of and faith in the Holy One, blessed be He, but because of the Flood. Just as his call to the people of his generation to arouse them to repentance was based on the warning of the punishment that the Holy One, blessed be He, would bring the Flood upon them, so it is understood that his own service, too, was mainly out of fear of punishment — to the point that our Sages said that he did not enter the ark until the waters forced him. This detail, too, is like "chinuch" out of fear.

In "the generation of Avraham," however: (a) Avraham's chief innovation (that the whole world was on one side and Avraham on the other side) was not (only) in matters between man and his fellow, but in matters of faith — the negation of idolatry and the strengthening of faith in G‑d; (b) Avraham's recognition of the Holy One, blessed be He (and likewise his effect upon the world — that "he began to inform the people that it is fitting to serve only the G‑d of the world… and to call out in a loud voice to the whole world and inform them that there is one G‑d for the whole world and it is fitting to serve Him") came from the fact that "his heart wandered and understood until he grasped the way of truth and understood the line of righteousness through his correct understanding," and not out of fear of punishment or for his own benefit. On the contrary, he gave up his life for faith in G‑d. As the Rambam writes, "doing what is true because it is true" is the distinction of Avraham our father.

The same applies to the second matter — the saving and sustaining of the world: what was newly established after the Flood, that "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake… nor will I again smite every living thing as I have done… all flesh shall never again be cut off by the waters of the Flood, and there shall never again be a flood to destroy the earth," is (only) a matter of preventing undesirable things, the negation of the world's destruction (similar to chinuch, which removes man's negative inclination). Whereas in the generation of Moshe, through the Giving of the Torah, a positive existence and strengthening was added to the reality of the world; only then was the world's existence justified.

And likewise in the third matter: the state of peace and the miracles that were in the ark at the time of the Flood (and similarly at the time of the preparation, etc., for the Flood) were also on account of the necessity of rescue and "to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth."

Whereas in "the generation of David" — that is, the kingship of David, through whom the preparation was made for the building of the Holy Temple, with the ten miracles that were performed for our fathers in the Holy Temple — there was then a revelation of the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He, by virtue of the indwelling of His Presence in the Holy Temple, to the point that all the nations saw the greatness of the accomplishment and distinction of the kings of the House of David and the benefit of the Holy Temple (as mentioned above regarding the days of Shlomo); and especially when the completion of this comes in the Future to Come, when "they shall not harm nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G‑d as the waters cover the sea."

6. It may further be said, more deeply — based on what my father wrote (in his above-mentioned notes), that Avraham, Moshe and David are the three crowns: the crown of priesthood, the crown of Torah and the crown of kingship; and he continues there that "in Noach there was none of all this, only the crown of a good name, for in his generations he had a good name, which is below all these three":

The title "crown" of priesthood, of Torah and of kingship indicates that their nature is above the head, like an actual crown which is above a person's head. That is, it is a level of service that a person does not reach by his own power and intellect; rather, it is above him. In other words: it is something that comes from the definition of the Creator and not from the definition of the created being. On the other hand, when a person is crowned with a crown — the crown of priesthood, the crown of Torah and the crown of kingship — it is not that he acquires something external, an addition to himself; rather, it becomes his entire being (that he is crowned with this crown).

It may be said that this is the difference between Noach's service in these three areas in completing the intent of creation, which was in the category of "chinuch," and the service of the three generations of Avraham, Moshe and David, which was in the manner of "kesser," a crown:

Noach's service, and the state of the world after the Flood, were only as far as the created being can reach by his own power. Consequently, both in his own service and in his effect on sustaining the world, there was no departure from the bounds of the world and creation — creation remained within its category and definition, which has no (revealed) connection to the Creator. Whereas the service in the generation of Avraham, the generation of Moshe and the generation of David was in the manner of kesser, from the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is above creation. And it is obvious that the mode of service of created beings, compared to service that comes from a power above creation, "is not considered anything."

7. The explanation of this in detail:

Noach's Divine service was connected with G‑dliness as it has, so to speak, contracted itself in accordance with the measure of creation. Therefore his comprehension of the Holy One, blessed be He, accomplished in him only that he not be drawn after other people in corrupting the world, contrary to the settlement of the world, and nothing beyond that. Whereas in Avraham's case, although the beginning of his drawing close to the Holy One, blessed be He, was through proofs from the matters of creation, his recognition of the Holy One, blessed be He, was (also) as He is above creation, the level of "kesser." Therefore he reached the level of self-sacrifice, "doing what is true because it is true."

So it is also with the second and third matters: what was brought about in the world after the Flood — "I will not again curse… all flesh shall never again be cut off…" — and the unique state that existed in Noach's ark, are neither (a) a true change in the state of the world nor (b) a true elevation in the state of the world.

Whereas the effect of the generation of Moshe through the Torah, namely the existence of the world — the Torah preceded the world, and the effect through the Torah is conditional (as mentioned above, the Holy One, blessed be He, made a condition with the work of creation: if Israel accepts the Torah, well and good, and if not, I will return you to chaos and void), and the entire existence of the world came into being for the sake of the Torah, which is called "first."

Higher still is the generation of David — the matter of kingship, the revelation of the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the world. Its advantage over the effect on the world that comes by virtue of the Torah is that the Torah's effect on the world does not pertain (so much) to the existence of the world itself, for the Torah was given only to Israel; rather, through Israel's acceptance of the Torah, and through Israel's Torah study and fulfillment of the mitzvos, an effect is also brought about in the world;

Whereas with kingship — just as with earthly kingship, the definition of kingship is that it concerns the very existence of the people, whose entire existence is the king, to the point that anyone who rebels against the kingship is liable to death, which is not by way of punishment but a consequence that follows of itself; so too with the kingship of Heaven, the acceptance of the yoke of the kingship of Heaven through self-nullification to the King (which is chiefly through the kingship of the House of David) is such that the nullification is in their very existence —

So too is the effect of kingship in the world: when the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealed in the world, it is not something added to the existence of creation and the world; rather, this is the entire existence of the world, that the Holy One, blessed be He, King of the world, is felt and revealed in it. As emphasized in the above-cited verse, "for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G‑d as the waters cover the sea" — this is the entire existence of the earth, like "the waters cover the sea," for the sea is not a thing in its own right; the entire existence of the sea is that it is full of water.

8. Now, in this matter there is a lesson in man's Divine service (as with everything in the Torah).

It may be said that this is the precise meaning of the Zohar's wording, "But in other generations he is not considered anything" — in the present tense, and not in the past tense as (in the Tanchuma) "had he lived in the generation of Avraham, he would not have found his hands and feet," or as in Bereishis Rabbah, "he would not have been a tzaddik." For the main intent of the Zohar is not, G‑d forbid, to speak disparagingly of Noach, but (chiefly) as a lesson in the service of every Jew: even now there is the service of Noach, and about this it says that compared to the service (now) in "the generation of Avraham, the generation of Moshe and the generation of David," the mode of service of Noach "is not considered anything."

That is to say:

There is service in these three general areas as it comes from the side of man: man (the created being) comes to the conclusion that the desirable path is not to be drawn after one's surroundings nor to be affected by them, to stand firm in one's service of one's Maker, to effect change in the world through Torah and, even more, to reveal the kingship of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the world.

On this the Zohar's interpretation teaches us that all three of these modes of service must be done not (only) out of the created being's recognition, but from the side of the Creator,

from the side of the Holy One, blessed be He — which is the level of the crown of priesthood, the crown of Torah and the crown of kingship: service that comes from above man's intellect, which is in the head. As explained above.

(From talks of Shabbos Parshas Noach, 5745 and 5749)

Key Lesson

Noach did in miniature what Avraham, Moshe and David later did in full: he stood firm against his whole generation, saved the world, and brought peace into the ark. Yet all of this was only a kind of "training," done within the limits of creation and largely out of fear of the Flood, while their service was a "crown" that came from G‑d Himself, above the created being. The Zohar speaks in the present tense because the lesson is for us now: it is not enough to resist our surroundings, sustain the world through Torah and reveal G‑d's kingship merely because our own reasoning tells us to; we must do it from a commitment to G‑d that stands above our intellect.