Noach: Saving a Generation by Educating Its Offspring
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Date Posted: 2012-10-16 22:47:55
Saving a Generation by Educating Its Offspring
"These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a man righteous and wholehearted in his generations." -Bereshit 6.9
"And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Cham and Yaffet.: The redundancy in the Torah's phrasing points out that, unlike his forefathers who begat sons and daughters, Noah's three sons were his only descendants. They were saved on account of his virtue, and from them the earth flourished." -Ramban
The Torah describes Noah as a "righteous and wholehearted man in his generations," although it provides no details as to the nature of his righteousness. It is important to consider precisely what constitutes righteousness from one generation to another. Are the criteria for righteousness uniform or are they different across generations, as are the criteria for comparing the greatness of our leaders: "Yiftach in his generation was as Shmuel in his generation." (Rosh Hashanah 25:B)?
The Ramban, commenting on the verse, "And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Cham and Yaffet" explains that the Torah makes a deliberate count of Noah's three sons in order to stress the difference between Noah's offspring and those of earlier generations. By virtue of his own righteousness, Noah's sons merited being saved from the flood waters and were designated to repopulate the earth.
The Kli Yakar makes a similar point: "These are the generations." The word "These" supplants previous generations, as if to say that the earlier generations, whose descendants would be destroyed in the flood, were as if they had never existed. And why did Noah's offspring merit being saved more than the others? Because Noah was "a righteous and wholehearted man," who had assumed responsibility for ensuring the future of his offspring.
Each generation has its own righteous persons, and each has its own criteria and qualifications. But in every generation, righteousness s measured by one's ability to provide redemption for one's own children. For this reason, the Torah repeats the names of Noah's sons, to signify that they were saved by virtue of his righteousness.
The greatest challenge we face in our tumultuous and morally confusing times is to ensure the redemption of our children by instilling in them the values of the Torah and its commandments. For this reason, th Torah repeats the names of Noahs sons, to signify that they were saved by virtue of his righteousness.
t the Torah makes a deliberate count of Noah's three sons in order to stress the difference between Noah's offspring and those of earlier generations. By virtue of his own righteousness, Noah's sons merited being saved from the flood waters and were designated to repopulate the earth.
