When Noach left the Teivah, right away he took some of the kosher animals, as he had seven pairs of them from each species, and he brought korbanos to Hashem. When Hashem smelled the pleasing fragrance of Noach’s offerings He promised never to bring another Mabul.
Noach was big enough of a tzaddik to establish a world with lasting power, a world that goes on and on until the final generation. There will never again be cause for another world-destroying flood.
Then Noach planted a vineyard. He then drank wine, got drunk, and rolled around shamefully in his tent. What is the point of this story? What are we supposed to learn from it?
The “Self-Made Man”
Adam HaRishon was created perfect. He did not build himself up to be what he was. He was Hashem’s handiwork.
The next notable tzaddik was Noach. Noach was something else altogether. He was born into a world steeped in wickedness, and he successfully stood up to some very difficult tests.
Noach was a “self-made man,” in the spiritual sense. After him came Avraham, who was totally self-made. There never was a person who built himself up from nothing the way Avraham did. It says about him: “Avraham was one and only.”
Besides bringing awareness of Hashem back into the world, Avraham also taught the nations how to be civilized and humane, which was Hashem’s message to the world.
Nowadays, wherever you go, if someone falls in the street and is in distress, an ambulance comes and takes him to a hospital, and they even trouble themselves to contact his family about it. We live in a world where civilized behavior is the norm. This comes from Avraham Avinu.
Noach, and even more so Avraham, were “self-made men,” in the spiritual sense.
Adam’s World Was Not Meant to Last
The world we live in cannot be based on Adam HaRishon, who was created perfect. Hashem has enough angels in heaven. He doesn’t need a world full of perfected, angelic beings.
Rather, Hashem created us and placed us in this world as creatures who carry “the image of G-d,” thus enabling us to build ourselves and the world. Hashem created Adam HaRishon, and we, in Hashem’s image, “create” ourselves. This explains why the world of Adam HaRishon was destroyed. It was not meant to last.
Thus the Mabul was not just a punishment. It was the undoing of Adam HaRishon’s world, of the original world as created by G-d. Then began a new world based on “tzaddik.” The first such tzaddik was Noach.
This is our world today. It is a world that stands on the pillar called “tzaddik,” as it says: “A tzaddik is the foundation of the world.” Our personal world, too, needs to be based on “tzaddik.” Each one of us in his own personal world, in his own life, home and family, needs to build things on the foundation of righteousness. This is the world of Noach.
It All Starts With Humanity
Noach established the level of humanity, and on top of this, Avraham came and established the level of the Jewish people. The world’s most basic level is that of humanity, and we Jews, in addition to being members of the human race, are also members of the people of Israel. But we cannot disown our basic humanity.
As explained, kindness was instilled into the world as a human trait. It is not uniquely Jewish. It is important for us to realize this.
Many young people, when Mother tells them to put on a sweater, don’t want to. And when the doctor’s orders are to do a certain thing for our health, many of us won’t do it unless forced to. That’s why Hashem in His great mercy created the sense of hunger and made food to be tasty. Otherwise, we might not eat at all.
Why are we this way? What is this strange behavior all about?
It is a human trait not to listen to those who are concerned with our bodily welfare. Wearing a sweater, or taking a medicine, is for protecting the body, which is essentially an animal trait. Animals instinctively protect their physical wellbeing. When we are protecting our body, we feel we are being animalistic, which we feel is degrading, so we try to avoid it.
But this is a mistake. If we want to be human, we need to protect the body, too. We need to do everything this entails, for we cannot disown our bodies.
Similarly, there are Jews who look down on humanistic matters, such as being polite, saying please and thank you, etc. They feel it is beneath them, because they are not mere human beings, they are Jews.
This is a serious mistake. In order to be a Jew, you first need to be a human being.
In short, Noach created the world of humanity, and Avraham created the world of Jewishness. Now let’s talk about what a human being is and what a Jew is.
