The reason that Noach’s manner of serving G-d was not at all comparable to that of Avraham, Moshe and Dovid was because the manner in which he served G-d was similar to practice before accomplishment of an actual objective.
Noach can be compared to the education process that one employs to teach their child before they become responsible to fulfill the actual mitzvah. Although the child does the same mitzvah as the adult, there can be no comparison between the two. The child is merely practicing the mitzvos so that he can become accustomed to them. The training is not an end for itself, but an exercise for the actual event to come.
It is for this reason that the mitzvah of education is defined: (a) primarily that the child should not transgress a negative commandment (in order that he should not develop negative habits and tendencies), and is less pronounced in positive commandments that he can learn later. (b) We educate the child to do the mitzvos out of fear and not for truth’s sake.
The reason fear is stressed is because we are mainly concerned with the child developing good habits as opposed to truly serving G-d. In education, the mitzvos that are performed are for the child’s sake, so that he become accustomed to certain practices. When an adult performs a mitzvah he is doing it for the mitzvah’s sake, to fulfill the commandment of G-d.
In a sense, Noach was not serving G-d, but was performing the preparatory actions, as a child fulfills them. In the same way as with a child the negative is stressed as opposed to the positive, and fear more than truth, so too, Noach served G-d in a similar manner.
Noach was righteous “in his generations.” Meaning to say, that in the aspects in which they were evil, he was righteous. Their evil was particularly expressed in the way they dealt with their fellow, as the Torah tells us: “the earth is filled with robbery.” So too, the righteousness of Noach was primarily regarding things that were between him and his fellow man. In those aspects he was ethical and moral, but not as much in matters pertaining exclusively to his Creator.
While being ethical and moral is a tremendous thing, its main purpose is to make the world a decent and civilized place, so that afterwards a person can do mitzvos and serve G-d. This is similar to education, which serves as a means to an end. In the same way that with the education we do not stress a deep commitment to G-d, but rather fulfilling the mitzvos out of fear, Noach too only entered the ark and served G-d because he was fearful of the impending flood, and not because of a deep commitment to the Almighty.
In light of the above, we can understand the differences between the Noach’s service of the Almighty and the manners in which Avraham, Moshe and Dovid served G-d.
- Standing up against the world: When Avraham took a stand against the world, it was not merely for basic morality, but primarily to establish monotheism. He did not stand up for G-d because he feared G-d’s retribution, or because serving G-d would save his life. On the contrary, he served G-d even when doing so endangered his life! He served G-d because G-d is Truth, and not for any ulterior motive.
- Strengthening the existence of the world: Noach only caused that the world would not be destroyed, but he did not strengthen the state that the world was in. When Moshe, however, revealed the Torah to the world, he strengthened the very existence of the world in an active way.
- Elevating the world: The change that Noach brought about in the animals wasn’t an end in itself, but was to ensure that the animals survived the flood. It wasn’t due to the revelation of G-dliness that the animals changed, but rather the opposite. Because the animals needed to survive the flood, a deep level of G-dliness was revealed, in order that they could live in peace and survive. When Dovid changed the world, it was in a way that the actual G-dliness transformed the universe. In the same fashion, Moshiach—the scion of Dovid—will change the world as well.
A) Noach only stood up for moral ethics, as opposed to truly serving G-d.
B) He did so because he was fearful of the flood and not because of truth.Moshe strengthened the existence of the world through the giving of the Torah.Noach ensured that the world would not be again destroyed by a flood.
Noach only ensured that the world would not be destroyed, but did not strengthen its actual existence.Dovid transformed the world through revealing G-d’s sovereignty in the world.Noach transformed the animals in the ark in a similar way to the times of Moshiach.
Noach transformed the animals out of necessity, not because of a revelation of G-dliness.
