Noach: Noach Ish Tzaddik!

At the end of last week’s Parsha, we find that as Noach was born, the ‘name giver’ gives an explanation for this name: “This [Noach] will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands because of the ground Hashem has cursed.” Three Pesukim later, it says, “And Noach was five hundred years old, and he birthed Shem, Cham, and Yefet.” If we look back at all before him, we notice how they all had their children at much earlier ages. It is as if they had great hopes for Noach, naming him the ‘comforter’ and ‘consoler,’ but in essence, he was an ‘Old Bachur’ who seemed to have no aim in life for five hundred years. This is the quandary Rashi puts forth in the beginning of this week’s Parsha: “Some say he was awesome, while some say not.”

It reminds me of a story of this young man. His parents had great hopes for his future since his childhood, they paraded him around as their prodigal son for years and years. As he got older, he started to indulge in the pleasures of the world and removed all the pressure that was placed on him since his youth. His parents grew disappointed in him and buried themselves in shame as they walked with him on the street. The expectations they had weren’t even on the radar of being met; and worse, the world kept on reminding them of the false pride they once had.

One day, the little boy, who was now in his forties, woke up from his drunken crusade and decided to put his life back together. He tapped into his potential and fought those haunting voices in his head. After a few hard years of defying odds and overcoming weaknesses, he pulled off a great feat: he invented a brilliant product which wasn’t just a novelty item; it turned out to become a necessity to every living human.

His parents, now beaming with pride, crawled out of their shameful hiding spots and welcomed him back into their lives. They said to him, “We never stopped believing in you, and we never doubted you for a second!” But the ‘nay-sayers’ sang a different tune: “Look at his accomplishments; imagine if he had devoted his time and effort to the world twenty years earlier, how much better would the world be?!”

Each person in the world has a Tafkid to fulfill; we are all the Noach of our situation. Some will say, “Well, compared to the rest of the world, you’re ok, but truthfully, you aren’t so special.” While others will say, “Who cares what the rest of the world says? Your accomplishments are awesome!” But ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the world says; all that truly matters is how you think about yourself on the inside. “Are you serious about your goal, or are you simply not trying to waste the rest of your days in iniquity?”

The true question we must ask ourselves is, “What motivates me to life?” It is so easy to fall for the street’s opinion, and it is even easier to listen to the voices in our heads. But in order to truly pull off an accomplishment, we must take our next steps seriously. The world will say whatever it wants, but that isn’t the important thing, since it is usually those who can’t ‘do’ who talk of those who do. We can look back at the years that we didn’t really do much and write off the future to repeat that same pattern, but all we need is to decide with seriousness that it is time to use the tools we were given and fight until the end.

Our goal could come either from the fact that we don’t want to be the person we were until now, or it can be because we genuinely want to change the world. Either way, it’ll probably be a mix of both, but in order to achieve that goal, we must not allow past shames to haunt us. It is like the person who wants to smile to the world but is ashamed of their stained, yellow teeth; all they need to do is take their goal seriously and brush, floss, and whiten daily.

Taking life seriously is many times conflated with taking ourselves too seriously. It is a clear sign of failure when we are no longer able to laugh at a joke or appreciate the simple pleasures of the world. When one is constantly living with a pressure that they are inadequate, yes, they may feel motivated to become better, but the pain they will feel at every fall and failure will destroy them. Being able to laugh is the essence of balance, and that is what the Gemara in Kiddushin 40a (last words) teaches us to strive for: “The sages have taught, man should always see himself as half guilty and half innocent; he does one Mitzvah, good is for him that he pivots the world to the side of merit,” and vice versa.

Just as you have never seen a Tzaddik praise himself as being the greatest in the world, due to that alone being the epitome of haughtiness, so too should a person never render themselves as the greatest Rasha. We are human beings who just need to wake up to take life seriously, and the first rule for that is to know that “It is never too late to start.” We aren’t aiming for perfection; what we are searching for is the ability to remain balanced. With that balance, we will be able to use that clarity to make proper choices for the future and keep our personal world, and the collective world, positively on the side of merit.

Noach saved the entire human race, and all it took was to dig into his name-sake and source of being. The reason he was given for his life was simple: be the comforter and consoler, and for five hundred years, he did all he could to take the Toldot of the world and change them to the side of good with his Maasim Tovim. He tried and tried but kept being pulled down by the weight of the world around him. His actions were strong and full of merit, but the world looked at him with pity as they laughed at his seemingly lost and futile efforts. The pride and prodigy of his parents were quashed and silenced by the noise of the surrounding world, and who knows how close to giving up Noach may have come?

But this isn’t the end of his story; actually, we are far from done with the end of Noach’s story. We are all living his life, and we are all fighting to find that balanced world where we can keep on finding merit in our every deed without being quashed by the voices in our heads and the dissent of the world. It is at this pivotal moment that we must take our options seriously and say, “What can I do to change the world? With them or without!” Have children of your own and make them your masterpiece; bring about a product to the world that will turn out to be a necessity for generations to come. Take today and invest yourself in it fully; seize the opportunity of today and make it count. Take yourself seriously, shut out the noise, and keep moving. Save your world, and the world will be saved. “Eileh Toldot Noach, Noach Ish Tzaddik.” He truly was a big one, and so are you!

Shabbat Shalom

David Lemmer

LemmerHypnotherapy.com