Parsha Noach and the Divine Aptitude for Risk
Bereishit 6:13: ויאמר אלהים לנח קץ כל בשר בא לפני כי מלאה הארץ חמס מפניהם והנני משחיתם את הארץ
God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth.
The trajectory of our lives and our place in the world is ultimately defined by the risks we choose to take, hopefully, but never assuredly, with the promise of reward.
Where we live, what we do in our professional lives, who we marry, and the roads we choose are premeditated decisions, a byproduct of the free will with which we’re endowed.
I sometimes wonder, particularly when we read Parsha Noach: What is God’s aptitude for risk?
Does He, in his infinite wisdom, leave space for doubt or hesitation? Or is everything so preordained that even such a catastrophic event like the flooding of the entire world is simply another step toward a predetermined outcome?
Other defining events throughout history required human involvement to actualize the will of Hashem.
Conquering kings and rebellious sects. Heroes and villains. War and redemption.
But Noah, the central figure in this week’s Parsha, occupies a different role. He is an order-taker, a reactionary.
He follows instructions, builds the ark, and survives the destruction.
God flooded the world in a solitary act without human intervention; a proverbial rug pull.
So again, we ask, does Hashem take risks too?
There’s a teaching in Tractate Shabbat 88a and one echoed in Rashi’s commentary on Bereishit 1:31, which suggests that He does.
The Talmud teaches that there was another time that Hashem was prepared to uproot civilization.
Had the Israelite nation not accepted the Torah, the world would have returned to tohu va-vohu; a primordial state of chaos and disorder, and the flood would have been for naught.
Even after the world was given a second chance, creation itself would have had no guarantee of a future.
In a related rabbinic tradition, G-d offers the Torah to the nations of the world before Israel accepts it. Imagine the possibility that no nation would say yes. What then?
“No takers? The deal is off the table.”
The memo was drafted and ready to be sent.
But Hashem’s gamble paid off.
Incredible to think about, isn’t it?
Hashem bet on us. He gambled that we, throughout the generations, would live up to the challenge of perfecting the world through Torah.
Was there another contingency? Perhaps.
But, with great risk comes great reward. May we merit an eternal share in it.
Shabbat Shalom.
