The Silence that led to Silence
Noach was a good man. The world was corrupt and God would destroy it. Noach was to build an ark. He did. Noach was to save the animals. He did. He even gathered food for each of them. Noach was told to take his family into the ark. He did. Everything was done according to plan, yet one thing is missing: Noach has not said a word.
Everyone is set to go. Rain starts to fall. The door of the ark is shut. For forty days and forty nights, heavy rain falls. Even the mountain tops are covered. Everything outside dies. After one hundred and fifty days, the water begins to subside. The ark comes to a halt on the Ararat Mountains. Noach sends out a raven to see if they can leave the ark. He then, in weekly intervals, sends a dove three times, until he ascertains that they can leave the ark. They all leave. One thing is still missing: Noach has not said a word.
Noach’s silence continues. In fact, only in Bereishit 9:25, a mere four pesukim before his death, do we find the first account of Noach speaking. This detail was noted by the Sages, who in several instances remarked critically on Noach’s silence in the face of impending catastrophe:
…when he (Noach) left the ark, he saw all the world destroyed and began to cry. He said, “Master of the Universe, You are the Merciful One! You should have had mercy on Your creations! “ God answered him, “O foolish shepherd! Now you say this! Not at the time when I told you softly, “Go make an ark of gopher wood… I am bringing a flood… it will destroy all flesh…” I delayed for so long and I told you this in order that you would pray for mercy for the world. And when you heard that you would be saved in an ark, you didn’t find it in your heart (to care for) the world’s pain. You made an ark and were saved. Now that the world is destroyed, you open your mouth to say words of prayer and supplication!” (Zohar Hachadash, Parshat Noach[1]).
This does not make for easy reading. But it does, albeit in an extreme manner, highlight Noach’s silence. Noach never prayed for the salvation of the world, nor urged his fellow people to repent and prevent the imminent doom. This is in contrast with Avraham, who is set to enter the biblical narrative when Noach leaves it. Avraham is not a silent man, in fact, he seems to be in a continual dialogue with God. When God informs him that He plans to destroy the city of Sedom (Bereishit 18:17–33), Avraham intercedes for their survival. He even argues the unlikely possibility that there might still be some righteous people left in Sodom. Any straw he could clutch which might hold off the impending destruction was worth reaching for. Noach’s silence before the flood led to the deafening silence of death and destruction which greeted him after the flood. If only he had spoken.
Perhaps there is another hint of this theme in the narrative itself. The Torah elaborately describes Noach’s attempts to determine if it was safe to leave the ark. He first sent a raven, but this was a total failure, the raven barely flew away from the ark. He then changed tack, sending a dove. The first time, the dove flew back to the ark, unable to find a tree to roost in. A week later, it returned with an olive branch clasped in its beak. The third dove mission was a success, the dove had found a home away from the ark.
There is a subtle message here. Noach learns from the dove when he can leave the ark. The choice of bird is no coincidence. Doves have homing abilities, they can be trained to travel over 600 miles and return home. Doves mate for life. They always come home.
Ravens, as biblically depicted, do not come home. In Tehilim 147:9, special praise is given to God as the guardian of the children of the ravens. Rashi (ibid.) explains that their children need extra protection. Their parents do not provide them with food, so God must do so. The symbolic message is clear: if you are to leave the ark and return to the world, you cannot follow the ravens. For people to live in the world, it must be a world of second chances. Learn from the doves: there is always a way back home.
There is another person in Tanach who was reluctant to urge others to repent. In yet another story of forty days, Yona is commanded to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent or be destroyed. Unwilling to do so, he tries to flee from God. He never manages. The first half of the story of Yona is wrought with irony. It teaches us the lesson that everyone, apparently apart from Yona, already knows: you cannot run away from God. But there is a very subtle yet obvious lesson here. What is the name of the main character of this story of failed escape? “Yona, יונה” – dove. You can’t run away. You will always come back home.
Noach is described as “אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו, a perfectly righteous man in his generation” (Bereishit 6:9). It is not enough to be a tzaddik in one’s generation, one must be a tzaddik for their generation.
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[1] ת”ר מה השיב הקדוש ברוך הוא לנח כשיצא מן התיבה וראה כל העולם חרב והתחיל לבכות עליו ואמר רבש”ע נקראת רחום היה לך לרחם על בריותיך השיבו הקדוש ברוך הוא רעיא [דף לט עמוד א] שטיא כען אמרת דא ולא בזמנא דאמרית לך בלישנא רכיכא דכתיב עשה לך תבת עצי גופר כו’ ואני הנני מביא את המבול כו’ לשחת כל בשר כו’ ויאמר ה’ לנח כו’ כי אותך ראיתי צדיק לפני בדור הזה כולי האי אתעכבית עמך ואמרית לך בדיל דתבעי רחמין על עלמא ומכדין דשמעת דתשתיזיב את בתיבותא לא עאל בלבך בישותא דעלמא ועבדת תיבותא ואשתזבתא וכען דאתאביד עלמא פתחית פומך למללא קדמי בעיין ותחנונין. כיון דחזא נח כך הקריב עלוון וקרבנין דכתיב ויקח מכל הבהמה הטהורה ומכל העוף הטהור ויעל עולות במזבח. א”ר יוחנן בא וראה מה בין הצדיקים שהיו לישראל אח”כ ובין נח. נח לא הגין על דורו ולא התפלל עליו כאברהם דכיון דאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא לאברהם זעקת סדום ועמורה כי רבה מיד ויגש אברהם ויאמר. והרבה דברים כנגד הקדוש ברוך הוא (חד) [עד] ששאל שאם ימצא שם עשרה צדיקים שיכפר לכל הדור בשבילם וחשב אברהם שהיו י’ בעיר עם לוט ואשתו ובניו ובנותיו וחתניו ולכן לא התפלל יותר. בא משה והגין על כל הדור כיון שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה ישראל חטאו סרו מהר מן הדרך מה כתיב ביה ויחל משה. מהו ויחל מלמד שהתפלל עד שאחזתו חלחלה רבנן אמרי לא הניח משה להקב”ה עד שנתן נפשו עליהם מן העוה”ז ומן העוה”ב דכתיב ועתה אם תשא חטאתם ואם אין מחני מספרך אשר כתבת. א”ר יוסי מהכא ויאמר להשמידם לולי משה בחירו עמד בפרץ לפניו [תלים קו] וכן כל הצדיקים הגינו על דורם ולא הניחו מדת הדין לשלוט בהם. ונח התעכב עמו הקדוש ברוך הוא ואמר ליה רבוי דברים שמא יבקש עליהם רחמים ולא השגיח ולא ביקש עליהם רחמים ועשה התיבה ונאבד כל העולם:
