THE GREAT DEFENDER

There is a famous teaching in Pirkei Avot (5:2) concerning the first twenty generations of mankind: “There were ten generations from Adam to Noah, in order to make known how long-suffering He is; for all those generations kept on provoking Him, until He brought upon them the waters of the flood. There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham, in order to make known how long-suffering He is; for all those generations kept on provoking Him, until Abraham, came and received the reward of all of them.”

There is a stark contrast between the first ten generations and the second. At the end of the first ten generations, Hashem “brought upon them the waters of the flood.” His patience could only stretch so far.  At that time, “God said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before Me as the earth is filled with villainy because of them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Bereishit 6:13). There was rampant sexual immorality and theft. God decided to destroy all of humanity and to start again with Noah and his family. At the end of the second ten generations, the same thing had happened – man had reverted to lawlessness and immorality. They continued to provoke their Creator. But this time, He did not destroy the world and the reason for this was one man – Avraham. Avraham stood as a beacon of belief in God in an era of idolatry; he was the paragon of kindness in a selfish world and he was the voice of morality in an immoral society. He influenced others with love, kindness and hospitality. He cared deeply for his family and for humanity. He was respected by simple people and noblemen. He remained steadfast in his faith notwithstanding ten exceptionally difficult trials that God put him through. He was an iconoclast and a rebel in the very best sense of the word. If not for Avraham, mankind would have suffered a serious setback, albeit not another global disaster, for God had promised Noah that He would never again destroy all of humanity.

Noah, however, was not able to stem the tide (pun intended). This is unusual because the Torah speaks of him in glowing terms (ibid verse 9), “This is the legacy of Noah. Noah was a righteous, wholehearted man in his generations, Noah walked with God.” There is a famous rabbinic debate (cited by Rashi) regarding the meaning of “in his generations.” One sage is of the opinion that Noah was righteous in his generations – a time of extreme wickedness – and that he would certainly have been righteous in a better time. The other sage disagrees and explains that Noah was righteous only in his time but had he lived, for example, in the time of Avraham, he would not have stood out at all. This is not unlike a marginally clever student in a class of simpletons. Amongst his peers he stands out as exceptional. But put that same student in a class of geniuses and he would appear rather mediocre. Regardless of which sage is correct, it must certainly have been very difficult to maintain any degree of righteousness in the generation of the flood. Noah was tasked with saving mankind and all of the animals. And yet, other than his wife, his sons and their wives, he did not save one other person. All of this in spite of the fact that he worked for decades to build the ark and had many opportunities to reach out to the people of his generation (see Rashi verse 14).

What is the fundamental difference between these two righteous people, Noah and Avraham? Perhaps this can be distilled by examining their reactions when told by God that destruction was pending. In the case of Noah, God tells him that man has become corrupt and that He is going to destroy all of humanity as well as the beasts. He instructs him to build a ship, giving him exact dimensions, which will serve as a place of refuge for his family and pairs of every animal and bird. He commands him to gather the animals and to amass stores of food for the long journey. Noah’s reaction was (verse 22), he “did according to all that God had commanded him; so he did.” When the ark was ready, God gave Noah additional instructions regarding the animals (“from every pure animal, you shall take to you seven pairs”) and He informed him that (7:4) “in seven more days, I will make it rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will obliterate all existence that I have made from the face of earth.” Again, Noah’s reaction was (7:5), he “did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.” Noah was obedient and followed God’s instructions faithfully.

Ten generations later, God informs Avraham that He intends to destroy the cities of the plain (Bereishit 18:20-21), “The Lord said: Because I hear the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah and it is great and increasing, and because their sin is very heavy, I will descend now and see if they have acted in accordance with the outcry that has reached me, and, if so, I will bring destruction and if not, I will know.” Avraham’s reaction is surprising (ibid, verses 23-24), “Avraham approached, and he said:  Will you destroy even the righteous with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You even destroy, and not tolerate the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people who are within it?” God then assures him He will spare the city for fifty people. But Avraham is not finished. He then asks for a reprieve if there are 45 righteous people, then 40, then 30, then 20, then 10. In each case, God agrees to spare the city. This is remarkable. God tells Avraham that He has judged Sodom and Gomorrah and found them lacking and that their destruction is imminent. Avraham does not simply nod his head and accept this news, even though it is delivered by the True Judge. He challenges God and uses harsh language (verse 25), “It is inconceivable for You to do a thing like this, to kill the righteous with the wicked, and the righteous shall be as the wicked. It is inconceivable for You; shall the Judge of all the earth not practice justice?” God does not scold Avraham for his words. He acquiesces to them. Avraham does not speak for his own good. He is concerned with God’s reputation and he wonders how the Merciful One can act in such a way!

Contrast Avraham’s reaction to Noah’s. Noah does not try to defend the people of his generation. He does not plead with God to spare the few righteous individuals who might exist. He meekly accepts God’s words and acts accordingly. In this, Noah fails as a role model. Avraham, on the other hand, teaches that one must question God’s harsh justice and do whatever is possible to mitigate it. Moshe followed in his ancestor’s footsteps. When God said to him, at the height of the golden calf debacle (Shmot 32:10), “Now allow Me, and My wrath will enflame against them, and I will destroy them; and I will make you into a great nation”, Moshe immediately came to the nation’s defence (verse 11-12), “Moshe implored the Lord his God and he said: Lord, why shall Your wrath be enflamed against Your people, that You took out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why shall the Egyptians say, saying: He took them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from upon the face of the earth? Relent from Your enflamed wrath and reconsider with regard to the evil for Your people.”

Moshe knew full well that the Israelites had perpetrated a great act of betrayal. They were deserving of death. But, without hesitation, he begged for a pardon and he implored that Hashem act in a merciful manner. This is the way of Avraham – to protest injustice and to stand up for others even if they are undeserving. The meek, obedient way of Noah is not a path to be emulated.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom. 

Rabbi Liebenberg

Rabbi’s YouTube message for Shabbat: https://youtu.be/ykJdYfHIswc