Parashat Noach : What is a Tzadik? In memory of Rabbi Jim Michaels

Parshat Noach ~ Genesis 6:9-11:32

 

What is a Tzadik?

 

This week’s parsha begins with the words, “…Noach was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age….” (Gen 6:9). These two phrases are curious. How does “blameless in his age” impact the first description of Noach as “a righteous man”? Would he be considered righteous in other eras, like those of Avraham or Moses?

 

Initially, I was skeptical of Noach’s status as a Tzadik, a righteous man. Then I studied the writings of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, an 18th-century Hasidic master. In his book Kedushat Levi, he teaches that Tzaddikim are individuals who open paths for the world. This insight shifted my perspective and helped me see Noach as a Tzadik in his own right, without needing to compare him to others. Noach, despite the corruption of his time, managed to rise above it all and was given the task of saving the world.

 

One thing that has always puzzled me, though, is why Noach never warned anyone about the upcoming flood or gave them a chance to repent, as Jonah did in Nineveh. However, if we closely read the text in chapter 6, it doesn’t seem like God gave Noach much flexibility. God’s words were clear and direct: Noach had a specific job to do, and he did it.

 

What does it mean to be a Tzadik today? It’s difficult to recognize someone’s role in opening a path for the world. However, I believe righteousness in our time involves emulating righteous qualities. While I’m not in a position to judge who is truly righteous, we can all recognize when someone brings godliness into the world.

 

During the year I mourned my father, I encountered such a person: Rabbi Jim Michaels. He was the rabbi at the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington (now Charles E. Smith Life Communities) and became a solid presence in my life. Rabbi Jim developed a chaplaincy training program, in which I participated. He taught by example, demonstrating how to be present for those in need, how to listen to both spoken and unspoken words, and how to be attentive even to those who had lost the ability to speak.

 

Rabbi Jim was a modest man, yet he touched everyone he met with respect, care, and genuine attentiveness. His simple question, “How are you?” came with a sincerity that showed he truly cared about the answer—a rare quality. Through his actions, he showed that he had a path to walk, one that would leave the world better than he found it.

 

In our parsha, Noach may have known about the impending catastrophe yet did nothing to try help others. We, however, are called to act. We cannot be like those who built the Tower of Babel, speaking the same language but failing to truly understand one another. Their punishment—scattered languages—highlighted their inability to communicate on a deeper level.

 

If we are fortunate, we will meet individuals like Rabbi Jim Michaels who truly understand. They accompany others, listen, and provide guidance while modeling righteousness. I honor the memory of Rabbi Jim Michaels, my teacher, mentor, and friend. He would be the first to admit he wasn’t perfect, but his life impacted many because he understood that we are all created in God’s image. May his memory always be for a blessing.

  

 

In Memory of Rabbi Jim Michaels, 2024

 

Parshat Noach: Two aspects of God

            A quick note before Shabbat. This week’s Torah portion is ParshatNoach. It contains two stories with very different views of God.

            In the first, we are presented with a God who becomes so angry or fed up with human kind that S/He makes the decision to destroy the entire world – all except for Noah, his family, and some animals so that there will be a remnant to start over with. In the end, God realizes that perhaps a cataclysmic flood event was a bit extreme, even with a generation as degenerate at the generation of the flood supposedly was. So God becomes contrite gives us the rainbow as symbol that God will never again destroy the world by a flood.

            Adonai, the God of mercy, justice and forgiveness, is also a God of anger. If God can get angry, then so can we. We are created in God’s image and try to emulate God’s attributes – in this case anger and the recognition that anger needs to be reigned it. In other words, we should control our anger, it should never control us. There is godliness in anger. It can provide the impetus for change and action, but it must be controlled.

            The second story, which is at the end of the Torah portion, is that of the Tower of Babel. Here God sees a world, about 700 years after the flood (according to the Sages), where everyone speaks the same language, and everyone gets along. They get along so well that they decide to cooperatively build a tower that will reach God. Why? There are different explanations including in order to make their name or just because they think they can.

            God sees the people are setting themselves an impossible task and decides to intervene. Why? One possibility is God saw that the people would be so occupied with building the tower that nothing else would get done – no crops planted, no stores selling things, no houses built, no babies being made. Another is that God didn’t want the people to have the consequences of setting themselves an impossible and unachievable task.

            In this story we have a parental or benevolent God who chooses to intervene in order to protect the people. The result: Babble! God “gifts” humans with the gift of different languages. Suddenly it’s much more difficult to understand each other. People instinctively gather together with those that speak the same language that they do. Then they have to start figuring out how to communicate with those who are different. A lesson that we are still learning to this day.      

            A God of anger and a God who is parental and benevolent. Two characteristics of God that are innately human, have both positive and negative aspects, and teach us that we do not have to be perfect to access the godliness within.   

            It might be a bit more difficult to access the godliness within this weekend as we turn the clocks back tomorrow night and mess up our sleep! But I have faith that we will prevail and get to wherever we need to be Sunday morning on time if a bit discombobulated.

             Have a blessed and lovely Shabbat.

            Shabbat Shalom,

            Rabbah Arlene