"And Noach built an altar to HaShem"
(Genesis 8:20)
Marcheshvan 3, 5780/November 1, 2019
Noach was a man of few words. In fact, not a single word spoken by Noachis recorded by Torah, until after the waters of the great flood subside, Noachsteps onto dry land, plants a vineyard, gets drunk and then, in quotes, addresses his three sons,and says, "Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren... Blessed be HaShem, the G-d of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them.May G-d expand Yaphet, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them." (Genesis 9:25-27)
Noach was a man of action. When he was born, his father Lemech said, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands from the ground, which HaShem has cursed." (ibid 5:29) And Noach was to earn this accolade. Our sages tell us that Noach, employing the newly discovered art of the forge, which was pioneered by close kin Tuval Cain, invented the plow, and in one fell furrow liberated humanity from the curse G-d had placed on the earth following Adam's sin, and brought agriculture and prosperity to mankind. Not that a single soul aside from Lemech appreciated what Noach had done for them. After all, this was the generation of the flood, the most decadent and depraved generation to walk the earth. So it was little wonder then, when Noach began building an ark, that not a single soul took heed of what he was doing, or why. The former boy wonder was now taking orders from G-d, and that was something that mankind, in those days, was not accustomed to doing, nor was it looked upon with favor.
We tend to look upon Noach critically for his taciturn ways. Avraham, who would follow Noach by ten generations, is noted by his engaging character. Avraham talked to his wife Sara, his son Yitzchak, Pharaoh, Melchitzedek, the king of Sodom, his servant Eliezer, and wayfaring strangers, not to mention G-d, Himself. But if we take a backward glance at the generations that preceded Noach we discover that only two times is man recorded exchanging a word with G-d, and both times, (the first following G-d's calling Adam out of hiding, and the second, when G-d demanded of Cain the whereabouts of his brother Avel), man spoke under duress. So it is true that Avraham would be the first man on earth to willingly engage G-d in dialogue, but Noach was the first man on earth to willingly listen to and do as G-d spoke. G-d turned to the unsung hero of mankind, the man who, (unlike Tuval Cain, who used the art of metallurgy to create weapons of war), used the forge to beat a plowshare, and a future for mankind, and G-d placed that future squarely in Noach's hands to achieve.
And achieve he did. The only man of his time to actually believe in the future, to believe in a better tomorrow, Noach led his family and the family of all living creatures across the deep and onto the firm, dry land of a new beginning. The man of the earth conquered the endless sea, single-handedly preserving all that G-d had created on the fifth and sixth day of creation. G-d told Noach to leave the ark, commanding Noach, his wife, his sons and their wives, and all the creatures inhabiting the ark, to step forth and re-inhabit the land. And that might have been the end of the story, had Noach, still not uttering a single word, not done what he did next: "And Noach built an altar to HaShem, and he took of all the clean animals and of all the clean fowl and brought up burnt offerings on the altar." (ibid 8:20) This silent gesture, this wordless act of gratitude, of recognition and love, unprompted by G-d, but solely the initiative of Noach, no less so than his invention of the life changing plow, melted G-d's heart:
"And HaShem smelled the pleasant aroma, and HaShem said to Himself, 'I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done. So long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.'" (Ibid 8:21-22) G-d believed in man again! G-d no longer regretted creating man, for man, after turning his back on G-d and walking out of Eden, has, now, for the first time, turned his heart and his prayers toward G-d, and invited G-d, by way of his offering, back into his world. And G-d, in return, promised Noach and his children a different world, a world which man could thrive in. And more than that, G-d made a covenant with Noach, a covenant that would ennoble man, and a promise of Divine concern and protection over man for all time. Never again would G-d seek to blot out man's existence from under the sun. On the contrary, G-d would be there for man, all the time, twenty-four-seven.
Noach would go on to stumble and err, and even, speaking his first words, curse and bless his sons. But G-d understood now that this was the nature of man, to rise and to fall, and to rise and to fall again. And G-d no longer regretted creating this beautiful but fallible creature. G-d learned to love man, understanding that man was, after all, only human. And with new found patience, G-d would wait ten generations more for his true love, Avraham, to appear on the scene and capture G-d's heart. And all this we owe to Noach, "a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noach walked (not talked) with G-d." (ibid 6:9)
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