NAALEH.COM and YU TORAH NOACH 5775 Deluge Delusion By: Mrs. Shira Smiles

Noach is an enigma. He is introduced to us as “a righteous man, perfect in his generation.” Our sages pick up on the qualifying statement of being perfect in his generation. While some consider this high praise, others see in this a diminution of his greatness – had he lived in the time of the patriarch Abraham, he would not have been considered righteous at all. Both views are then bolstered by the same verse. After spending 120 years building the ark according to Hashem’s specific instructions, after gathering animals of every species into the ark, after it actually starts raining heavily, Noach finally goes into the ark “because of the waters of the flood.” Not because Hashem commanded him, but because the flood waters had reached his ankles and he was forced inside. It is this delay that our commentators criticize and for which they call Noach a man of little (small) faith. Did Noach really have little faith that the flood would come? Click here for Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein.