Bereishit Rabbah 30 In Review

R' Mordechai Torczyner torczyner@torontotorah.com

Bereishit 6:9

These are the generations of Noah; Noah was a righteous man, complete in his generations; Noah walked with Gd. How our midrashim read these words These are (30:3) "These", not "And these". Noach is unlike his predecessors; through righteousness, Noach earns Divine favour This is why the Torah repeats the condemnation of Noach's generation at the start of Parshat Noach here it highlights Noach's righteousness The generations of Noach (30:1-2) Noach's "generations" are his righteousness; his investment in building up the world; his effort to create new generations This is why the Torah says "These are the generations" and then says that Noach was righteous Noah; Noah (30:4-5) Repetition of his name indicates Noach's ultimate reward o Despite Noach's ups and downs, he makes it into the next world o Like that of others who have doubled names Repetition of "Noach" is because it is also a word Noach brought noach [relief] to the world A righteous man (30:6) Noach is righteous in that he aids others a tree of life, supporting souls, as seen in Proverbs 11 But Noach is punished for a minor failing regarding the lion, as seen in Proverbs 11 Man (30:7) Noach is tried and tested, suffering scorn for his efforts at educating others, as seen in Job 12 This is the meaning of the Torah's emphasis of ish [man] in describing Noach Complete (30:8a) Noach received complete reward in years for his complete work In this Noach fits in with Avraham and David, who have the same "complete" description He was (30:8b, 8c, 8d) Four possible explanations, all of which we link with other people who are described as hayah in Tanach: o He was always thus o He was destined to be thus o He adapted to a new world o He supported others This is conveyed by saying tamim hayah instead of vayehi tamim In his generations (30:9) He was only considered righteous in his generation, or he was considered righteous despite his generation We might interpret negatively because of the "in his generations" qualifier, or because of the difference between Gd's treatment of Noach and Gd's treatment of Avraham Noah walked with Gd (30:10) He stood apart from others to stay true to Gd, because of his weakness or because of his generation's foulness Avraham walked "before Gd" to prepare the world for knowledge of Gd

Points of Methodology What is bothering my midrash? o An unusual or extra word/letter in our verse (30:4-5, 30:7, 30:8a, 30:8b,c,d, 30:9, 30:10) o Our verse doesn't seem to flow properly (30:1-2) o Our verse or set of verses seems out of place (30:3) Does the midrash quote a passage from elsewhere in Tanach? o It might be addressing a problem elsewhere in Tanach (30:1-2, 30:6, 30:7) o It pays to read the greater context of verses quoted from elsewhere (30:6, 30:7) Does the midrash use an allegory or parable? Look at its structure, and its choice of metaphors (30:9, 30:10) What can I learn from other sources? o Midrashim elsewhere may augment our midrash, thereby clarifying it (30:7) o Rashi's commentary may blend our midrash with other sources, to teach a related idea (30:9)

Ethical lessons of our midrashim Righteousness is manifested in building up the world and enabling future generations (30:1-2) Divine favour is won not by charm, but by righteousness (30:3) Don't judge a person by a single event (30:4-5) The righteous person, too, is punished for sin (30:6) One earns status ["ish"] by enduring difficult trials and by bucking the scorn of others (30:7) Righteousness is rewarded (30:8a) Gd creates people with a role in mind for them (30:8b) The righteous adapt to a changing world (30:8c) Righteousness is support for others (30:8d) A great debate: Defy the challenges of your situation, or Adjust your expectations? (30:9-10)