Inspiration from Rav Moshe Weinberger Parshas Noach 5775
Alone Together
When Noach was born, the world was already quickly descending into a state of depravity. He was therefore the world’s hope. That is why his father Lamech named him Noach, which is related to the word “comfort,” saying (Bereishis 5:29), “This one will comfort us from our acts and from the sadness of our hands…” But, although he was a tzadik, Noach ultimately disappointed the world. He was unable to prevent the destruction of the world, and after the flood (ibid. at 9:20-24), he became drunk and embarrassed himself. What happened? The Torah never tells us stories for entertainment’s sake or simply to teach us history. It speaks to this generation. What does this episode teach us? While we cannot fully understand someone Hashem Himself calls “pure” and a “tzadik” who “found favor in G-d’s eyes” (ibid. at 6:8-9), why did Noach descend to that level?
The truth is that one of my rebbeim, Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik, zt”l, wrote a sefer called “The Lonely Man of Faith” for a reason. Every tzadik feels alone, set apart from the rest of the world. Anyone who wants to be a tzadik must commit to treading his own path, not living like everyone else. There is an element of loneliness inherent in any tzadik’s journey. This must have been true on an even greater scale with respect to Noach after the flood. Not only was he alone as a tzadik, but he watched the destruction of every single human being on earth except for his own family. One cannot even imagine the loneliness he felt at that time. Indeed, we know of people today who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from far less jarring traumas, that the destruction of mankind and a year of taking responsibility for the welfare of all the remaining people and every other creature in the world who survived the calamity.
When I was young, there was a song that was just becoming popular about what brings all different types of people to a bar to drink, and one verse of the song said, “they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness but it’s better than drinkin’ alone.”
While my parents lost their parents in the Holocaust, they managed to rebuild their lives. But there were others who experienced the destruction who were completely broken by it. And there were still others who were completely broken by the fact that they survived. They felt tremendous guilt and could not psychologically survive their own survival. We cannot imagine the loneliness Noach felt or why he turned to alcohol. We know Lot did the same thing as well after his world, the city of Sedom, was destroyed (Bereishis19:30-36).
But there was another tzadik in the Torah who felt completely alone. And that was Avraham Avinu, who was called “העברי, the Hebrew” (Bereishis 14:13), which literally means “the one on the other side. The Midrash explains that he was called that because “the whole world was on one side and he was on the other side” (Bereishis Raba 42:8). The Navi Yechezkel said about him, “Avraham was one” (33:24), meaning that he was alone in the world. He left his father’s home; he said goodbye to the entire world he knew before that and began working to change the world all by himself with no one but his wife behind him, backing him up. He was utterly alone in the world.
People do not like those who “rock the boat,” who try to do things differently than everyone else. Avraham was therefore despised and powerful people wanted him dead. But Avraham embraced his aloneness and worked to bring the whole world over to his side, to the side of the Master of the World (Rashi on Bereishis 12:5). A person can be extremely intelligent, charming, talented, and bright. But if he always wants to fit in, to be “just one of the guys,” perhaps above-average, but not outstanding, he will never be a “tzadik,” he will never change the world.
This is the thrust of a tiny little teaching found between the first and second volumes of Likutei Moharan by Rebbe Nachman, zy”a. The title of the lesson is “Avraham was One,” quoting the pasuk in Yechezkel mentioned above. Rebbe Nachman writes, “Avraham served G-d only through the fact that he was ‘one,’ meaning that in his mind, he considered himself the only person in the world and he never looked at the other people in the world who tried to turn him away from Hashem and stop him, nor at his father or other naysayers. Rather, he looked at himself like he was the only person in the world.”
And Rebbe Nachman continues, showing us what this means for us: “And so too anyone who wants to enter into the service of G-d: It is impossible to begin except with this thought. One must think that he is the only person in the world and not look at anyone else who attempts to stop him… nor at any other obstacles which arise from anyone else in the world who denigrate him, attempt to draw him away, or prevent him from serving G-d… Instead, he must cling to the quality of ‘Avraham was one,’ as if he was the only person in the world.”
This is not, G-d forbid, mean being indifferent to others. Part of being a tzadik means caring about and working to help other people. But in terms of how one identifies his own role in life based on his own personal talents and inclinations, one should not allow others to define him. That is why a person should say (Sanhedrin 37a), “The world was created for my sake.” A person must see that the key to becoming great is recognizing that no one else in the world is meant to serve G-d the way he is.
A person cannot define himself by what people in the world, even nice, good, normal people, do. Even Dovid Hamelech grew up in a very good family, but to become a tzadik, he had to say (Tehillim 69:8-9), “I have borne humiliation because of You, embarrassment has covered my face. I have become strange to my brothers and alien to the children of my mother.” He saw himself as alone in the world and sought out the G-d’s truth wherever it led. That is how he became great.
Everything we have spoken about until now is step one. By focusing on seeking out the lonely path of the man of faith, there is a danger that one may give up on the rest of the world. Noach built a shelter, an ark in which he and his family could hide from the world’s destruction. The generation of Noach was wiped out partly because Noach was not ready to go out and speak to them and bring them into his shelter like Avraham did, who tried to bring the whole world into his tent.
This is why Noach was called, in Yiddish, the “tzadik in a fur coat.” If a room is freezing, there are two ways to warm up. One is to wear a fur coat. It warms the person up but allows everyone else to freeze. The other method is to build a fire to give warmth to everyone in the room. Noach was a tzadik who wore a fur coat to shelter himself from a world which was freezing because of a lack of G-dliness. So his loneliness eventually got the better of him and he was overcome by it. Avraham Avinu, however, built fires to warm up everyone he came into contact with. Even though he was alone in the world, he loved and cared for everyone else.
This is the idea behind the “Shabbos Project” taking place this week, which was initiated by Rabbi Warren Goldstein, the chief rabbi of South Africa. We must invite others into the ark called Shabbos. We cannot be indifferent to friends and coworkers who are unfamiliar with the holiness of Shabbos. We cannot escape into ourselves by hiding in an ark, a fur coat, or alcohol. We must be like Avraham Avinu, living G-dly lives as if there was no one else in the world, but never writing off another person.
We only have eight teachings from Reb Mendeleh Vorker, zy”a, known as the “silent tzadik,” son of Rav Yitzchak Vorker, zy”a, and brother of Rav Yaakov Dovid of Amshinov, zy”a. One teaching was on the Gemara (Shabbos 4b), “When Shlomo instituted Eruvin [Eruvei chatzeiros, which permit people who live in different courtyards to carry things to one another’s homes on Shabbos] and the washing of the hands [before eating bread], a Heavenly voice came out and said (Mishlei 23:15), ‘My son, if your heart has become wise, my heart will rejoice as well.’” Shlomo Hamelech was a very wise person in many areas. What is so unique about instituting the rabbinic mitzvos of Eruvin and the washing of the hands that particularly demonstrates his wisdom?
Reb Mendeleh Vorker explains that these two mitzvos have opposite characteristics. Eruvin bring people together by permitting those with houses abutting different courtyards to bring food to one another’s homes on Shabbos to increase closeness and the bonds of friendship among a larger circle of neighbors. Washing one’s hands, however, is an act of purification. And purification inherently involves separating one’s self from the world generally, and anyone else who may have a negative effect on one’s holiness. The Divine voice made it clear that Shlomo was uniquely wise because he instituted these two opposing mitzvos, demonstrating particular greatness because he was able to contain within himself the quality of “Avraham was one” while not being a tzadik in a fur coat.
The ideal is therefore to connect to other people, in touch with the social reality of one’s community, while never losing sight of who one is and what he is living for. He must never be afraid to swim against the tide. May we all merit to be like Avraham, always living in the right way as if we are alone in the world, but never indifferent to others, always working to help them in whatever they need!
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
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