Children of Noach, Children of Abraham
Children of Noach, Children of Abraham

At the end of Parshat Bereshit we are told that God witnessed the evil perpetrated by human beings and He repented for having created them.  He also resolved to totally destroy them and the world which supported them.  The concluding verse, however, states, “Noach found favor in the eyes of God.” (Genesis VI-8)

The Talmud (Sanhedrin 108a) comments on this verse that Noach was also included in the decree of utter destruction, but was exonerated because he found favor with God.  In this passage, we are not told why God saw him favorably or the source of his uniqueness.  It seems that he was spared as a result of a gratuitous act of grace on the part of God.  

The beginning of the Parshat Noach (Genesis V-9) quickly corrects this perception.  It declares Noach to be a righteous man who was complete in his generation and one who walked with God.  There is, however, no description of any specific deeds or actions which defined the nature of these accolades.  Fearing the implications of a doctrine of gratuitous grace (which is not a doctrine of the Jewish belief system) on the one hand and the perception of the total perfection of Noach on the other (which would obviate the need for Abraham), the Rabbis set out to demonstrate a conflicted notion. First they reversed what constituted the undeserved grace given to Noach as the basis for his salvation by explaining that he was righteous.  Nevertheless, they also had to demonstrate his severe shortcomings which did not enable him to reach the perfection of Abraham.

The best way to explain this contradiction is in the following manner.  The story of Noach could be seen as a new creation story.  As such it had the same basic components which characterized the first creation account.  Basic to both accounts was that the world was created to be governed by man as a superior being.

The first account began with the creation of matter.  It started with the simplest form of matter, which is light.  On subsequent days matter becomes ever more complex until its apex was achieved in Man.  With the acquisition of self-consciousness and a moral sense, man could be seen as rivaling even God.  That hubris ultimately corrupted man and led to his ultimate destruction.  With the destruction of man there was no further need for the world, for it was created to serve the needs of man.  Therefore, it too had to be destroyed.

Noach offers mankind a new start.  There was no need to create man again, for Noach achieved the basic qualities which would allow man to live in this world i.e. the observance of Seven Basic commandments given to the descendants of Noach.  Observing those commandments justified human existence and consequently the existence of the world.  There was no need to go any further.  In this sense Noach walked with God.

God, through His creative nature, ordained, however, that there must be a developmental process in this second creation as there was in the first.  In the first creation it was raw matter that evolved into more complex forms.  In the second creation it would be Man himself.

Human development would take the form of greater self-consciousness, greater moral sensitivity and the need to achieve a greater understanding of God and maintain deeper relations with Him.

The first stage of that goal was achieved with Abraham and the other patriarchs who were still considered in their status as descendants of Noach.  The apex of human development would occur later with the prophet Moses and the divine creation of Israel at the revelation at Sinai.  That revelation of the Torah would separate Israel from the rest of humanity.  They would no longer be called or identified as the children of Noach but rather as the children of Israel.  Their separation would be based upon their acquired observance of six hundred and thirteen commandments rather than the seven given to Noach.  The baseline for Jewish existence would be those six hundred and thirteen commandments which would compel Israel to achieve an understanding of God which no other people could attain.

The crucial distinction between the children of Noach and those of Israel is demonstrated by a crucial aspect of Jewish Law.  Only the Jews have the obligation of “Kiddush Hashem” i.e. the sanctification of God or God’s name.  They must actively attest to their belief in God even if it entails forfeiture of their lives.

The children of Noach have no such obligation.  The seven commandments to which they are obligated are all considered negative commandments which entail passivity or lack of action. They may not worship idolatry, but are not obligated to worship God.  Thus, their relationship to God is passive.  This is the exact understanding of the Rabbis about the nature of Noach.  Even in his righteousness he was basically passive (indeed he never says one word to God) and that is why his descendants are not required to move to a higher level.

This also explains why it is necessary to arrive at Abraham.  He initiated an active, positive relationship to God and that was the legacy he left to his descendants, who became the children of Israel.