Emunah and Questions[1]
Noach was a tzadik, perfect in his generation[2]
Well, maybe not so perfect. Chazal,[3] cited by Rashi, seem to hedge regarding this. At least some of them jump on the words “in his generation.” He was a tzadik in his day, they say, but would not have been adjudged to be anyone special had he lived in the time of Avraham. While Avraham could “walk before”[4] G-d, Noach required Someone holding him up.
Why were some of our Sages so begrudging towards Noach? Why would they go out of their way to interpret our pasuk in a non-complimentary manner, when alternatives existed that make him look much better?
An answer may be found in a major dispute between Rambam and the kabbalists. Rambam,[5] commenting on the verse[6] “Know the G-d of your father, and serve Him,” writes that a person must use rational inquiry to know Who and what Hashem is. He must intellectually probe aspects of Hashem’s providence, eternity, and ability. The kabbalists strongly disagree, advocating that we avoid such inquiry entirely, relying on full emunah alone.
We could argue for the necessity of both approaches. Clearly, we are instructed to hold our own in argumentation about G-d. “Know what to respond to the heretic,”[7] Chazal tell us. Despite this – even with all the philosophical sophistication that Man can muster – plain, ordinary emunah remains essential. The bottom line is that Man simply has no way of grasping Divinity. There will always be gaps in his comprehension. Those gaps can be filled with emunah, and only emunah.
When Hashem promises a child and many offspring to an aged Avraham, the Torah writes, “He trusted in Hashem, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”[8] Why, asks Ramban, does the Torah give accolades to Avraham for believing Hashem’s promise? Avraham was chief among believers! Belief came easy to him. That doesn’t leave much room for praising this emunah as exceptionally righteous.
To explain this, we need to examine how Avraham arrived at his deep belief. We know that in his younger years he flirted with an assortment of belief systems. He found fault with each of them; his questions destroyed their fundamental principles. He arrived at last at belief in HKBH, and committed himself to it. Yet it is impossible that his questions would cease! There are aspects of even our correct belief system that Man does not fully and accurately process. His opponents peppered him with challenges. He did not reply, because he found his potential responses difficult himself. But he was not fazed by these questions. Rather, he shifted his focus to pure emunah. Doing so certainly was praiseworthy!
We return to our original question. Avraham faced many intellectual adversaries. He battled them successfully – to a point. While he was able to demonstrate the necessity of belief in One G-d, on some issues, he had no winning strategy. Here, he fell back upon plain emunah.
This is the meaning of Avraham’s walking before Hashem and being righteous. Even though he walked, as it were, ahead of Hashem as His herald, he still depended upon emunah to assume that role.
It is clear that Avraham required both the skills of a debater, as well as emunah. With emunah alone, he could never have held his own in his debates with the scoffers. On the other hand, if he were equipped with emunah and nothing more, no one would have bothered challenging him. (Nothing ends a debate as quickly as, “I really don’t know. But that is what I believe.”) Then, he would not have been bothered by so many questions!
That is where Noach found himself. His neighbors did not concern themselves with philosophy or proofs. They were into taavah, and nothing more. Noach could live his life with pure emunah, never concerned with gnawing questions. That was a great advantage. But it was appropriate only for his generation. Had he lived in the time of Avraham, when people debated theological issues, his skill set would have been insufficient. But this does not diminish his greatness in any way.