Jewish commentators are divided over whether was truly righteous or whether he
was simply the best of a bad lot in his generation. They focus on whether or
not he should have tried to save his contemporaries’ from destruction, like
Abraham who argued with God on behalf of the people of Sodom. To my mind that is
an unfair expectation, since God and Noah had no prior relationship or
covenant as God and Abraham had.
I think the important part of Noah’s story is after the
flood. The world is a mess after the flood and the clean-up crew is very small.
God promises not to destroy the earth again and withdraws from the scene.
In Noah’s world,
which is our world, divine intervention is extremely rare. We have to get along
by ourselves. Noah plants a vineyard (and I would assume other crops, too). He
begins with productive work that requires a long-term commitment. He is
successful; the vines flourish and give fruit. Noah harvests his grapes and
makes wine successfully, perhaps too successfully. He gets drunk. He succeeds
and stumbles.
Sound familiar? We are all Noah.
His son, Ḥam also gets in
trouble. The details aren't important. What is important is Noah’s response. In
the morning, he sobers up and opens his eyes. He knows what happened and takes
action to remedy matters. He judges and punishes/curses the sinner, by himself
without heavenly involvement. No less important, he also blesses his other
sons, Shem and Yafet, because they responded correctly to the situation that
had been created.
Noah left the ark, saw the destruction and began to build.
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