The Waters of Noah

In the parashah This week's reading focuses on the flood, which is called "the waters of Noah" in the scriptures. It's not immediately clear why, after all, Noah was a righteous man, the only one of his generation. Given this, why is such a terrible event as the flood, which wiped out most of humanity at that time, named after Noah? What fault did Noah have in what was happening around him?

The Zohar, the foundational text of Kabbalah, explains that the problem was that Noah did not pray for his generation. That is why the flood is named after him. This means that, even though Noah was not at fault and he and his family (wife, three sons, and three daughters-in-law) were saved, he should have prayed for the people of his generation and influenced them to do the same. teshuvah, Return to God. He should not have isolated himself from the rest of the world in his ark. Despite entering the ark by divine command, however, his failure to pray for the people caused the entire flood (and its catastrophic consequences) to be invoked in his name.

From here, everyone should know that, even if they are a tzadik, A righteous, upright person, like Noah, if he isolates himself from the rest, even having received a divine mandate to do so, and does not think about how to help improve others, is, to some extent, responsible for what happens around him or, at least, destruction is called in his name.

If this was so in the time of Noah, before the Giving of the Torah, how much more so now, after it has been given, because in the Giving of the Torah began the idea that each Jewish He is responsible and a guarantor for his neighbors, so he must think of others, to save and protect them from the deluge of society and help them return to God.

No one should be content with saving themselves, but should strive for the well-being of others. Even if they don't see results from their efforts, they shouldn't and can't give up spreading the eternal values of the Torah, because, having done their part, the rest is up to God.