Two Types of Tzaddikim 

Our parsha opens with an introduction to Noach and his family and closes with an introduction to Avram and his family. The Torah gives what appears to be a glowing report of Noach – describing him as “a tsaddik (righteous man) in his generation, one who walks with G-d.” And what about Avram? In our introduction to Avram, we are given only dry facts – he was the son of Terach, the brother of Nachor and Haran, the husband of Sarai. He accompanied his family on their journey from Ur to Cana’an, but landed up settling with them in Haran. And yet, we know that ultimately Avram is chosen to father the Jewish People and not our tsaddik Noach.   Why was Noach, the tsaddik, passed over? 

The great Chassidic masters explain that there are two types of tsadikkim. One type of tsaddik is likened to a person who wears a fur coat in the dead of winter – he is warm while everyone around him is freezing. The other type of tsaddik is someone who plugs in a heater – he not only warms himself but warms the entire room as well. 

When G-d informs Noach that He is going to destroy the world, Noach listens obediently to all of the instructions regarding the building of the ark. But the midrash compares this to Avraham’s response after receiving news of G-d’s plan to destroy Sodom. Avraham immediately begs for mercy. He engages in lengthy negotiations despite the fact that G-d has described these people as very wicked and sinful. The Rabbis in the midrash note critically that when Noach hears that the ENTIRE world is to face destruction, he is silent. He does not beseech, he does not negotiate, he does not bargain for more time. Instead, he gets right to work on the ark. Noach was a tsaddik but he was more similar to the tsaddik in the fur coat. On the one hand, he was not influenced by the immoral culture around him nor did he succumb to peer pressure. But on the other hand, he did not influence his community either. He was curled up in his own bubble, so to speak. Noach was building that ark for 120 years and in all that time, he did not succeed in getting even one more person to join him on it. 

But Avraham Avinu was like a heater. Avraham cries out for the people of Sodom; Avraham runs after strangers to bring them into his home; Avraham builds an altar and calls out in the name of G-d in each place that he takes up residence. Avraham interacts with his community and makes an impact on those around him. This is the tsaddik that is fit to father the Jewish people. 

Our MTC students, your daughters, have followed in the ways of Avraham – choosing not to close themselves off this year but rather to add warmth, to expand their sphere of influence, to give and to love unconditionally.