Community Magazine October 2012

Dedicated inmemory of Mr.&Mrs. Jacques&Rachel Gindi  We are often reminded that it is not our place to judge people or decide who’s better than whom. Judgment is exclusively Hashem’s department, while our job is to treat people kindly and admire them for their favorable qualities. This is true all the more so when it comes to the great sadikim (righteous figures). We are to look to them for guidance and inspiration, and avoid casting judgment and choosing which Torah personality is greater than the other. And yet, astonishingly enough, when we read Rashi’s commentary to the opening verse of Parashat Noah, this is precisely what we find. The Torah describes Noah as an “ ish sadik – a righteous man,” but one view among the sages, as Rashi cites, surprisingly qualifies this statement. The rabbis teach that Noah was a sadik only in relation to his contemporaries, when compared with the corrupt, decadent society in which he lived. If, however, he would have lived ten generations later, during the time of Avraham Avinu, he wouldn’t have been regarded as a spiritual star. Compared to Avraham, Noah was ordinary and pedestrian. It is only in relation to the sinners among whom he lived that Noah is described as an “ ish sadik .” The obvious question is, why did the sages bring Avraham into this discussion? If the Torah calls Noah a sadik , why should we start comparing him with other great religious figures? And besides, if Noah was able to maintain an admirable spiritual standard in an age of widespread evil, doesn’t this make him a sadik of the first order? Is it fair to make comparisons to Avraham, who lived in a different era? The Fur Coat Sadik The answer is that the sages were troubled by a different question. If Noah was truly a great sadik , worthy of being saved RABBI ELI J. MANSOUR Share the Wealth Noah is described as a “righteous man,” but only Avraham was chosentobethefatherofHashem’sspecialnation.Understanding the difference between these two righteous figures will help us understand the extent of our responsibility as Torah Jews. 16 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE