A Vort From the Rebbe Parshas Noach, Rabbi Leibel Schapiro - 5787

A word of the Rebbe for this week's parsha is parsha Noach. In parsha Noach it says that Noach was a ish tzaddik b'dorosav. He was a tzaddik in his generations. So Rashi says yesh me rabbeinu yesh nes l'shvach. Some of the chachamim darshan that the Torah is trying to tell us a greatness of Noach. That kol as ken she lo haya b'dor ha'tzaddikim lo yetzadik haya, said that it says he was a tzaddik in his generation meaning even though this is a very low generation nevertheless it was tzaddik. So you can imagine how he would be had he been in a generation of tzaddikim. So it shows how great he was. But yesh nes l'gnai some use it darshan the pasuk to learn the pasuk to teach you the gnai the embarrassment of Noach seemingly. That according to his generation he was a tzaddik. But had he been in the generation of Avraham he wouldn't have been considered anything. So the Torah is trying to minimize the greatness of Noach. That only in the compared to his generation he was a tzaddik. So the Rebbe has the obvious question. Since you're able to darshan the pasuk that Torah is trying to praise Noach rather than trying to embarrass Noach, why would there be somebody would learn that the Torah is trying to show his gnai show his embarrassment? We have a rule that the Torah tries not to speak anything negative even when it comes to a beheima even to an animal. So the Torah when it sometimes refers to a non-kosher animal doesn't say beheima t'meia a tamei'dikeh impure animal. It says beheima that's not to'er. Try to avoid using something that's negative. An expression that's negative. So why would there would some learn that the Torah is trying to say something negative about Noach? If there's a possibility to say it means positive why would we say something negative? And the Rebbe says p'shat that he says but the nekuda of the Rebbe is saying is that concerning Noach that because he was in such a generation he was not such a great tzaddik is not an embarrassment for Noach. Noach couldn't be any better. In such a generation, it's not possible somebody to be better. But, there is a problem. So, if we would just show that Noach is a tzaddik because that's the best he could do, and you can't say anything wrong about him, but we do find certain things in the pesukim that it was not 100%. He was not such a 100% great. So, for later generations, when people will see that the Torah makes praise of Noach, says praise of Noach in the way he was, they will think that to be like him is good. Is the best possible Is the best a person should be. And that's no good. The Torah wants to make sure that we realize that this is not the best. But, not because we want to show a negative thing about Noach himself. It's all to show that what Don't behave like him because what he did was not the best, even though for him it was not anything wrong, because he couldn't do any better. But, the Torah wants to teach other people. And that's what the Rashi means, de'isha nesel likhnai, they dash nelikhnai, not an knai, an embarrassment on him. It's an embarrassment in the inyan. So, it's for his benefit. In other words, if you'd ask Noach himself, "Would you want the Torah to show that this is not the best?" He would say, "Sure. It's for the benefit of Noach that nobody should learn from him in cases where you could do better, because the Torah If the Torah wouldn't mention that this is not so good, you would think that this is good That's him. This is the right thing to do." So, therefore, they dash and likhnai, not ignai, an embarrassment for Noach. They agree that Noach couldn't do any better. But, it's an embarrassment to show to teach other people not to behave this way if it's possible. That's why they dash in it this way. So, the one that dash in the shvach say the Torah is trying to praise Noach that he could He would have been greater. And others say the Torah is trying to bring out the negative part for a benefit, for a good benefit that people should not learn. And that is not an embarrassment for Noah himself, but it's embarrassment in such a behavior. So other people should know that if you're possible to be better, you should try to be better.