21 Oct NOACH: THE SELF-CONFIDENCE TO ACT

The Zohar tells of a
conversation that took place
between Noach and
Hashem after the flood.
Noach turned to Hashem and
asked, “I thought You were a
merciful, benevolent G-d.
How could You allow such a thing to
happen?!”
Hashem replied by angrily calling Noah a
Roeh Shoteh – “foolish shepherd.” He said,
“NOW you remember to care about the
people?! I told you what I was planning on
doing. I commanded you to build an ark
because I was going to bring a flood that
would destroy the entire earth. You spent
120 years building it. You had plenty of
time to intervene, to pray, to help, to work
to avert this catastrophe. Where were you
then? You worried only about saving
yourself and your family. Now you come
and ask Me how I could do this??”
The Zohar proceeds to contrast Noach with
Avraham Avinu. When Avraham heard that
Hashem was planning to destroy the city of
Sedom, Avraham immediately interceded
and prayed on Sedom’s behalf. He did

everything he could to save the people.
Noach didn’t do this. He just built the ark to
save himself and his family.
In 1923, hundreds of the greatest Rabbis in
the world assembled in Vienna for the first
Kenesiya Ha’gedola (“great assembly”) of
the Agudat Yisrael organization. These
Rabbis included the Hafetz Haim, and there
is a famous video clip of him arriving at the
site in Vienna for this event. One of the
speakers at this gathering was the legendary
Rav Meir Shapiro, the Rosh Yeshiva of the
Hachmeh Lublin yeshiva in Poland. It was
at this event that Rav Shapiro introduced
the idea of Daf Yomi, the daily Gemara
study program which many thousands of
people participate in to this very day.
When Rav Shapiro got up to speak, he
discussed this difference between Avraham
and Noach. He described how Noach cared
only for himself, while Avraham cared for
everyone.
“The reason for this assembly,” Rav
Shapiro said, “is that we believe that we
need to be there for our brothers and sisters
across the world. We cannot care only
about ourselves. We must concern ourselves

with the needs of the entire Jewish Nation.
This is why we have come here – to discuss
how we can help all our fellow Jews.”
Why, in fact, did Noach concern himself
only with his and his family’s wellbeing?
Why did he not try to save the people of his
generation? Could it possibly be that this
man, whom the Torah describes as an Ish
Tzaddik (“righteous person”), was selfish
and indifferent to the needs of other people?
The answer is that Noach was weak. He
lacked confidence in his ability to bring
about change. He didn’t think he could
have an impact. And this was his mistake.
This is why he was criticized and called a
Roeh Shoteh. It is foolish to think that we
cannot make a difference, that we cannot
contribute.
Other nations are called B’nei Noach – the
children of Noach, but we are the children
of Avraham Avinu. We carry his legacy, his
belief in the power of every person to have
an impact. We cannot conveniently excuse
ourselves from helping out, from getting
involved, from donating, volunteering and
contributing, by claiming that we have
nothing meaningful to achieve, to give, or

to add. As the children and heirs of Avraham
Avinu, we need to believe in our ability,
and have the self-confidence to act in any
way we can. There are so many people who
need assistance, and so many ways to help.
Each of us can find an area in which to
contribute, a way to make a difference, and
it behooves all of us – especially during the
difficult times in which the Jewish People
currently find themselves – to believe in
ourselves and do what we can to have a real
impact.