In the very beginning of the portion of Noach, we encounter a phrase that strikes us as somehow qualified: “Noach was a man righteous and wholehearted in his generations” (emphasis added). The preeminent Biblical commentator Rashi explains the significance of this phrase by citing a debate from the Talmud - some say that Noach was great but was held back from greater spiritual achievement by the bad environment he lived in, others say he was notable only in comparison to his bad neighbors.
A short while later in the Torah portion, Rashi points out a debate in the midrash about what illuminated the interior of the ark; some say it was a window, others say it was a precious radiant stone. My neighbor, Yitzhak Block, suggests that this second explanation by Rashi is a metaphoric echo of the first debate brought down by Rashi that I shared above. As Yitzhak put it, the question is – did Noach’s character contain the strengths to engage the outside world (like a window) or was there only sufficient reserves to illuminate his own interior life (like a precious stone)? The dilemma of how to judge Noach’s strength of character is indeed perplexing, not just as an academic question but also a challenge to each of us to consider whether we exceed prevailing standards or if we help to redefine the norms.
Lovely! I see how the precious stone and the window parallel the two explanations for Noach's character.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a good visual for this post would be a window with Noach peeping through and then a stone with Noach holding it up?
I adopted the name Tzohar because my father's family name is Fenster which means window in Yiddish and my mother's maiden name is Lichtenstein which means radiant stone. There is a dispute in the Midrash whether or not the sun shone during the flood. Those who say rhat the sun shone interpret tzohar as window whic let in the sunlight. Those who say that the sun didn't shine say that the tzohar was a precious radiant stone that illuminated the interior of the ark. In In my blog I suggested an interpretation that incorporates both interpretations of the Midrash . The tzohar was a window but it was made of prcious stone or crystal. It did not itself radiate light but rather amplified the meager light that penetrated the cloud cover during the flood. this is similar to the way modern optical instruments amplify ambient starlight to facilitate night vision. Someone wrote me that ancient ships actually had a crystal skylight which illuminated the interior of the ship. For other interpretations see my blog. tzohar lateiva.blogspot.com
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