Noach

Our Parsha begins by introducing Noach saying נח איש צדיק תמים היה בדרתיו, Noach a righteous man, perfect in his generation.

Rashi, in explaining what the word  בדרתיו is coming to teach us says, that some of our rabbis explain it to Noach's credit; had he been in a generation of righteous people he would have even been greater. Then, others use it to discredit him saying that only in his decadent generation was he good; had he been in the generation of Avraham, he wouldn't have amounted to much.

Many commentators ask: if we can interpret something for either good or bad, why would anyone choose the bad rather than just judge him for good?

The Chazon Ish says that these two interpretations are really the same thing. One who is in a society where spirituality is, at best, frowned upon if not actually scorned, is bound to be influenced & dragged down by his surroundings. As the Rambam writes, " People’s actions and character are deeply affected by the opinions, actions and spiritual level of their friends & acquaintances." So, objectively, Noach never became the great person he could have been had he lived in Avraham's generation. The amount of energy he needed to resist succumbing to his generation’s evil ways & negative atmosphere, but to also propel himself to the next level was just too much.

However, the spiritual level he did reach even under those circumstances was extraordinary given the society he lived in.
What was it that compelled Noach to be different than everyone else? What was it that kept him straight?

The Alter of Novardok says that the ones who interpret our posuk negatively don't necessarily mean it to reflect badly on Noach. Rather it’s the reason that he went the other way. When he saw what was going on in his generation and the perverse level of the people, he made tremendous effort to distance himself from them. Therefore, he turned himself into a great person. Had he lived in Avraham's times, there wouldn't have been that perversity to disgust him & propel him to greatness.  

The Chafetz Chaim wrote about the declining spiritual level of Eastern Jewry during the 1920's & 30's. Since the spiritual level was much lower, every small spiritual accomplishment was just as important as the great accomplishments of the previous generations, for it took a great inner strength to go against the trend & grow spiritually.

When one lives in a society that is perverse, that perversion has to propel him to be better than the norm. One must be turned off by such a society & develop a moral prerogative to better oneself. We, in our generation, can surely relate to Noach. We need to realize that no matter how small our accomplishments are they really count. We should learn from him that even if society sinks to a new low level, we cannot let it overcome us. Rather, let it disgust us, so that we, too, can be perfect in our generation!