The punishment to the human race as a result of Adam's sin was anguish, as it says, "To the woman He said, 'I will greatly increase your anguish and your pregnancy. It will be with anguish that you will give birth to children.'" (Genesis 3:16) Moreover, G-d told Adam, "The ground will therefore be cursed because of you. You will derive food from it with anguish all the days of your life." (3:17)
When Noah was born, his father "named him Noah [comfort], saying, 'This one will bring us relief from our work and the anguish of our hands, from the soil that the L-rd has cursed.'" (5:29) Rashi comments, "'He will bring us relief': He will alleviate our anguish. Until Noah arrived, mankind had no plows, and Noah prepared them. Previously, in the wake of Adam's curse, when they tried to grow wheat, they reaped thorns and thistles, but in Noah's day things got easier."
To be sure, Noah invented the plow, a technological invention that made things easier for farmers, such that the ground began to produce wheat instead of thorns. Yet, that technological improvement did not affect the moral or spiritual state of his generation. Quite the contrary, matters deteriorated to an awful low, as it says, "The world was corrupt before G-d, and the land was filled with crime. G-d saw the world and it was corrupted. All flesh had perverted its way on the earth." (6:11-12)
Noah, as leader of his generation, did not succeed in saving his generation by bringing them to repent. The result that followed was a flood that destroyed "from under the heavens, all flesh having in it a breath of life." (6:17) Noah, himself became addicted to wine after leaving the ark, as a means of chasing away the anguish that never left him: "Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank some of the wine, making himself drunk, and uncovered himself in the tent." (9:20)
Only Abraham merited to improve the moral stature of the human race. True, he made technological inventions like Noah, but he became the spiritual and moral leader of his generation and of all the generations to come, until the end of days. As G-d promised, "I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you great. You shall become a blessing.... All the families of the earth will be blessed through you." (12:2-3)
We must learn from Noah's failure and from Abraham's success regarding how to lead. Noah was a man of the soil and, as noted, he invented the plow, which made tilling the soil easier. He busied himself with the material world and he wanted life to be "fun" for mankind. He possessed no vision. As a leader without moral or spiritual vision, he brought his generation to a moral crisis and to unprecedented corruption, which in turn led to the flood and the destruction. He did not succeed in ridding the world of anguish.
By contrast, Abraham was a great educator, and a man of faith and morality, who did not wish to take anything away from anyone else, no matter how little: "Abram replied to the king of Sodom, 'I have lifted my hand in an oath to G-d Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth. Not a thread nor a shoelace. I will not take anything that is yours." (14:22-23) Quite the contrary, he was total kindness and truth, as it says, "I know of him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep G-d's way, doing charity and justice." (18:19)
He merited a son and named him Isaac [Yitzchak - "he will laugh"], in accordance with Sarah's words, "G-d has given me laughter. All who hear about it will laugh for me." (21:6) Rashi comments: "Many barren women became pregnant with her. Many sick people were cured on that day. Many prayers were answered at that time, and there was much laughter in the world."
How fortunate and privileged we are to be following in the path of Abraham.
When Noah was born, his father "named him Noah [comfort], saying, 'This one will bring us relief from our work and the anguish of our hands, from the soil that the L-rd has cursed.'" (5:29) Rashi comments, "'He will bring us relief': He will alleviate our anguish. Until Noah arrived, mankind had no plows, and Noah prepared them. Previously, in the wake of Adam's curse, when they tried to grow wheat, they reaped thorns and thistles, but in Noah's day things got easier."
To be sure, Noah invented the plow, a technological invention that made things easier for farmers, such that the ground began to produce wheat instead of thorns. Yet, that technological improvement did not affect the moral or spiritual state of his generation. Quite the contrary, matters deteriorated to an awful low, as it says, "The world was corrupt before G-d, and the land was filled with crime. G-d saw the world and it was corrupted. All flesh had perverted its way on the earth." (6:11-12)
Noah, as leader of his generation, did not succeed in saving his generation by bringing them to repent. The result that followed was a flood that destroyed "from under the heavens, all flesh having in it a breath of life." (6:17) Noah, himself became addicted to wine after leaving the ark, as a means of chasing away the anguish that never left him: "Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank some of the wine, making himself drunk, and uncovered himself in the tent." (9:20)
Only Abraham merited to improve the moral stature of the human race. True, he made technological inventions like Noah, but he became the spiritual and moral leader of his generation and of all the generations to come, until the end of days. As G-d promised, "I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you great. You shall become a blessing.... All the families of the earth will be blessed through you." (12:2-3)
We must learn from Noah's failure and from Abraham's success regarding how to lead. Noah was a man of the soil and, as noted, he invented the plow, which made tilling the soil easier. He busied himself with the material world and he wanted life to be "fun" for mankind. He possessed no vision. As a leader without moral or spiritual vision, he brought his generation to a moral crisis and to unprecedented corruption, which in turn led to the flood and the destruction. He did not succeed in ridding the world of anguish.
By contrast, Abraham was a great educator, and a man of faith and morality, who did not wish to take anything away from anyone else, no matter how little: "Abram replied to the king of Sodom, 'I have lifted my hand in an oath to G-d Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth. Not a thread nor a shoelace. I will not take anything that is yours." (14:22-23) Quite the contrary, he was total kindness and truth, as it says, "I know of him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep G-d's way, doing charity and justice." (18:19)
He merited a son and named him Isaac [Yitzchak - "he will laugh"], in accordance with Sarah's words, "G-d has given me laughter. All who hear about it will laugh for me." (21:6) Rashi comments: "Many barren women became pregnant with her. Many sick people were cured on that day. Many prayers were answered at that time, and there was much laughter in the world."
How fortunate and privileged we are to be following in the path of Abraham.