Take Noah, for instance. We all know the story: the ark, the flood, the animals two-by-two. But what about Noah before the flood? What kind of person was he?

Well, the book of Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of ancient rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives deep into this very question. It all starts with the verse: "Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Yefet" (Genesis 5:32). Seems straightforward, right? But the Rabbis saw something more.

The Bereshit Rabbah cleverly connects this verse to Psalm 1:1: "Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked." The connection? The Rabbis suggest that Noah is that happy man. But what does it mean to "not walk in the counsel of the wicked"?

Here, we get a fascinating debate between Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nehemya. Rabbi Yehuda sees three distinct generations of wickedness that Noah resisted: the generation of Enosh, the generation of the Flood, and the generation of the Dispersion (when the Tower of Babel was built). He sees the three phrases of resistance to sin in the Psalms verse — "has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, has not stood in the path of sinners, and has not sat in the company of scoffers" — as alluding to these three separate eras of decline. Noah, according to Rabbi Yehuda, was a righteous anchor in a sea of moral decay throughout his long life.

Rabbi Nehemya offers a slightly different take. He agrees that Noah resisted the wickedness of the Flood generation and the Dispersion generation, but he questions whether Noah was truly accountable during the time of Enosh. Why? Because Noah was only eighty-four years old when Enosh died. Considering the incredibly long lifespans of that era, people weren't considered adults, morally responsible for their actions, until they were closer to one hundred years old!

But according to Rabbi Yehuda's interpretation, Noah's righteousness didn't just involve avoiding evil. It also involved actively pursuing good. The verse continues in Psalms, "but whose desire is in the Torah of the Lord, and he meditates on His Torah day and night" (Psalms 1:2). The Rabbis connect this to the seven mitzvot, the seven commandments that Noah and his descendants were obligated to follow.

And how did Noah "meditate" on God's Torah? The Bereshit Rabbah gives us a beautiful example. Noah, observing that there were more pure animals than impure animals, reasoned that God must want him to offer sacrifices from the pure animals. So, immediately after leaving the ark, "he took from every pure animal…and offered up offerings" (Genesis 8:20). This shows Noah's proactive desire to understand and fulfill God's will.

Finally, the text links the rest of Psalm 1:3 to Noah's three sons: "He will be like a tree planted by streams of water...which gives its fruit in season," refers to Shem; "whose leaf does not wither," refers to Ham; "and whatever he does, he will prosper," refers to Yefet. This ties the Psalm back to the original verse about Noah begetting his sons, painting a picture of a family rooted in righteousness, each son bearing fruit in his own way.

So, what does this all mean? It means that the story of Noah isn't just about surviving a flood. It's about resisting the pressures of a corrupt society, actively seeking to understand God's will, and planting seeds of righteousness for future generations. It's a reminder that even in the darkest of times, one person can make a difference. And perhaps, that's the most powerful lesson we can learn from Noah’s story.