Our text from Vayikra Rabbah 5, a midrashic collection expounding on the Book of Leviticus, grapples with just that question. It starts with a seemingly straightforward verse from Leviticus (4:3) about the anointed priest, the kohen ha-mashiah, who sins and brings guilt upon the people, and the required offering: a young bull, unblemished, as a sin offering. But then, it takes a fascinating, if unsettling, detour into the story of the generation of the Flood.
The connection? The verse in Job (34:29): "When He quiets, who can condemn? [When He conceals His face, who can see Him?]" Rabbi Meir, in his interpretation, suggests that God sometimes "quiets His world" and "conceals His face," like a judge who closes himself off and doesn't see what happens outside. He suggests this applied to the generation of the Flood, who falsely believed "Clouds obscure for Him [and He does not see]" (Job 22:14).
But the other Rabbis challenged Rabbi Meir. They offered a different understanding: "When He quiets, who can condemn?" means that God gave the generation of the Flood tranquility. So, who could then condemn them? What tranquility? Well, Job 21:8 tells us, "Their offspring are well placed [nakhon] before them, with them, and their descendants are before their eyes."
Here's where it gets interesting. Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis offer interpretations of the word nakhon ("well placed") that are, frankly, astonishing. Rabbi Levi says that the women of that generation would conceive and give birth in just three days! He connects the word nakhon here to the same word used in Exodus 19:15, "Be prepared [nekhonim] in three days" before the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The Rabbis take it even further. They suggest that women would conceive and give birth in a single day, linking nakhon to Exodus 34:2, "Be prepared [nekhon] for the morning."
Think about that for a moment. The very laws of nature, it seems, were bent to accommodate this generation.
The text continues painting a picture of unparalleled prosperity and ease. They saw their children and grandchildren flourish. "They send out avileihem like a flock" (Job 21:11). Rabbi Levi explains that in Arabia, avila means "child." Their children danced like demons! Imagine, a woman giving birth at night and telling her son to light a lamp to cut the umbilical cord.
There's even a story about a boy who encounters a demon while trying to light that lamp! The demon only retreats because the rooster crows, signaling dawn. The boy, empowered, boasts that his mother's inability to cut his cord saved the demon's life. "Their houses are peaceful without fear" (Job 21:9) – even fear of demons was absent. "And the rod of God is not upon them" (Job 21:9) – they experienced no suffering.
The question, then, becomes: why? Why such blessings for a generation that ultimately deserved destruction? The text suggests that God concealed his face from them. But, when He did act, who could question His judgment? "He brought the waters of the Flood upon them 'and He obliterated all existence…'" (Genesis 7:23).
The passage concludes with a reflection on God's power: "To nation and man alike" (Job 34:29). "Nation" refers to the generation of the Flood, and "man" refers to Noah. The text argues that God could have repopulated the world from either one person or one nation, demonstrating His absolute control.
So, what are we to make of all this? The midrash suggests that even extreme prosperity and freedom from suffering can be a test. Perhaps the very blessings bestowed upon the generation of the Flood blinded them to their own moral failings. It's a sobering reminder that divine silence isn't always approval, and that true blessing comes not just from material comfort, but from a conscious awareness of our responsibilities to ourselves, to each other, and to the divine.