Parshas Noah opens by praising Noah as a righteous man or in Hebrew a tsadik. The world in which he was born is condemned to destruction because of corruption (וַתִּשָּׁחֵת) and injustice (חָמָס). The Holy One blessed be He is described as being so grieved at heart by the man's multitude of evil that He regrets creating him to begin with.
The word tsadik (צַדִּיק) refers to one that makes good decisions especially from the standpoint of religion. It also connotes chivalry and sexual purity. Noah, who is from the line of Seth, is the first person in the Chumash to receive this praise. The generation of Enosh, the son of Seth, is praised as the first to preach in the name of Hashem. Enoch, Noah's grandfather, is praised for walking with God. Adam the first man had many children, however this line is praised as having his pristine image of God on the day he was created.
Corruption typically takes two forms, financial and sexual. It often means accepting bribes but includes all financial dishonesty. Sexual corruption would include promiscuity, sodomy, and obscene relationships. The term חָמָס is difficult to translate. The translations include violence, robbery, and crime. It seems to generally mean injustice. One side of חָמָס is getting away with criminal behavior. Another is the harm done to a blameless person that he cannot remedy. In many cases it includes an evil or inept criminal justice system. Generally it also involves a society which ignores, condones, or even participates in abuse and persecution of an individual.
Part of the indictment is that these abominations were occurring before God (לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹקים). From one side this means that religion and law became perverted. This means things which should be prohibited were permitted and things that should be permitted were prohibited. Also there are situations where legal and societal assistance are appropriate but instead they are ignored or aggravated. Another interpretation is that their actions and lifestyle were violations of the soul and as such aroused embarrassment and guilt. In addition they had the presence of mind to recognize that they were being repulsive in the eyes of Hashem.
Adam the first man was so oblivious to righteousness that he and Eve could go naked and feel no shame. The issue of good and evil was not of great importance, because man was naturally good. To the extent man did something that was not good, it was forgivable or even endearing. However, once man chose to delve into the idea of good and evil, running to do evil became prevalent.
Looking at this story from a man centered worldview, the generation of the flood had the society they desired, however problematic it may have been. From the view of a God centered universe, man had become the image of evil, when he should have been the image of good; therefore a failure. At this point the effective father of humanity must be a tsaddik with the accompanying strong sense of right and wrong. Not only that, there must be a righteous nation which has a tribe which is the quintessence of righteousness.
Often people think that they can play a game where I screw you one day and you screw me the next, and everybody will be happy, and it doesn't matter how ugly everyone gets. It will not work because in the end there will be a reckoning with heaven. However there will also be people who will save the world, teach man to be the image of God, and bring him back to the Garden of Eden.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
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