This weeks article was anonymously sponsored in leulei nishmas Moshe Ben Yitzchak For only 18 dollars you can sponsor a shiur, a Q&A, a Dvar Torah or an event. Your small contributions go a long way towards helping us continue to do the great work we are doing at Nitzotzos. To sponsor please email us at Nitzotzos@gmail.com אֵ֚לֶּה תּֽוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ: " These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God. " (Bereishis 6:9) The Torah calls Noach a tzaddik. At first glance that is all there is to it. The entire generation is to be wiped out in a flood and only Noach will be saved. However, Rashi, based on the Gemara in Sanhedrin (108a) and the Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah 30:9), points out that the Torah specifically mentions that he was a Tzaddik "in his generation." In Rashi's words: יש מרבותינו דורשים אותו לשבח, כל שכן שאלו היה בדור צדיקים היה צדיק יותר, ויש שדורשים אותו לגנאי, לפי דורו היה צדיק, ואלו היה בדורו של אברהם לא היה נחשב לכלום: Some of our Sages interpret it [the word בְּדֹרֹתָיו] favorably: How much more so if he had lived in a generation of righteous people, he would have been even more righteous. Others interpret it derogatorily: In comparison with his generation he was righteous, but if he had been in Abraham’s generation, he would not have been considered of any importance. So we see that there are two ways of viewi
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