“For like the waters of Noach this shall this be to me…” (Yeshayahu 54:9)

The Zohar (Vayikra) says that the flood was called “Mei Noach” – waters of Noach – because Noach was to blame for the flood. Even though he tried for 120 years to get people to repent, the fact that he didn’t pray for the people of his generation caused him to be blamed for the flood.

The Daas Shraga asks why it was that despite Noach working for 120 years to try to get his generation to repent, he was blamed merely because he didn’t pray for them. He answers this question with a reference to the Yomim Noraim. The Gemora in Rosh Hashanah tells us that through changing a name a person could avert an evil decree. There are those who explain that through prayer, a person can change who he is to the point that the evil decree does not apply to him anymore! This is what Noach should have done – if only he would have prayed to the point that the people would be changed, the flood could have been averted.

However, I would like to offer another explanation. There was a Rebbe in Los Angeles who after 30 years met a former student. When the student introduced himself, the Rebbe immediately said, “I know who you are!”. He proceeded to state the student’s Hebrew name as well as his mother’s Hebrew name. The student was shocked and asked, “How do you have such a good memory?” The Rebbe said, “I don’t have a good memory, but being that you were my student, not only did I daven for you when you were in my class, but I still daven for you today!” (In truth, I don’t know if he davened for all of his students, or only certain ones, but either way, I believe we all have what to learn from this Rebbe.)

In last week’s parsha, there is a verse that tells us that Kayin built a city and named it after his son Chanoch. This troubled me because at that time in history, there were not enough people to inhabit a city, so why build it?! The answer that I saw was that Kayin understood that killing his brother caused civic discord to such a degree that actions such as murder could happen again. The purpose of a city is so people come together with a unified vision and help each other thrive. This in turn causes brotherly love which would prevent another murder from happening.

I see from here that possibly Noach understood that he had a job to do (to get the people to repent) and he did his job well. But he did not feel a personal obligation as a member of that society, for if he had felt so, he would have prayed for them too. An example of this which I would like to share is that it seems obvious to me that if a person had a sick child, not only would he seek out the best doctors, but he would also understand his obligation to pray. The Rebbe in the above example understood this, which is why he prayed for his students. However, Noach didn’t understand that it was also his obligation to go this extra step and pray for the people. When a person has a feeling of urgency to the point that he prays for his friend, the friend will respond to that feeling more readily. Perhaps, had the people of Noach’s generation felt that he was ‘in it’ with them, they would have responded better to his please for repentance.

As we start our new year, and we still have the euphoric feeling that we as a group merited an uplifting month of Tishrei, perhaps it would be proper for us not only to pray for our own families, but also for our kehilla and all of Klal Yisrael, for indeed we are all in this together!