Noach – An Occupied Life Is A Successful Life
Noach – An Occupied Life Is A Successful Life
By Rabbi Ezra Friedman
In the modern world, a value put above everything is having the ability to absolutely nothing. We overwork ourselves so that at some point in life we can sit back and enjoy the fact that we have no more obligations or tasks. Judaism fiercely disagrees with this approach. That is not to say that Judaism is against relaxing or taking a vacation, we all need to recharge our batteries (of course it is never permitted to sin in order to do so). Judaism firmly believes that keeping oneself occupied is an essential human need, we showed always strive to do new projects, new journeys. We must always want to improve our lives in every area, these ideals contradict a world where we await sitting on a beach 24/7. In Judaism, if you are not doing something positive, negativity and sin are almost certain to follow; this lesson can be learnt from a simple verse in Tanach (Iyov 5, 7):
כִּֽי־אָ֭דָם לְעָמָ֣ל יוּלָּ֑ד וּבְנֵי־רֶ֝֗שֶׁף יַגְבִּ֥יהוּ עֽוּף׃
For man is born to labor, Just as sparks fly upward.
The Verse is normally interpreted as; man is meant to labor however, the real meaning of the verse is that no matter what man is doing he is always laboring, although it is his decision if that labor will be positive of negative. No matter what we are doing, we must strive to work hard and create goals to achieve, even when we are not working for our livelihood we should look to help others, find productive hobbies or enhance ourselves in other Mitzvot. We can learn from the generation of Noach how important this lesson is.
In Parashat Noach, humankind has sunk into the depths of evil conduct so much so that Hashem had to destroy the human race and rebuild it from Noach and his family. Although there are obvious causes for the evil behavior of that generation, however there is a small yet important aspect that is missed by many readers. When we look at Hashem‘s promise never to destroy the world again we find a hidden lesson (Breishit 8:20-22):
וַיִּ֥בֶן נֹ֛חַ מִזְבֵּ֖חַ לַֽיהוָ֑ה וַיִּקַּ֞ח מִכֹּ֣ל ׀ הַבְּהֵמָ֣ה הַטְּהוֹרָ֗ה וּמִכֹּל֙ הָע֣וֹף הַטָּהֹ֔ר וַיַּ֥עַל עֹלֹ֖ת בַּמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃ וַיָּ֣רַח יְהוָה֮ אֶת־רֵ֣יחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־לִבּ֗וֹ לֹֽא־אֹ֠סִף לְקַלֵּ֨ל ע֤וֹד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּעֲב֣וּר הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֠י יֵ֣צֶר לֵ֧ב הָאָדָ֛ם רַ֖ע מִנְּעֻרָ֑יו וְלֹֽא־אֹסִ֥ף ע֛וֹד לְהַכּ֥וֹת אֶת־כָּל־חַ֖י כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִֽׂיתִי׃ עֹ֖ד כָּל־יְמֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ זֶ֡רַע וְ֠קָצִיר וְקֹ֨ר וָחֹ֜ם וְקַ֧יִץ וָחֹ֛רֶף וְי֥וֹם וָלַ֖יְלָה לֹ֥א יִשְׁבֹּֽתוּ׃
Then Noah built an altar to the Hashem and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar The Hashem smelled the pleasing odor, and the Hashem said to Himself: “Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done. So long as the earth endures, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Summer and winter, Day and night Shall not cease.
What is the connection between these two verses, what is meant by the juxtaposition of Hashem‘s promise never again to destroy the world and the commandment that man shall work hard all year long? The answer is that one of the catalysts of that generation’s sins was that they were not occupied enough. Our Sages tell us that before the flood Man did not need to toil in order to have sustenance. He would plant a small seed, which would last a year, the harvest was easy and all natural resources were in abundance. The lack of activity had an effect on human society. When man is not working hard his evil inclination kicks in, the consequences can be severe as seen from Noach‘s generation. Jews must always keep themselves occupied and active not only for their mental stability but for their spiritual stability as well.
There is an old Hebrew expression that asks who is greater the sharp minded fellow or the genius. The expression goes on to say that, the sharp minded fellow is greater for he has the wit to stay out of dilemmas the genius is forced to solve. This is the importance of an occupied and active Jewish lifestyle, when we keep ourselves busy and involved we are preventing ourselves from letting our Evil inclination overcome us. When are constantly focused on occupying ourselves with substance we will prevent sin. The solution to Noach‘s generation was Avraham Avinu a man who was always acting, learning and searching for the right thing to do. The first thing Avraham was told is “Lech-Lecha” which means to go, to walk, Avraham was always walking his entire life. We must take this message to heart that an occupied life is a successful life.