Can We Be Righteous in our Generation?

 Dear Friends,

What an honor for Noah...he is referred to as a righteous person in his generation.  

How many of us would like to be referred to as righteous?

And yet...Noah is criticized for only being righteous in his generation and not for all time?

The question for me is whether it is easier to be righteous when surrounded by people who aren't righteous, or whether it is easier to be righteous in a world where many are being righteous?  Or...is it ever "easy" to be righteous?

Rabbi Hillel says that in a place where no one is being a mensch ( a gentleperson), one should strive to be a mensch.  (My paraphrase of his quote).

As I encounter people who try to deal with peer pressure, I think that Noah was remarkable to have been righteous in his era.  He is surrounded by people doing evil things and is criticized for not telling anyone that he is building the Ark.  I wonder, in his era, whether anyone would have listened to him.  In fact, he might have endangered his building project if he had advertised what he was doing.  I think that it must have pained him to watch people do evil things and so he did what he was told quietly in order to save humanity and ensure that the world would not be totally obliterated.

I wonder whether I would have had the courage to try to save the world at that time or in any era?  During a time in which we face many challenges, I hope we can be as righteous as Noah and will do the equivalent of building our own ark and doing whatever we can to improve our corner of the world.

Maybe someone will listen to us if we speak out and act on causes that are important to us. Let us all strive to be righteous in our generation and try to DO SOMETHING to make our world a better place.  Please remember the quote from the Mishnah Sanhedrin where we are taught that if we save one life, we save an entire world.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Bruce Aft