5787/2026
Of all of the Torah’s righteous personalities, few earn the rare praise afforded to Noach – “Noach Ish Tzaddik Tamim Hayah BeDorotav Et HaElokim Hithalech Noach,” “Noach was a righteous man, wholesome in his generation, and together with Hashem Noach walked” (BeReishit 6:9). Altogether, Noach is dubbed three distinct statuses – a righteous man, a wholesome man, and a man who walks with G-d. What does each signify? What is the portrait of Noach that the Torah seeks to paint?
Throughout Parashat Noach, the Netziv (Ha’Ameik Davar) develops a dichotomy between intellectually driven and divinely inspired values. Yefet and Sheim, for example, personify these distinct weltanschauungs. When describing the response of Sheim and Yefet to their father’s nakedness, the Torah curiously states, “VaYikach Sheim VaYefet Et HaSimlah,” “And Sheim and Yefet took the garment” (BeReishit 9:23) to cover him. Although two people carried the garment, the Torah employs the singular verb “VaYikach”. According to Rashi, this peculiar choice highlights that Sheim exerts greater effort than Yefet does in covering his father and thereby maintaining his honor. Rashi, however, omits how Sheim invests himself more so than Yefet. The Netziv (ibid.) posits that Sheim’s additional effort is rooted in his fundamentally distinct value system. Yefet acts out of sophisticated intellect, which emphasizes the result of his father’s honor. Were someone else, like Sheim, to achieve that result on his own, Yefet would be wholly satisfied. Sheim, in contrast, acts out of devotion to divine service, which accentuates the act of honoring itself, so much so that Sheim would insist on seizing the opportunity to serve Hashem by dignifying his father even if Yefet could have done so alone.
This distinction, the Netziv contends, also underlies the unique attribute of “Tzaddik Tamim.” The Gemara (Berachot 7a, Kiddushin 40a) differentiates between partial Tzaddikim and complete Tzaddikim, and the Netziv defines a “Tzaddik Gamur” or “Tzaddik Tov” as one whose goodness towards mankind stems not merely from intellectual instinct but from commitment to G-d’s will. The complete Tzaddik is good not just because he knows innately that he should be good to his fellow but because he knows that G-d wants man to be good. Sometimes, he may even overcome his nature that is not inclined towards kindness and altruism because of his deep commitment to the divine value of taking care of one’s fellow. What the Gemara labels a “Tzaddik Gamur,” the Torah names a “Tzaddik Tamim.” Noach was this person, a “Tzaddik Tamim,” one who lacks a natural drive for interpersonal goodness but develops it because of his Yirat Shamayim and divinely inspired value system.
With this understanding of Noach’s status as “Tzaddik Tamim,” the Netziv also unpacks the final praise – “Et HaElokim Hithalech Noach.” If Noach were merely good by nature, he would, in turn, merit protection only in the space of natural order but not during a period like the Mabul, in which Hashem suspends natural order. However, because Noach cultivates kindness by overcoming his natural inclinations for the sake of serving Hashem, he in turn earns a transcendent protection that spans unnatural spaces.
In this way, Noach models what Hashem later demands of His people – “VeHyitem Li Segulah MiKol HaAmim,” “And you are to be My treasure from amongst the nations” (Shemot 19:5). Extending his theme, the Netziv explains that here, G-d does not promise the Jewish people that they will be His treasure; rather, he commands us to become his treasure by distinguishing ourselves from the nations of the world. We do so by fulfilling the dictum of “BeChol Derachechah Da’eihu” (Mishlei 3:6), harnessing all of our service, even the elements that conform with human intuition, as opportunities to serve our Creator.