The first two parshiyot of Sefer Breishit may seem on the surface to depict a somewhat negative view and depiction of humankind. Man enters the world, man sins. Noach was saved from destruction, only to sin in its aftermath. As we read these tales, I cannot help but think about one of the fundamental truths of Judaism is that we man is inherently good. Indeed it was only in last week's parsha we read that G-d blew life into mankind, giving each of us a piece of Himself and thereby making us Godly and goodly by nature. So how do we understand the sinful behavior, and how do we reconcile two seemingly opposing views of mankind within the parshiot.
I think a better understanding reveals that there is no contradiction at all. Mankind is inherently good; it is when we forget this truth and we are led astray that we falter. Let us start at the beginning. After Adam sins, Hashem approaches Noach with the famous question, "ayecha" – "where are you"? Of course the question was not about his physical place in space, but instead Hashem wanted to know where is your essence that is good and pure and how have you distanced yourself from it?
A similar story can be told of Noach, whose righteousness was questioned because he did not try to prevent the flood by influencing those around him to repent. The Meshech Chochma explains the root of Noach’s mistake was a lack of faith in himself – he did not think he could influence others for the better. Because he did not recognize his potential for good, he did not live up to it.
In the same way, Chazal explain his sin after the flood when he became drunk. The essence of the sin was that Noach opted to plant a vineyard instead of a wheat field that would have offered sustenance for the world and could have marked the start of new life. All along, Noach he did not realize that from him the world could be repented, recreated, and renewed.
If Noach had the power to recreate worlds, than certainly we have the potential to make changes for the better in our world. And this is the message of the troubling verse: "I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the yetzer of man's heart is evil from his youth" (8:21). The word yetzer is often translated as desires, but it can also mean creation – in other words, the things that man creates in his heart is often what confuses us and leads us to the wrong path - it is our own musings and judgments of ourselves that we create, rather than the instincts that come from deep within - that might lead us astray from our own self and own inner desires.
And so in answering our original question we see that indeed mankind is not inherently evil or doomed for failure; in fact we learn that it is this attitude and approach that leads us to sin. We must be always aware of our most inner good, and not let our self-doubts prevent us from following our Godly, moral, and pure instincts - so that we can stay aware of our inner Godliness and stay true to our inner good, and in so doing we can influence others by letting the inner good shine through and bring goodness into the world. Shabbat Shalom & Chodesh Tov, Taly
