When we take responsibility for something, we hold ourselves accountable for the process and outcome of our actions or the actions of others, often within a leadership context. Having the authority to be responsible comes with the glory of autonomy and the privilege (and often illusion) of control. But responsibility also carries its own heavy burdens. It is often accompanied by guilt or shame in times of failure, which can result in blame and criticism.
As the messages of this past Shabbos' Torah reading linger, we reflect on all of the responsibility that Noach carried on his shoulders and all that he accomplished virtually alone: the hard, physical labor of building a large ark, the difficulty of identifying the animals and resources for their care, and the hardship of preserving his family. He was alone in virtue in a society he could not save. But perhaps his greatest expression of responsibility came after spending forty days and nights in an ark and opening a door to an apocalyptic terrain.
Noach had to build a new world that would not be subject to the immorality and temptations of the one that water had soaked away. According to one rabbinic reading, the world was destroyed for the sin of stealing and compromising boundaries. It is no coincidence that Noach’s first act was a sacrifice. Unmatched larceny was replaced with deep giving and generosity.
As we face a complicated and difficult election this week, we are reminded of the words of former President John F. Kennedy: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” It is too easy to blame someone else for local, national, or global problems and not take sufficient personal accountability for the kind of society in which we want to live. Maybe that’s why Noah was so alone in his work. Ultimately, we must regard the breaking of the world and its remaking as a duty upon each of us. The wood and word artist Brian Andreas wrote, “Anyone can slay a dragon, but try waking up every morning & loving the world all over again. That's what takes a real hero.”
