When the people around us are doing the wrong thing, is it enough to simply ignore it, or are we responsible for the greater community?
At the beginning of Parshat Noach, the Torah declares, “Noach was a righteous man; he was perfect in his generations; he walked with G-d” (Genesis 6:9). Some of our sages interpret this positively, meaning if Noach was righteous in his own generation, then he would all the more so be considered righteous in a generation where there were other righteous people. However, others use it to discredit him, saying that he was only righteous in comparison to the people around him at that time.
This distinction becomes even more interesting when we compare Noach to Avraham.
Avraham is described as one who “walks before G-d” (Genesis 17:1). He didn’t need help in his service of G-d. He is always actively trying to better those around him. He converts the citizens of Charan to monotheism and actively tries to get Hashem to change his mind about his decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Noach, however, is presented differently. The Torah describes him as one who “walks with G-d” (Genesis 6:9). He listens to Hashem’s instructions and builds the ark, saving himself and his family from the flood. Nonetheless, the Torah doesn’t explicitly say that he argued with Hashem to save any of the people of the generation. He had 120 years to try and convince others to repent, but he did nothing. Instead, he focuses on saving himself, his family, and the required number of animals. He builds a structure to keep people out. This highlights two different approaches when it comes to leadership: maintaining our own values in a corrupt world and actively trying to make that world better.
Even if Noach was righteous in comparison to others in his time, was that enough? Should we aspire simply to be better than those around us, or should we strive to reach our individual potential? Avraham challenges us to recognize that “good enough” isn’t always good enough. Being righteous ourselves matters, but so does what we do for the people around us.
Hillel expresses this idea in Perkei Avot: “In a place where there are no people, strive to be a person” (2:5). This lesson is especially relevant in college, where we are constantly making choices about what we value and prioritize. We might feel that as long as we’re doing more, learning more, or making better choices than the people around us, we are doing enough. Here Avraham challenges us to ask if being righteous in comparison to others is really the goal.
In college, we don’t only have the opportunity to decide who we want to be; it is also an opportunity to influence the kind of community we want to create. We should strive to be like Avraham and take responsibility for more than just our own growth. We cannot control the choices other people make, but we can help foster an environment that makes choosing positive choices easier.
We should strive to do more than simply do the right thing when others do not. It is our job as individuals to take responsibility for creating a community that encourages others to do the same, which is certainly difficult. Parshat Noach reminds us that our goal is not just to be better than the people around us, but to use our own actions to inspire positive change in others.
