July 5, 2020 - 13 Tammuz 5780
Introduction
In Judaism there is a concept, or doctrine, known as yeridas hadoros, which roughly translates to “generational decline.” The concept of yeridas hadoros refers to the decline in humanity’s spiritual level over the passing of time. More specifically, it states that this decline began from the moment that the Torah was given and has continued, and will, until the Mashiach comes. The outcome of this process is the intensification of everything negative that you can think of attributed to human behavior and thought; the onset of idolatry, loss of moral direction, increased violence, and self-aggrandizement, etc. This decline occurs on both the social and personal level, affecting communities and individuals, and ultimately the entire human population. Moreover, there is no way to fully inoculate yourself against it, although steps can be taken to protect yourself against the effects in some capacity.
The Contradiction
The weekly portion of Noach starts with the verse:
These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, he was perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9).
.אֵ֚לֶּה תּֽוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ (בראשית ו:ט)
The commentator, Rashi, focuses on the verse’s usage of the words “in this generations” to mean the following:
Some of our Sages interpret it [the words “in this generations”] favorably: How much more so if he had lived in a generation of righteous people, he would have been even more righteous. Others interpret it derogatorily: In comparison with his generation he was righteous, but if he had been in Abraham’s generation, he would not have been considered of any importance. [Sanhedrin 108a, Genesis Rabbah 30:9, Tanchuma Noach 5]
Rashi’s second opinion above (in which it is understood derogatorily) seems to violate the concept of yeridas hadoros in action. The verse states that Noach was a righteous man, righteous enough, for the record, to warrant preserving him and his family and the entirety of the world along with him. However, in a comparison between himself and Noach, this opinion states that he would not have amounted to anything. And yet, according to yeridas hadoros, Abraham, who lived a full ten generations after Noach, would have been a product of the negative influence of his day. It therefore seems impossible that Avraham could have been more righteous than Noach, which is a violation of our current understanding of yeridas hadoros.
To better understand this I have put together the following visual model of yeridas hadoros:
The descending rectangles represent generations, with the top and bottom of each representing the possible range of movement within a given generation. Notice that although Avraham may have been spiritually greater than Noach in an absolute sense, that the ceiling in Noach's generation was higher than in Avraham's. This means that technically speaking Noach could have become a greater tzaddik than Avraham.
The Resolution
It seems likely that this is what Rashi means when says, "How much more so if he had lived in a generation of righteous people, he would have been even more righteous [than Abraham]." The influence of the righteous people in his generation would have pulled him to greater heights than he was able to reach on his own, and he would have surpassed Avraham.
This model also explains the converse opinion, namely how a person living in a later generation can become more righteous than a person who lived in a previous one. Notice that even though Noach was the most righteous person in his generation, that as long as he has not reached the ceiling of his generation it is possible for him to be less righteous than someone in a later generation, namely Abraham. This must be the correct way to understand Rashi’s second statement in light of the concept of yeridas hadoros. Further, because Rashi says that had they both lived in the same generation that Noach “would not have been considered of any importance,” Noach would probably appear much lower in his generation than the model above shows.
Summary
To summarize, this model seems to fully explain both of Rashi's views while complying with the demands of yeridas hadoros. The spiritual ceiling in Noach's generation was higher than in Avraham's, and the presence of other tzaddikim in Noach's generation could have led him to surpass Avraham. However, because Noach's generation was void of tzaddikim other than Noach, he was pulled down to a level lower than the greatest tzaddik of a later generation.
The phenomenon of negative influence is a recurring theme in the Torah.
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