Noach was “whole in his generations.” Rashi brings Chazal’s two readings, one in his praise and one to his discredit, yet either would follow just as well from “in his generation.” So what does the plural add, and what did Noach do in each generation he lived through?
These are the offspring of Noach: Noach was a righteous man, whole in his generations; Noach walked with God.
7Or we may say about “in his generations”: at first glance the verse should have written “in his generation.” Noach did live through several generations, yet the main thing the verse means to teach us is what brings: some of Chazal expound it in Noach's praise, and some to his discredit.1 Had it said “in his generation,” we would still have heard this teaching.
Rashi on Bereishis 6:9, from Sanhedrin 108a: in his praise, that had he lived in a generation of tzaddikim he would have been more righteous still; to his discredit, that he was righteous only by the measure of his generation. ↩
In shortThe plural “in his generations” must teach something more, since Rashi's praise-or-discredit reading would follow just as well from “in his generation.”
8It seems to me that the verse comes to teach us one thing more. Each and every generation has at its root one particular mitzvah to repair more than the other mitzvos. In our own generation, for example, its root is to repair the mitzvah of tzitzis more than the others; and so every generation has at its root one particular mitzvah to hold fast to more than the others. The verse teaches us that Noach was “a righteous man, whole in his generations”: in every generation he lived through, he held fast to the mitzvah at that generation's root and repaired it.
In shortEvery generation has its own mitzvah to repair above the rest, and in each generation he lived through, Noach held fast to that generation's mitzvah.
9This is “Those who seek Him will praise Hashem; may your hearts live forever.”2 When the tzaddik does a mitzvah and fulfills it at its root, that mitzvah brings him to warmth and fervor; it burns within him and moves him to sing songs and praises to Hashem, blessed be He. So “they will praise Hashem” with songs and praises. “Those who seek Him,” dorshav, are those who seek out (dorshim) the mitzvah, to do it wholly, at its root. “May your hearts live la'ad, forever”: the verse gives the reason why praise befits them. Their hearts live forever because they seek out each generation's particular mitzvah la'ad, in every generation, forever. This is easy to understand.
In shortA mitzvah done at its root sets the heart burning with song; those who seek out each generation's mitzvah have hearts that live forever.
The maamar as a whole
R’ Elimelech asks why the verse says “in his generations.” Rashi’s two readings, praise or discredit, would come just as well from the singular, so the plural must teach one thing more. Every generation, he says, has at its root one particular mitzvah to repair above the others; in his own generation, for example, it is tzitzis. Noach lived through several generations, and in each he held fast to that generation’s mitzvah and repaired it. He then reads “Those who seek Him will praise Hashem; may your hearts live forever”: a mitzvah done at its root sets the heart burning and moves a person to song, and those who seek out each generation’s mitzvah, in every generation, have hearts that live forever.
Takeaway
Each generation has its own mitzvah to strengthen, and Noach held fast to it in every generation he lived through. When we seek out the mitzvah our time calls for and do it wholly, at its root, it warms the heart and moves us to sing Hashem's praise.
