Noach's Trust: Bitachon Even When Unworthy

1The Midrash on “Come into the Ark” [Bereishis 7:1] says: “‘You will destroy the speakers of falsehood’ [Tehillim 5:7]: they were falsehood, and their speech was falsehood. ‘But I’ [Tehillim 5:8]: as they did, so I did. Only, I trusted in Your kindness, for You took pity on me and said, ‘Come into the Ark.’” This is the version the Yeshu'os Yaakov¹ brings; in our editions of the Midrash the wording is different. The Midrash needs explaining, and that sefer lays out its difficulties. Perhaps we can explain it by way of allusion. The Ramban explains in Sefer HaEmunah VehaBitachon (chapter 1) that even doing good requires bitachon, trust in Hashem, as it says, “Trust in Hashem and do good” [Tehillim 37:3]. Trust is needed for the good deed itself and for the great preparation every mitzvah requires. A person may know that he is unworthy of it. How can he come “to the king's gate clothed in sackcloth” [cf. Esther 4:2]? Even so, he should not take it lightly and hold himself back from approaching what is holy. Rather, he should trust in Hashem and lean on his God, Who will help him do the good completely. That is “Trust in Hashem and do good.” [This is the intent of the Ramban's holy words, though not his exact language.]

2With this we come to the words of the Midrash. Noach knew that he, too, was not worthy. As Chazal say (Sanhedrin 108a; Bereishis Rabbah 28), “but Noach found chein”: the favor came from Hashem's attribute of graciousness, not from Noach's own side, from his good deeds. Noach simply trusted in Hashem, Who told him, “Come into the Ark,” even though he did not understand why he would be saved or by what merit. This is the meaning of Chazal's description of Noach as “believing and not believing” (Bereishis Rabbah 32:6). He believed Hashem's words. But he did not believe that Hashem would bring a flood on the world and that he would be saved and would witness the downfall of all the wicked of his generation, since he knew in his soul that he was not worthy of it. As Chazal say, and as Rashi brings on the verse “Do not look behind you” [Bereishis 19:17]: “for you are not worthy to see their downfall.” Yet although he knew all this, he trusted in Hashem's kindness. All the more so after he heard from Hashem Himself, “Come into the Ark,” he was shown Hashem's great kindness in telling him to come into the Ark and be saved. He trusted Him completely. Since it was Hashem's will to keep him alive, he trusted that he would yet be able to set himself right and give his Maker satisfaction, go into the Ark and be saved, and “establish a remnant in the land” [cf. Bereishis 45:7].

3aThe Generation of the Flood, however, damaged the trait of bitachon, as it says, “and the earth was filled with robbery” [Bereishis 6:11]. Their decree was sealed only because of robbery (Sanhedrin 108a; Bereishis Rabbah 31). A person who trusts in Hashem knows that since Hashem gave him life, He surely will not abandon him. He will provide his livelihood, for He feeds and sustains everything “from the horns of the wild oxen to the eggs of lice” (Shabbos 107b), and “no one can touch what is prepared for his fellow” (Yoma 38b). Someone who believes this will not rob, and will not want to grow rich on what is not his. But they did not trust in Hashem, and so they robbed and plundered. This is the meaning of “the earth was corrupt before God [lifnei ha'Elokim]” [Bereishis 6:11]. The Siddur of the Arizal explains on the verse “Trust in Hashem adei ad, forever” [Yeshayahu 26:4] that the Name of trust has the numerical value of ad, seventy-four. It is the Name Achdatam (אכדט״ם), formed from the letters that come “before” the letters of Elokim. This Name sweetens all the harsh judgments that come from the Name Elokim, the Name of strict justice.

3bIt is also the Name through which a person merits teshuvah, as the Siddur of the Arizal explains as well, in the section on teshuvah, on the verse “You shall return ad, unto, Hashem your God” [Devarim 30:2]. Through bitachon, anyone can merit teshuvah. As Chazal say (Eichah Rabbah 4; Vayikra Rabbah 15), Reish Lakish and R' T.² taught: even a wicked man who trusts in Hashem, “kindness will surround him” [Tehillim 32:10]. But the Generation of the Flood damaged the trait of bitachon. That is “the earth was corrupt lifnei Elokim”: in the letters that come before Elokim. So they did not merit teshuvah, because they did not trust that Hashem, in His kindness, could help them return in complete teshuvah. They had damaged the holy covenant, sexual purity. Even so, they should have trusted that Hashem in His kindness would help them, “that no one banished be cast away from Him” [Shmuel II 14:14]. The repair for this damage comes through words of truth, for the covenant of the tongue corresponds to the covenant of the flesh [Sefer Yetzirah 1:3]. But they sinned still more by saying there was no teshuvah for them. They added rebellion by speaking falsehood, and their deeds were falsehood, without truth. They did not trust in Hashem, and so they were wiped out of the world: “You will destroy the speakers of falsehood.” Noach, however, trusted in Hashem and in His salvation. By the power of bitachon, through the Name of trust, he sweetened everything. He merited teshuvah, established a remnant in the land and kept the whole world alive.

4From this every person should learn to strengthen himself in bitachon in everything, both in matters of this world and in matters of the World to Come, the service of the Creator. He may know that “from the sole of his foot to his head there is nothing sound in him” [Yeshayahu 1:6], and that he is soiled and filthy with every kind of filth, especially with this bitter sin. Even so, let him trust in Hashem, for “His greatness is unsearchable” [Tehillim 145:3]. Through this he will merit complete teshuvah. He will sweeten all the harsh judgments resting on him into mercy and kindness, his sins will become merits [Yoma 86b], and he will yet be able to rise and give his Maker satisfaction.

5In truth, as Sefer HaEmunah VehaBitachon explains (chapter 1), before bitachon a person must believe in Hashem with complete emunah, and only then comes trust. For a person trusts only someone he believes is able to fulfill his request. Then emunah and bitachon are bound together. The main path and counsel to emunah is humility and lowliness: not to be wise in one's own eyes [cf. Mishlei 3:7], and not to imagine, Heaven forbid, that whatever he does not know or understand with his own mind, no one understands, for who is greater than he? If he thinks this way, he will believe nothing that his coarse mind does not grasp. And so he will not believe in Hashem, Who is hidden, concealed and beyond searching out. But someone who is lowly in his own eyes merits emunah. He believes that whatever he does not understand is due to the shortcomings of his own mind. So had Noach lived in the generation of Avraham Avinu, he would have come to emunah and bitachon through self-nullification and lowliness, as we said in the previous maamar. (From the author's handwritten manuscript.)