Walking with G-d

At the beginning of the story of Noach, the Torah tells us that he was “righteous and pure in his generation. With [or of] G-d he would go” (Bereishit 6:9). The second clause is difficult to translate since there isn’t really an English equivalent for the word “et.” It is translated here as “with” or “of”; however, there is really no way to perfectly represent the meaning of this verse in English. The verb itself, translated above as “he would go,” is the reflexive form meaning “to cause oneself to go,” but this also does not lend itself to a sentence structure pleasing to the ear in English.

The implication that emerges from the expression is that Noach conformed his “going” to the terms or dicta of the Divinity (i.e., HaElokim, translated here as “G-d,” as is common in contemporary English translation). This seemingly suggests that there is some path or vector along which one might – and should – direct oneself, and that Noach, presumably uniquely among his contemporaries, lived in accordance with this set of principles or guidelines.

Rav Kook, in his collection of essays entitled Midbar Shor (101-102), juxtaposes the righteousness of Noach with that of the forefathers by comparing the manner of their conformity with this ideal standard of “et HaElokim” set by Noach. The Midrash (Tanchuma 58:5) teaches that the Patriarchs were greater because of them it is said that they would go “before Me,” as in Bereishit 17:1, for example, regarding Avraham, or again at the end of Yaakov’s life when he blessed Yosef, saying, “HaElokim before Whom my fathers [Avraham and Yitzchak] caused themselves to go” (Bereishit 48:15).

Rav Kook explains that Hashem created humankind to progress steadily toward an intended state of refinement that will correspond to the anticipated Redemption and embody the purpose of Creation.

But humanity is not designed to progress through large leaps – at least not as an expression of our nature. Once the Torah was given to Israel at Har Sinai, the capacity to rapidly expand consciousness was made possible through recourse to Torah. However, before and without the Torah, this progression is exceedingly rare. When Noach was causing himself to go with Hashem, this meant that he was – uniquely in his generation – living up to his potential and achieving the spiritual and intellectual growth that was appropriate to his historical moment. Indeed, in a certain regard, Noach was greater than most tzaddikim who lived before or after him because, as the only person to fulfill this potential, he also received an overwhelmingly high proportion of the Divine inspiration that was designated for his generation.

In contrast, when Avraham caused himself to walk ahead of the Divine, this meant that his consciousness had advanced beyond the natural state of development for humanity in his generation. Avraham, through his own righteousness and spiritual sensitivity, had managed to progress at a much higher rate than was expected or natural for a human being. He had become something greater than purely human; his awareness was superhuman.

When Chazal taught that Avraham upheld the entire Torah even before it was given (Kedushin 4:14), they were alluding to this uniquely elevated spiritual and intellectual state achieved by Avraham. Avraham was embodying Torah consciousness in spite of the fact that the Torah had not yet been given. He had miraculously transcended the limits of human attainment without recourse to Torah. He had made himself a conduit for Torah consciousness – a living Torah. In attaining this level and passing it on to his children, Avraham also set the stage for the Torah to eventually be given to the world through his descendants. Thus, he quite literally upheld the entire Torah, inasmuch as he created the circumstances necessary for it to come into the world.