Le’chaim
Some people drink to forget; some drink to remember. Some drink for life. It is far better to live for life than to drink for it. When we say le’chaim-to life, we should emphasize the spirit of life than the life of spirits.
Behavioral Reversal
Noach was unmistakably a righteous individual. Only he and his immediate family were deemed worthy of being saved from the flood that destroyed the world, Yet, in the aftermath of the flood, Noach drinks excessively and as a result he is subjected to humiliation by his son Cham.
One wonders at the incredible reversal of Noach’s behavior. How could a man who was so strong to resist the wave of immorality that engulfed the entire world, succumb to the relatively mild attraction of wine? What was it about the year Noach spent in the ark that so changed his character?
Some commentators suggest that the flood altered the physical composition of the world. Before the flood people lived to the incredibly old age of 800 or 900 years. After the flood the life span dropped precipitously. The diminution of longevity was coupled with a general deterioration of physical strength.
Noach did not realize how his own tolerance for alcohol had been diminished. The amount of wine that he imbibed would not have caused him to become intoxicated before the flood. But now his body and mind could not tolerate the amount he drank.
There is an even deeper way of understanding Noach’s degradation in the aftermath of the flood.
Two Reasons for Drinking
There are two reasons why one would have imbibed after the flood. The first was to escape the stark reality that the world had just been destroyed and that it was your task to rebuild it almost single-handedly. This awesome realization can lead many people to escape reality and responsibility. There is a Biblical and Talmudic precedent to this form of drinking. It was customary for mourners to be given several drinks of wine to help them distract themselves from their loss as a way of coping with their tragedy.
A second reason for one’s desire to drink after the flood was, paradoxically, to express one’s joy at being saved from the world’s greatest catastrophe and to be chosen to begin a new world.
There are many precedents for this form of drinking in Jewish tradition, including the recitation of kiddush as we usher in every Shabbat and major Jewish holiday.
The Test
Which of these two scenarios is the one that applies to Noach? What test can we apply to an individual who drinks to determine whether it is an escape from grief and hardship or whether it is an expression of joy?
When one drinks to express gratitude and joy, it is done with others. One shares a simcha with friends and relatives. Jewish holidays are known for the way that families and guests come together to share their happiness. When one is interested in escaping, they do not want the company of others.
It is obvious that Noach’s drinking wine by himself was not an expression of joy but a way to escape. Noach was not celebrating the miracle of his survival and the new opportunity he was given, but wallowing in the grief of the immense loss that he experienced.
This story might serve as the basis for the Chassidic maxim that while sadness is not a crime it can lead to the most negative consequences. Simcha-joy, conversely, is not a commandment, but it leads to the most positive results.
Our sages tell us that had King Hezekiah sang joyous praise to G-d for the miracles he had experienced he would have been the Messiah.
As we stand on the threshold of the “New world order” that is analogous to the “new world order” that was initiated by Noach, we must learn to celebrate the miracles we have all experienced with great joy. This display of overt simcha will surely lead to the most positive of consequences, and will hasten the process of redemption.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Noach by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
