Even when imperfect, love can bring us together

Harry Potter fans know that Lily Potter gave her life for her son, and what saved his life in his various encounters with the villain of the series (who must not be named) is Love.

The theme of Love was also the savior in Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” when minds and destinies would have been lost and destroyed were it not for love.

This theme is recast in many forms in countless other successful books. But it seems far removed from the tale of Noach, in a story in which it might have played a critical role.

Noach is portrayed several times as being a tzaddik, a righteous man (6:9, 7:1). Rashi explains in 6:14 that Noach took 120 years to build the Ark because he wanted people to see what he was doing, so they could ask him about it. In explaining to them about the coming flood, he would be giving them the opportunity to repent, so the decree could be reversed.

While Noach merits to have his family join him in the Ark, Or HaChaim suggests they were unworthy of being saved. They were only brought on board because they were his family. After all, G-d told Noach, “You are the [only] tzaddik I see in this generation.” Was it love that saved his family? Or was it his righteousness? My vote is not with “love.”

In the book of Bereshit, love appears a number of times. Yitzchak is loved by his father, who brings him to a mountain intent to kill him. Yitzchak later loves Rivkah, but they turn out to have very different ideas on how to raise children, leading each to direct their love to their own favorite son. Yaakov loves Rachel, but she is the only wife with whom we see him have a real spat (30:1-2). Shechem loves Dinah — which is beautiful, if we can call what he does to Dinah an act of love (we can’t). Yaakov showers his love on Yosef, and the brothers hate Yosef because of that love. Even Yaakov gets angry with Yosef (37:10)