Two types of progeny – No’ach
The sidra opens with famous words: “These are the progeny of No’ach – No’ach was a righteous man, wholehearted in his generations” (Gen. 6:9). The text continues with an enumeration of No’ach’s three sons, Shem, Ham and Yefet.
It seems the description of No’ach as righteous and wholehearted is in brackets, as if it interrupts the main story, the list of the sons.
But this may not be the case at all. The Torah may be telling us that there are two types of progeny, two types of heritage a person leaves behind. As a modern thinker puts it, there are two types of immortality – biological (we live on through our children) and historical (we live on through our deeds).
Like No’ach, we can all continue to live in the record we leave behind of being righteous people and adding to the store of human goodness.
