These are the generations of Noach, Noach was a completely righteous man (Bereshis 6:9)

Sometimes Noach is looked at as a fool. If he was a complete tzaddik, why do some people think of him as a fool?

Although Noach was great, he did not learn the lesson that Henderson Alvarez needed to learn: This past Sunday was probably one of the strangest baseball games ever. The Miami Marlins’ pitcher, Henderson Alvarez, had a great game. It was so great that he pitched a no-hitter. But when a pitcher pitches a no-hitter, usually he throws the last pitch of the game. That did not happen this past Sunday. The reason is because although Alvarez pitched nine innings without allowing a hit or run, his own team also did not score any runs (although they did have a few hits). Since the score was tied 0-0, the Marlins needed to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. If they scored, they would win and Alvarez would have a no-hitter. If the Marlins did not score, Alvarez would need to pitch at least one more inning to earn the no-hitter. Luckily, the Marlins did score: there were two outs with bases loaded when a wild pitch was thrown. I think there’s an important lesson we can learn from this game. Alvarez did his job. He pitched fantastically but his team almost destroyed his moment in the spotlight. If the Marlins did not score, the game would have continued and Alvarez would have only been credited with a no-hitter if he completed the game without giving up any hits and his team won.

Noach was a tzaddik, but he was not part of a team. Some people think a holy person is someone who lives his life as a hermit in a cave far away from society. This person fills his life with holy thoughts and perfects himself. But that is not a holy person. A truly holy person is a person who lives within society and shares his holiness with others. Therefore, although Noach made himself holy, he did not share this with others. He lived a secluded life.

This past week, Henderson Alvarez learned an individual does not win games. Although he did great, he still needed others. This is the lesson to us. We are all on the same team and for us to reach greatness, we need to work with others. An individual is not holy by himself.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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