The first pasuk of the parsha says:
> אֵ֚לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִֽתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ׃
> This is the line of Noah.—Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God.—
There are three different ways the Rishonim use to explain what the Torah means by *Noah walking with Hashem*. One of the three is Targum who explains this means Noah walked in fear of Hashem and this was Noah exceptional quality was his *Yiras Shamayim* - fear of heaven. Rav Yisroel Meir Druck, shilta, explains this quality in the following manner.
The Rema explains that fear of heaven is an overarching principle of the Torah and this ideal should be in everything that we do. If a person does this they will immediately be filled with awe and submissiveness out of constantly having fear of Hashem.
The Vilna Gaon notes this is what is meant by Walking with Hashem. At every moment Noah sensed Hashem's presence. He also adds that Chanoch also achieved this constant awareness of Hashem's presence. Not too surprisingly, the avos also possessed this virtue.
It was said about Rav Yechezkel Levenstein that one could see palpable hear of Heaven and perceive that Hashem was with him at every moment of the day.
Rav Druck continues and that he heard a great person observe that if a person was alone in a room and wanted to sin and suddenly heard a rustle. The person then looks around to see who is making this noise. Eventually he realizes that it wasn't anyone but just the wind or leaves moving. At this point the person calms down reassured nobody is watching. It is at these moments in our lives we need to remember the rustle came Hashem who wanted to show him that He sees and is watching everything.
Let's reflect on that powerful image of the rustle in an empty room. How often do we, like that person, feel relieved when we think no one is watching? Yet the lesson of Noah's life teaches us something profound - there is never truly an 'empty' room. Just as Noah walked with constant awareness of Hashem's presence, we too can strive to develop this level of consciousness in our daily lives.
Whether we're in public or alone, making major decisions or going about our routine tasks, we can work on cultivating that sense of 'walking with Hashem.' This isn't meant to paralyze us with fear, but rather to elevate our actions and choices with the understanding that we're always in the presence of the Divine.
Thank you for joining us today. Until next time, may we all merit to grow in our Yiras Shamayim, taking inspiration from Noah's example of walking with Hashem."
