Work on yourself first – No’ach
The Torah says, “These are the generations of Noah” (Gen. 6:9). Where did the list of No’ach’s generations begin? With Shem, Ham and Japhet, the three sons of No’ach?
There was a Chassidic figure, the Yehudi HaKadosh of Psyscha, who said, “Every parent is concerned that their son will grow up to be a good man. But instead of starting to work on his son, the good parent should begin by working on himself. That is what No’ach did: he worked on himself and his own attributes, his middot. His genealogy began not with his sons but with himself.”
That is probably why Rashi explains the Torah’s phrase, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah (himself) was a righteous man, wholehearted in his generations, and his children followed their father’s example” (Gen. 6:9).
