Weekly Devar Torah from Rabbi Nourollah

Parashat Noach — AI Can Create for You, But It Cannot Create You

The opening words of this week’s Parasha say:

״אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ — נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו, אֶת הָאֱלֹקים הִתְהַלֶּךְ נֹחַ״

“These are the generations of Noach. Noach was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noach walked with Hashem.”

Rashi immediately asks: The Torah says, ״אלה תולדות נח״ — “These are the offspring of Noach.” We expect the Torah to tell us the names of his children. Instead, the Torah tells us:

״נח איש צדיק״ — Noach was a righteous man.

Rashi explains:

״ללמדך שעיקר תולדותיהם של צדיקים מעשים טובים״

The primary “offspring” of the righteous are their good deeds.

There is an incredible message here.

The greatest thing a person produces in this world is not what he makes.

It is what he makes of himself.

We are living in an unbelievable generation. With Artificial Intelligence, we can press a button and create an article. We can create a speech. We can create a video clip. We can summarize a book or a shiur. We can ask a question and receive an answer within seconds.

These are incredible tools, and there is nothing wrong with using them for the right purpose.

But there is also a tremendous danger:

We can begin confusing producing something with becoming someone.

AI can create a beautiful Devar Torah for you.

But AI cannot make you a בן תורה.

AI can explain a Gemara.

But it cannot give you the עמלות בתורה that transforms your mind and your neshamah.

AI can give you an answer in three seconds.

But sometimes Hashem wants you to struggle with the question for three hours—because those three hours are not only producing an answer.

They are producing you.

Look at Noach.

The entire world around him was corrupt:

״וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹקים״

Yet Noach did not say, “Everybody is doing it.”

He stood alone.

Generation after generation around him was going in one direction, and Noach had the courage to go in another.

Later, Avraham Avinu did the same.

The entire world believed in Avodah Zarah. Avraham did not simply copy the beliefs of his environment. He searched. He questioned. He struggled. He discovered Hashem.

Chazal describe Avraham as:

״אברהם העברי״

He was on one side, while the entire world was on the other.

That is how an Avraham Avinu is created.

Not through copying.

Through searching.

Through struggling.

Through standing alone when necessary.

Through עמלות.

We find a fascinating contrast already at the beginning of Bereishit.

Regarding Kayin, the Torah says:

״וַיָּבֵא קַיִן מִפְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה מִנְחָה לַה׳״

Kayin originated the idea of bringing a korban.

Then the Torah says about Hevel:

״וְהֶבֶל הֵבִיא גַם הוּא״

“And Hevel, he also brought.”

Those words ״גם הוא״ are striking.

Hevel brought a beautiful korban—״מבכורות צאנו ומחלבהן״—from the finest of his flock. Hashem accepted his korban.

Yet the Torah emphasizes: “He also brought.”

The idea did not originate with him. He followed what he saw.

There is a lesson here far beyond the korban itself:

Don’t live your life as a “גם הוא.”

Don’t become merely a copy of somebody else.

Don’t allow other people—or now, technology—to do all your thinking for you.

Use their ideas. Learn from them. Be inspired by them. Use every כלי Hashem gives you.

But do the work yourself.

This is especially important in Torah learning.

There is a reason Chazal praise:

״עמלים בתורה״ — toiling in Torah.

The struggle itself has value.

When you sit over a Gemara and don’t understand it, and you read it again…

and again…

and ask a question…

and look at Rashi…

and struggle until suddenly the words become clear—

you didn’t only understand a piece of Gemara.

Something happened to you.

Your mind became sharper.

Your patience became stronger.

Your connection to Torah became deeper.

Your neshamah changed.

AI can give you the final answer.

But it cannot give you the transformation that came from the struggle.

The same is true with life.

Today we want everything instantly.

Instant information.

Instant answers.

Instant food.

Instant entertainment.

Instant inspiration.

But there is no button that says:

“Make me into a Talmid Chacham.”

There is no app that says:

“Give me good middot.”

There is no AI prompt:

“Make me into a great husband, wife, father, mother, rabbi, or Jew.”

Those things require עבודה.

They require falling and getting up.

They require thinking.

They require making difficult decisions.

They require sometimes standing alone.

That is why the Torah begins Noach with:

״אלה תולדות נח — נח איש צדיק״

You want to know what Noach produced?

Noach produced Noach.

He built himself into an איש צדיק תמים in a generation in which almost nobody else was doing it.

And that may be one of the greatest messages for our generation.

By all means, use AI.

Let it help you create the flyer.

Let it help you edit the video.

Let it help organize your thoughts.

Let it save you time.

But never outsource the things that Hashem sent you into this world to develop.

Don’t outsource your thinking.

Don’t outsource your Torah learning.

Don’t outsource your תפילה.

Don’t outsource your character.

Don’t outsource your relationship with הקב״ה.

Because ultimately, Hashem is not only interested in what you produce.

Hashem is interested in who you become.

AI can help you create many things.

But only you can create YOU.

Noach stood against his generation and became Noach.

Avraham stood against the entire world and became Avraham Avinu.

And every one of us has to be willing to struggle, think, learn, grow—and sometimes stand alone—in order to become the person Hashem created us to be.

״שעיקר תולדותיהם של צדיקים מעשים טובים״

Our greatest creation in this world is ultimately ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom ומבורך.