GEN576 There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham, which informs [us] how great is His patience: for all those generations continued to anger Him, until Abraham our Father came and received the reward that was due them all. Pirkei Avot V:3  This mishnah is apparently very similar to the previous one. [There were ten generations from Adam to Noah, which informs [us] how great is His patience: for all those generations continued to anger Him, until He [finally] brought upon them the waters of the Flood.]  Both tell how the Almighty waited patiently through nine evil generations for the righteous man in the tenth. Yet how differently the two instances end: Abraham received the reward of all, but there was no cosmic destruction.  For Noah no reward is mentioned; he merely saved himself and his family, as the rest of the world was destroyed. What lay behind these two instances, to make the outcomes so very different?  As the Sages discern their characters, Noah and Abraham were utterly unlike in their senses of responsibility toward the people about them. When the Divine Ruler wanted Noah to build an ark because the deluge was coming, Scripture notes that this is about all he did: he built the ark.  We find no hint that he tried to change his fellow-men or save humanity.  At God’s awesome decision, he uttered not a word to implore the Creator to spare his fellow-men. He simply went and built his ark.  In Scripture we read, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah …. “ [this verse] One commentary wryly notes: This was the tragedy of Noah—he gave birth only to himself.  In Yiddish we might call Noah a tzaddik in peltz, a righteous person in a fur coat. The phrase derives from a parable of a group that finds itself freezing in an icy-cold room, whereupon one decides to achieve warmth.  Now, he can either build a fire in the grate or stove, which will warm everyone; or he can wrap himself in a sturdy fur-lined overcoat, to warm him alone.  If he chooses the fur-lined coat, Yiddish folklore dubs him (and by extension, anyone who acts to take care of himself alone), a tzaddik in peltz. Noah chose the peltz: he built an ark.  Abraham, however, was concerned with his fellow-men.  SINAI3 5