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During The Flood, in this week’s Torah portion of Noach, Noach meticulously took care of the needs of every animal in The Ark. He fed them and provided for all of their needs. He tirelessly fed the animals 24/7 the entire time he was in The Ark, only once being slightly late, which resulted in being maimed by a lion.
The Torah relates that Hashem commanded Noach, “And as for you, take yourself of every food that is eaten and gather it in to yourself, that it shall be as food for you and for them” (Breishis 6:21).
The lesson the Ralbag learns from here is, “that it is proper for a person who oversees the wellbeing of those under him, his household and servants, to give them their do share of whatever they need for their own personal diet, to keep their bodies going. The Torah already pointed this out in that which Noach oversaw giving out food to all the animals in The Ark and the command to Noach to feed them as [Hashem] said, ‘It is for you and for them to eat.’ This was Noach’s obligation to be constantly preparing their food. If this is what should be done for animals, then all the more so it is even more proper for one’s household and servants. Behold, in this fashion one will keep together the collective household which is the start of fixing the collective community at large.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The head of one’s household seems to have a personal responsibility to be on top of the health and physical needs of his entire household, and those he is in charge of. We see from Noach that Hashem didn’t just tell him to bring tons of nourishment, enough for every person and animal to eat, for the entire time they would be in The Ark. Noach could have simply stockpiled a number of types of food items for him and his family and a lot of straw and similar items for the rest of the animals and left the food in a number of spots for the animals to feed themselves. It might not have been ideal and comfortable, but it is an emergency situation, and the animals would have survived with whatever they had. However, that is not what happened. Noach made sure that the dietary needs of each animal were met and fed each animal exactly when they needed to eat. Scrupulously and personally ensuring that all their physical needs were met. And we can assume, even though the Torah didn’t mention it, but kal vachomer, it’s a fortiori, that Noach definitely, without a doubt, made sure that his wife, sons, and their wives had the proper provisions and food to survive their stay in The Ark.
This is an important responsibility on the head of the household. But how does the Ralbag see from this that if one does this for his own household it is an indication that one can take care of the community at large? Noach had no one else to take care of but his family and the animals; that was his household. Why can’t a person make sure someone else takes care of his household needs and focus his time and energy on the needs of the public, using the creative tools that he has up his sleeve, in his creative mind?
It would seem that the Ralbag is teaching us an important lesson in leadership. This is that in order to properly take care of a large group, especially the physical needs of that group, one has to first have experience taking care of a smaller group, i.e. his family; only then can he begin to be able to handle the larger group.