Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood. – Gen. 7:7
Rashi says that Noah waited to enter the ark until he saw with his own eyes that the hard rain had begun to fall. “Noah, also, was of those people who are wanting in faith: he believed and he did not believe that the Flood would come, and he would not enter the Ark until the waters forced him to do so.” Wait, what? Noah was the most righteous man in his generation, an individual with such strong faith that he spent 120 years building an ark because God told him there would be a Great Flood. Was he truly lacking in faith?Rav Yitzchak of Vorki (1779-1848) interprets Rashi differently. It’s true that Noah waited until the flood was underway to enter the ark, but it’s not because he lost faith in God. Rather, it was his faith in humanity that vacillated.
Up until the last moment, Noah hoped that the people of the world would repent and there wouldn’t be a need for God to send a flood at all!