Was Noah Righteous?

Genesis 6:5 Now YHVH saw that great was humankind's evildoing on earth and every form of their heart's planning was only evil all the day.
Genesis 6:6 Then YHVH was sorry that he had made humankind on earth, and it pained his heart.
Genesis 6:7 YHVH said: I will blot out humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the soil, from man to beast, to crawling thing and to the fowl of the heavens, for I am sorry that I made them.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of YHVH.
Genesis 6:9 These are the begettings of Noah. Noah was a righteous, wholehearted man in his generation, in accord with God did Noah walk.

(2) בדורותיו IN HIS GENERATIONS — Some of our Rabbis explain it (this word) to his credit: he was righteous even in his generation; it follows that had he lived in a generation of righteous people he would have been even more righteous owing to the force of good example. Others, however, explain it to his discredit: in comparison with his own generation he was accounted righteous, but had he lived in the generation of Abraham he would have been accounted as of no importance (cf. Sanhedrin 108a).

(3) איש צדיק, תמים היה, “a righteous man, blameless.” This is the reason why Noach had found favour in the eyes of his Creator.

(9) These are the memorials of Noach. Noach was a man righteous and complete in his generation; in the fear of the Lord walked Noach.

(115) (Gen. 6, 9) Noah was a just, perfect man in his generation; according to R. Jochanan in his generation, but not in others [among more righteous]. And according to Resh Lakish: In his generation [among the wicked], so much the more in other generations. "R. Jochanan's theory," remarked R. Chanina, "should be likened unto the following parable : If a barrel of wine is placed among barrels of vinegar, in that place, the good smell of wine is marked, which would not be the case if placed among other barrels of wine." R. Oshia said : "Resh Lakish's theory may be likened unto the following parable: If a glass of perfume is placed in a filthy place, and its odor is marked, how much more would it be marked if it were placed among spices?" (Gen. 7, 23) And it swept off etc. If man sinned, what were the sins of the animals? We are taught in the name of R. Joshua b. Karcha : "This is similar to one who made a canopy for his son, and prepared all kinds of delicacies for the wedding-meal, but his son died before the wedding and he destroyed all that he prepared, remarking: 'All this was done only because of my son ; now, as he is dead, for what purpose do I need the canopy and all that I prepared?' So the Holy One, praised be He ! said : 'For what purpose have I created cattle and beast, only for the sake of man ; now, when man has sinned and is to be destroyed, for what purpose do I need all other creatures'?"

(1) Genesis 6,9. “these are the generations of Noach;" there are two types of righteous people, both of whom serve the Lord. The first category does so with enthusiasm and profound devotion, but does so as an individual only, not endeavouring to draw other people, admitted sinners, nearer to their Creator.
There is a second category of tzaddik, righteous person, who not only serves the Lord himself, but who also is instrumental in leading sinners back to their Creator. Avraham was a prime example of the latter type of tzaddik. He was busy converting pagans to monotheism.
According to Ari’zal, Noach was even punished for not ‎rebuking the pagans in his time; his punishment consisted of his ‎soul being reincarnated in the body of Moses in order to ‎accomplish then what it had failed to accomplish on its first ‎round inside a human body. Moses made up for the sin of ‎omission of Noach by constantly rebuking the Israelites for their ‎shortcomings. When our sages in Kidddushin 40 discussed the ‎difference between a ‎צדיק‎, “a righteous individual,” and a ‎צדיק טוב‎, ‎‎“a good righteous individual,” they said that the former is ‎righteous vis a vis G’d, whereas the latter is “righteous both vis a ‎vis G’d, and vis a vis his fellow man.” Being “good” to one’s peers ‎involves more than being helpful and charitable; it includes ‎admonishing one’s neighbour when one observes him violating ‎G’d’s commandments. According to Sanhedrin 99, teaching one’s ‎neighbour’s son Torah is one of the most important ways in ‎which to demonstrate one’s concern for him, so much so that a ‎student who has been taught Torah by someone other than his ‎biological father is deemed as having been sired by that teacher. ‎In introducing Avraham to us, the Torah underlines (Genesis ‎‎12:5) that when heading for the land of Israel from Charan, ‎Avraham and Sarah took with them ‎את הנפש אשר עשו בחרן‎, “the ‎souls they had acquired while in Charan”. (the converts to ‎monotheism)‎
When the Torah refers to Avraham, it never wrote the ‎line: ‎אלה תולדות אברהם‎, as opposed to Genesis 6,9-10 where ‎amongst the ‎תולדות‎ of Noach we are told about his three sons; ‎there is no mention or allusion to any converts that Noach had ‎attracted to monotheism other than his own flesh and blood. The ‎word ‎אלה‎, “these,” is almost always used as a limitation, i.e. “these ‎and none other.” In Noach’s case, he had failed to “acquire souls.”‎
When we reflect on this we will understand why the Torah ‎wrote ‎ונח מצא חן בעיני ה'‏‎, instead of ‎ונח היה לו חן בעיני ה'‏‎. The latter ‎formulation would mean that when Noach faced G’d he brought ‎with him much to commend him, i.e. his converts, whereas the ‎formulation the Torah uses implies that G’d had to go looking for ‎Noach; indeed he was a valuable find, a ‎צדיק תמים‎, a simply ‎righteous man, but not one that could not be overlooked such as ‎Avraham’s “Chassidim.”‎
When the Torah testifies that ‎את האלוקים התהלך נח‎, “Noach ‎walked with G’d,” this sounds as proof of Noach’s aloofness vis a ‎vis his fellow man [at least during the 120 years prior to the ‎deluge when he was busy building his ark. Ed.] He was in step ‎with G’d, but out of step with his peers. This is why the Torah ‎repeats once more (verse 10) that he sired three sons, although ‎the Torah had informed us of this already at the end of the last ‎chapter (Genesis 5:32).‎
Noach, though aware of the many sexual perversions ‎practiced by the people around him, and being steadfast in not ‎copying their behaviour, is attested to by the Torah describing ‎him as ‎תמים היה בדורותיו‎, “he was perfect in his time.” ‎Nonetheless, his loyalty to the Creator certainly did not endear ‎him to his peers, hence “he walked with G’d”, as there was no one ‎else “with whom to walk.” Sadly, only G’d appreciated his self-‎restraint, his righteousness.‎