Parashas Noach - One Sentence, Two Interpretations

It says in the beginning of this week's Parasha, “Noach was a righteous man, flawless in his generation.” Rashi says there are those among our sages who say it as praise; that certainly, had he lived in another generation, he would have been even more righteous than the others of that generation. And some say it to his discredit; that he was only righteous in his generation, but had he been in another generation (for example, Avraham Avinu's time,) he would have been considered insignificant in comparison to the righteous people of that generation.

It's inferred from the two different explanations [by the sages above] that the first posuk was ambiguous and therefore there were two ways to interpret, “his generation.”

My question is: Why was it ambiguous? The second aliya says [7:1], “Hashem said to Noach... ...for I have seen that you are righteous before me, in this generation.” Doesn't that explicitly show that Noach was only righteous in this generation (and had he been in Avraham Avinu's time, he wouldn't come close to being called 'righteous'?) So what made the sages interpret “his generation” in a praiseworthy manner?

I think the answer is found in Sefer Chofetz Chaim. Rav Yisroel Meir HaKohen zt'l teaches [8:5] that the issur of lashon hara is specifically on someone who is halachically included in the term, “Amisecha – Your Nation, a.k.a. Jews.” So, for example, regarding Goyim, it's not forbidden to speak bad about them. The Chofetz Chaim warns though, that one should none-the-less refrain from speaking loshon hara about Goyim because the Jew might get accustomed to speaking loshon hara about an “Amisecha, a Jew.”

Perhaps this was what the sages were doing when they interpreted “his generation” in a praiseworthy fashion. Even though you see from Hashem's words that Noach was righteous in this generation, they took this ambiguous statement (in the first aliya) and judged it favorably. There's no contradiction between the sages who discredited Noach and the ones who praised him. They all agreed that he was righteous in this generation (as Hashem said in the second aliya.) However, in the first aliya, they found an opportunity to take an ambiguous statement and judge it favorably, so they did.

It's almost first nature to judge people negatively. Finding a favorable way to interpret a scenario is not easy. Therefore, we're advised to accustom ourselves to judge others favorably and perhaps this is what the sages were doing.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Nisso