ויתהלך חנוך את האלקים ואיננו כי לקח אתו אלקים
Chanoch walked with God and [then] he was no longer, because God had taken him.
Later we see that Noach walked with God and he is praised. However in the case of Chanoch, taken in context of מתושלח, abandoning the masses, walking with God is seen as negative. Noach walked with God as the essence of his life, to live as an איש צדיק תמים בדרתיו. His connection to God was the foundation of his actions, drawing him near to life. In the case of Chanoch, his connection to God lead him away from life.
Hirsch writes the following words:
“This is a misguided aspiration, which at best does nothing to better the world, is quite useless to the world.”
“The Torah opposes ascetic seclusion, which is based on the erroneous notion that godliness lies outside the sphere of ordinary life.”
“התבודדות, secluding oneself from others, is not the Jewish way. Our tzaddikim and chassidim lived among the masses, with the masses and for the masses; they considered it their mission to lift the masses up to them. Abandonment of the masses is symptomatic of a generation’s sickness; it is found in an age in which the concept of God is reduced to a subject for theoretical speculation, and where the thought of God makes men into fanatics, drives them to eschew and escape life because they fear its temptations or, in blind arrogance, disdain its problems.”
In the Midrash (ב”ר כ”ה, א) the view of the Tzedukim that Chanoch was a very holy man and similar to Eliyahu HaNavi, never died, is proven wrong. Chanoch was judged on Rosh Hashana, together with all of mankind, to die prematurely.
Beraishis 5:22-24
pages 157-159
