Noach I: Riding the Crest of the Flood
Introduction
In chassidic lore, certain gems of wisdom and inspiration have been passed down generation after generation. Each Rebbe has reviewed the insight shared by his predecessors and added his own understanding, adapting the ideas to the mindset of his time and setting.
The sichah to follow contains two of these jewels:
a) The Alter Rebbe’s interpretation of the verse, “Abundant waters cannot quench the love.” In Torah Or, the Alter Rebbe interprets the verse as teaching that “the many waters,” the worries and challenges a person faces in earning his livelihood, “cannot quench” the fiery love for G-d that burns in the heart of every Jew.
b) The Baal Shem Tov’s interpretation of the command, “Enter the ark.” Teivah, the Hebrew word for “ark,” also means “word.” The Baal Shem Tov taught that a person must “enter” – put himself into and be encompassed by – the words of Torah study and prayer he recites. In this way, he can rest assured that he will not be inundated and swept away by the deluge of challenges and struggles with which G-d presents him.
The Rebbe weaves together these two teachings and presents them in a manner that provides guidance for a person to apply in his everyday experience.
Riding the Crest of the Flood
Adapted from a sichah delivered on Shabbos Parshas Bereishis, 5717 (1956)
A New Look at a Well-Known Story
1. In Torah Or, the Alter Rebbe explains that the Flood was not merely a punishment but also a process of purification. Prior to the Flood, the world had been sullied by strife, corruption, and violence, and the Flood cleansed and purified it. Therefore, the waters of the Flood inundated the earth for 40 days, corresponding to the 40 seah required for a mikveh. For this reason, the waters of the Flood are referred to as “the waters of Noach,” for in Hebrew, the name Noach connotes tranquility and satisfaction.
In the above source, the Alter Rebbe associates the waters of the Flood with the “abundant waters,” the worries and challenges a person faces in earning his livelihood. Ultimately, these “abundant waters” cleanse a person of his undesirable traits, enabling him to attain tranquility and contentment.
Going Beyond Self
2. The parallel between the worries and challenges a person faces in earning his livelihood, the Flood, and a mikveh can be explained as follows: The inner purpose of immersion in a mikveh is for a person to engender bittul within himself. Thus, Rambam describes how one should “immerse himself in the waters of pure knowledge.” To enable this, the volume of a mikveh must be 40 seah, i.e., a sufficient amount of water “to encompass one’s entire body.” The Hebrew word tevilah (טבילה), “immersion,” contains the same letters as the word habittul (הביטול), bittul. Through immersion in a mikveh, a person cultivates an attitude of bittul that takes him beyond his self-concern, elevating him and transforming him into a medium for holiness.
This is also the true purpose why a person is destined from Above to confront financial worries. Even though they may temporarily upset and confound him, causing him to be crestfallen, ultimately they will break his egocentricity and motivate him to step out of his self-concern. Through this process he becomes a medium for holiness.
No Need for Delay
3. Since the ultimate intent of the financial pressures a person experiences is not to punish him, Heaven forbid, but to wash away and cleanse him of undesirable traits, his personal process of purification need not be a lengthy one; it can be accomplished in a brief moment. Once a person grasps the inner Divine intent in having been sent the particular challenges confronting him and works to bring about the inner changes these challenges require him to undergo, this alone will suffice. He can then immediately proceed to attain a state of tranquility and contentment in both material and spiritual matters.
Two Types of Distractions
4. The “raging waters” of the Flood originated in two sources: “the awesome depths of the earth” and “the portals of heaven.” Similarly, the factors that confront a person with difficulties and challenges are also divided into these same two categories: a) “the awesome depths of the earth” – challenges of a material nature; for example, worries about his livelihood and the like; and b) “the portals of heaven” – difficulties stemming from lofty spiritual concerns; for example, involvement in communal affairs and the like, which can present obstacles that impede one from studying the Torah and observing the mitzvos.
True, involvement in communal affairs is necessary, but such involvement should not be allowed to conflict with one’s Torah study or the observance of mitzvos. For studying the Torah and performing its mitzvos enable a person to establish a bond with G-d; through that bond, G-dly energy and vitality are drawn down to the person, as reflected by the verse, “You who cling to G-d are all alive today.” If, however, that connection is lacking and a person fails to carry out that which the Shulchan Aruch requires of him, of what value are all the praiseworthy activities in which he is involved?
His rationalization – that he is occupied with “the portals of heaven,” lofty spiritual pursuits – is erroneous. Such a rationalization does not originate in the G-dly soul but rather in the animal soul. The clearest proof of this is that it poses a hindrance to the study of the Torah and the observance of the mitzvos as prescribed by the Shulchan Aruch. Obviously, this is a state of affairs that is not something holy, but the polar opposite.
Since his involvement does not stem from holiness – even though the matters themselves concern “the portals of heaven” – it will lead him progressively lower, until the point that he finds that he has descended from the heights of “the portals of heaven” to “the awesome depths of the earth,” and he is steeped in base, materialistic concerns.
The Baal Shem Tov’s Advice
5. The advice suggested by the Torah for a person to protect himself from being engulfed by the waters of the Flood – both from those floodwaters that originate in “the awesome depths of the earth” and from those that originate in “the portals of heaven” – is to “enter the ark.” The Baal Shem Tov interprets the word ark, teivah, which in Hebrew also means “word,” as referring to the teivos, the “words” of Torah study and prayer. A person must “enter” the words of Torah study and prayer and be encompassed by them. He can then rest assured that he will not be inundated and swept away by the “raging waters”; that even under the direst of circumstances, “Noach, the righteous man” and the members of his household will remain sound and intact.
Therefore, as the day begins, immediately upon awakening from sleep and prior to embarking on his daily mundane activities with their attendant “raging waters,” he declares, “I thankfully acknowledge You… for You have restored my soul within me.” With these words he recognizes that the vitality of his soul comes solely from G-d. Afterwards, he recites the morning blessings, thanking G-d for every particular expression of goodness that he has been granted. For example, he praises G-d “Who clothes the naked.” On the surface, this blessing seems to be without purpose. What does he mean by blessing G-d “Who clothes the naked”? After all, he owns clothing and seemingly is not in need of Divine assistance to dress. The same question pertains to all the other morning blessings recited daily.
This question can be resolved based on our Sages’ statement, “Who is wise? One who sees what will come about.” The Alter Rebbe interprets that adage as meaning that a wise man is one who sees how all existence is brought into being each moment from absolute nothingness. He realizes that at each and every moment all existence is being created anew from G-dliness.
To cite a parallel: The Zohar teaches that Rav Yeisa the Elder would pray that G-d grant him his sustenance. Even when his food for that day had already been prepared for him and was ready to be eaten, Rav Yeisa would not eat until he recited his prayers. Now, why would one pray to G-d for his sustenance when his food is already prepared for him?
In resolution: In and of itself, every created entity is in essence absolute nothingness, just as it was before it came into being. The fact that it does exist is only because G-d in His goodness continuously renews its being, as we say in our prayers, “Who out of His goodness continuously renews every day the work of creation.” For this reason, it is always relevant to pray for one’s sustenance, even though “his food is already on the table.” The same holds true in regard to man’s other needs. Since food, clothing, and all other material needs are, in and of themselves, nothingness, it is as if they have returned to a state of non-being. Therefore, it is necessary for a person to pray to G-d to renew their existence so that he have what he needs.
A person who begins his day with prayer understands that, in and of themselves, physical entities do not exist; G-d must renew their existence continuously. He realizes that the entire world exists only in order to fulfill G-d’s intent; as quoted in G-d’s name, “I created it for the sake of My honor.” That outlook enables one to occupy himself in matters of this world without fear of being engulfed by the “raging waters.”
By and large, before a person prays, he operates under the assumption that the world is of primary importance, that it exists as an independent entity. When guided by such an outlook, his focus will be on his material affairs. He will take it as self-understood that whatever the Torah allows him to do is certainly permissible. And as long as a person does not know that a certain activity or entity is forbidden, he will assume it permitted. To explain the logic according to halachic reasoning: When there is doubt as to the ownership of an article, the legal ruling is rendered based on the chazakah, the presumption of ownership. Since the holder of the property is its presumed owner, then, to cite our Sages’ words, “When one seeks to expropriate money or property from another, the burden of proof for his claim rests on him.” Similarly, in this instance the chazakah, the basic presumption under which the person operates, is worldliness, and that is what colors his entire life outlook. Therefore, he sees no reason to deny himself any permitted material satisfaction, even when there is doubt as to whether it is indeed permissible.
When, in contrast, a person is motivated by the outlook that, in fact, there is no existence other than G-d, his focus is entirely different. He realizes that only G-d truly exists, and that He is continuously renewing the existence of the world from absolute nothingness solely in order to bring about the fulfillment of the Divine intent of establishing for Himself a dwelling in these lower realms. This was the reason that G-d created the world, and it is for this reason that He continuously maintains its existence.
When a person internalizes such an outlook, the only existence that he views as real and substantial is that which leads to the fulfillment of G-d’s intent. As a result, he adopts an outlook directly opposite to that which was mentioned previously. Instead of viewing “whatever (the Torah) allows as certainly permissible,” his starting point is, “What is forbidden – and what runs contrary to G-d’s intent in creation – is certainly to be refrained from.” This refers not only to matters clearly forbidden by Torah Law, but also to unnecessary indulgence.
When the yetzer hara approaches such a person to try to convince him that a particular behavior is not mere indulgence but rather a necessity, he retorts, “Bring proof!” Since the fundamental presumption (the chazakah) under which he operates is that everything is G-dliness, it follows that he must have a reason and a purpose for any worldly matters he engages in, for as stated above, “When one seeks to expropriate property from another, the burden of proof [for his claim] rests on him.”
This outlook explains a classic chassidic expression, “What is forbidden is forbidden, and what is permitted is superfluous.”
Such an approach is the direct result of “enter[ing] the ark,” of immersing oneself in the words of Torah and prayer so that one always be encompassed by them. When a person accepts as a given that the primary existence is Torah and prayer and that everything else exists only for their sake, his entire life is oriented in that direction. His involvement in material matters – which is obviously a must, for maintaining one’s physical well-being is essential – is itself transformed into an act of Divine service, or at least into a factor contributing to his Divine service.
The only way to free oneself from the worries and challenges posed by the waters of the Flood – both those stemming from “the awesome depths of the earth” and from “the portals of heaven” – is to “enter the ark” of Torah study and prayer. Then, the person is no longer connected to anything unrelated to holiness. Instead, all his activities and even his everyday needs are permeated with the approach of “Know G-d in all your ways.”
