For those unfamiliar with the tradition, each Saturday morning the Torah is taken out and read to and by the congregation. The Torah is broken up so that there is a chapter each week. During the holiday of Simchas Torah (the holiday I mentioned when we dance with the Torah), we finish the Torah and start over. Right now we are at the very beginning, reading the well known Book of Genesis. To start at the beginning gives us unique opportunity (in the realm of this blog) to take a new approach to the scripture. Plus, the first book of Torah has the best stories! Last week we opened the Torah and read about how the world was created (a very contentious topic that -G-d willing- I will be brave enough to touch on one day) how man was created, and how within two paragraphs of being created, man was already screwing around and getting thrown out of the Garden of Eden. This week we read about the story of Noah and the flood.
It is said by Rabbi Nachman that every story in the Torah is about you and I. Each and every single one of us can be in found there. It is kind of like Where’s Waldo, except YOU are wearing the red striped shirt. Every time we revisit a story, we are in a different place in our lives, we are different people, and therefore our position in the picture changes, the meaning changes, the lessons we derive changes. Sometimes it is difficult to find where and how a person connects to a section in Torah, but the chapter on Noah is a perfect way to demonstrate the concept since there is so much simultaneously occurring.
The beauty of the place I am currently in (a Jewish learning institute in Israel) is that words of Torah never stop; making it easy to find the story we connect to. On the streets, late at night, in the classroom, over dinner, the words keep flowing. The words are meant to provide a life lesson, provoke thoughts, sustain us in the upcoming week, and connect us to our past. I’d like to share some of the parcels of wisdom I have learned about Noah’s Flood through a scene and dialogue that commonly occurs at the dinner table (eating is almost as important a custom in Judaism as sharing words)
** None of these ideas are original to me (although I have infused them with my meanings and interpretations). Since I can’t properly cite them, I’d like to make it 100% clear that the sages, Rabbinic commentators, my teachers, my classmates, etc have shared these incites and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to share them with you.
1. Peshat – the plain and simple meaning
2. Remez – allegorical meaning beyond the literal sense
3. Derash – metaphorical meaning
4. Sod- hidden, mystical meaning
See if you can identify what level of meaning each of the stories below are.
A typical dinner time conversation goes as follows:
Eater #1: “Why was the world utterly destroyed in the story of Noah and not in the story of the Tower of Babel? Because in the Noah, people were sinning against each other through robbery and violence while in the story of Babel, love prevailed”
Eater #2: For many years I was troubled by the fact I had to work all day rather than study Torah. From Parsha Noah we learn that Noah’s Flood it is analogous for the material world we exist in. The waters represent making a living. We have to work in order to survive and provide for our families. In Aramaic the word Noah means comforting, therefore should have comfort in the world below (physical) and above (spiritual). However we can not become consumed by water below instead we must use it to intensify our spiritual being. We must stay afloat! Working in the world is not a spiritual blemish as long as we don’t become drowned by it. Instead, the submersion in the material world should fan our love and raise our soul to a higher stature. We do this by remembering to stay true to ourselves and not become completely invested in our work. This Torah portion teaches us, “come into my ark, that is the only way you’ll survive the flood”. We should work with our external beings, our arms and legs, in the waters below while reserving our hearts for more important things.
Everyone in unison: Skoyach (Yiddish expression for “right on”)
Eater # 3: The Torah says Noah was a righteous man in his generation, why does it say this?
This explanation explains Noah's shortcomings. Even though he was considered a great man, he was only righteous for own self interest. When G-d tells Noah his plan to destroy the world, Noah doesn’t ask G-d to reconsider nor does Noah reach out to the people around him. It is said that he spent 120 years building the ark and in that time he didn’t convince anyone else around to change their ways nor did he invite anyone else aboard. At the end of the story of Noah plants a vineyard, gets drunk, and ruins himself because he realized that he didn’t save anyone but his family and could not face his own failure. From this we learn that we should go into the Ark, but we must not be selfish about it, we must reach out to the world and bring them in too.
Eater #4: I’d like to follow up on that idea. I once read a drash (story) that said the soul of Noah was reincarnated as Moses in order to fix the bad karma generated by Noah’s lack of outreach. Just as Noah doesn’t protest for mankind, Moses pleads to G-d after the incident with Golden Calf saying, “If you destroy the people, I want you to erase my name from your book”.
Eater #5: In Likutei Sichos it points out that when Noah comes off the ark, the first thing he does is plant a vineyard. In the Torah it says:
“Noach, a master of the soil, degraded himself by planting a vineyard. He drank the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself in his tent. Cham and his son Cana’an (grandson of Noach) looked at his father’s nakedness and assaulted him. Cham publicly related the incident to his two brothers, Sheim and Yafes. Shem and Yafes took a garment and placed it on both of their shoulders. They walked backwards, and covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned backwards, so they did not see their father’s nakedness”.
Eater #5 continues: “Their faces were turned backwards, so they did not see their father’s nakedness”. Why is this mentioned twice? Isn’t it enough to say “their faces were turned backwards? The Baal Shem Tov teaches us that when a person sees another one doing an inappropriate act, there are two possible ways too react.
a) You can see the flaw in that person and be disgusted by the act.
b) You can see the action they are doing and think how can I help them improve themselves in this area?
One may ask another question. Why would G-d show us other people’s flaws?
This is answered by saying that G-d is not showing us other people’s bad habits. Rather what one sees is a mirror image of things that he, himself, is struggling with and needs to improve on. Cham took the first approach. He “assaulted his father” by judging him and focusing on the inappropriateness of the situation. This was a personal struggle that Cham was going through. Thus he recognized the flaws in his father’s actions. On the other hand, Shem and Yafes “did not see their father’s nakedness” they did not become disgusted at what happened. They simply thought of how they could help fix the problem. So when the verse repeats itself it is emphasizing that they did not see the flaws in their father’s nakedness rather they were trying to help him. The lesson one can take from this is clear. A person should be aware that if they are judging a friend, it is because of the fact that in this particular area he has not completely “perfected” himself. Instead you should be pure in thought and judgment, seeing that your fellow friend is in need of help. May we all be able to tell the difference between the two approaches and see the good in our fellow friends!
Everyone in unison: L’Chayam (Yiddish way to cheers, means “To Life”
The End! (Time to bench)
This exercise was my attempt to demonstrate the breadth and width of the Torah and its ability to connect with our lives today, each person relates to a different point. The Torah is not foreign and it is completely accessabl, no matter where we are in life and what we are doing. I’d like to point out that the Hebrew word for ark used in the story of Noah is “tevah”. Tevah can also be translated into the word “word”. We should all come into the ark, come into the words, and find the meanings we need to grow.
(Apologies to those who read my blog and don’t subscribe to the Jewish faith. My attempt is not to proselytize or alienate. I truly believe that these sparks of wisdom are relevant to all members of the human race. Don’t we all yearn to be connected with the world and each other? Don’t we all yearn to improve our lives and the world? Don’t we all search for meaning?)
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