Return to the Real World

Rabbi Benzion Milecki - Shabbat Noach 5767

This Sunday marks the Seventh of Cheshvan. In the times of our Holy Temple, when pilgrims would return from Jerusalem after the holiday period, the Seventh of Cheshvan represented the day that those who lived furthest from Jerusalem would reach their homes.

In a symbolic kind of way, today too, the Seventh of Cheshvan represents a return to the "Real World" after the euphoria of the High Holiday period and the Festival of Succot which follows it.

If one achieved a heightened sense of spirituality - as I believe many of us at South Head did during these High Holidays - returning to the more mundane aspects of life can be a bit of a downer. I would therefore like to share with you an insight from this week's parasha, Noah, to give us a lift.

The parasha of course refers to Noah's Ark riding the waves of the Great Flood. Yet, while we do believe that the events described actually occurred, there lies within this story deeper levels of meaning.

The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, explained that the flood-waters refer to the overwhelming difficulties of this world - making a living, maintaining relationships, dealing with the inevitable crises that arise in the course of all human lives.

The Ark - in Hebrew "Tevah" - refers to the words of Torah and the words of Prayer. ("Tevah" in Hebrew can also mean "Word"). And just as Noah was commanded to enter the Ark in the face of the flood waters, so too does G-d ask us to enter the words of Torah and the words of Prayer to escape from the raging worries of this world.

Of course, he did not mean that we escape permanently into a life of ascetiscm. On the contrary, it was the Baal Shem Tov who taught us the necessity of engaging the world and uplifting it. But in order to uplift the world, rather than become overwhelmed by it, it is necessary to "escape" for a little time each day into G-d' world so that one can emerge refreshed and invigourated with the energy to tackle the outside world once more.

The Alter Rebbe - Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of the Chabad movement - goes even a step further. The Torah says, "And the Ark was uplifted over the water." The Alter Rebbe explains this to mean that the flood waters - all the apparent difficulties of this world - have the capacity to "uplift" the Ark - the words of Torah and the words of Prayer. When a person is engaged in this world, and yet still finds time to pray and to learn, the challenge of worldliness makes the few minutes snatched away for prayer and learning far more precious before G-d than one who is solely engaged in the spiritual. So much so, that such a person's prayer is truly uplifted and exaulted to the highest levels.

On the surface, it would be wonderful if the whole of life would be one big inspirational month of Tishrei. But this angelic ideal was not G-d's idea of a world. G-d wanted a world of challenges - in which we bring a little bit of the inspiration of Tishrei into each day of our busy and often hectic lives. In this way, we uplift the world - and in turn, are uplifted by it.