The Soul-Rest of Noah

This week’s Torah portion is Noach, the second portion in B’reisheet, the well-known story of the Flood, the animals, and the ark. We are told that Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations.” Rashi famously said, “The generations of the righteous are mitzvot and good deeds.” Most interpretations of this portion concern Noah’s goodness. In addition to considering Noah’s righteousness, we can also look at this portion as an allegory.

Noah means rest. The Zohar, our book of spirituality from the Middle Ages says, this refers to the soul, the inner spiritual center of a person. When we, through our particular spiritual path, whether it be the path of deeds of loving kindness, meditation, Yoga, charity, study, any other spiritual pathway, or a combination of some of these, find that rest, that place of inner composure and peace, the Torah says, interesting things begin to happen.

Noah had 3 sons: Shem, Ham, and Yafet. Shem literally means Name. Ham means warmth, and Yafet means beauty. When we strive, ethically, morally, and spiritually for what is true and good, we may be surprised that we have renown or fame, or even a very good name. We generate and exhibit warmth, the capacity to touch others; and we have beauty, inner beauty, that others sense. The sum of these three, a good name, warmth, and beauty, is that we become magnetic: others will feel the shift in our energy. People will be drawn to us; not really to us, actually, but to the God nature that we express. It isn’t really about us, it’s about something much larger: Divinity and goodness, being expressed through us.

To extend the allegory: Noah built the ark. He did the work God asked of him, and then the animals came to him. This can teach us that when we do our own inner work, that everything will come to us – that blessings and also Divine Protection, will come to us, as it says, “and you shall enter the ark,” (Gen. 6:18) in other words, enter protection and “come into my protection because you are righteous.” (Gen.7:1). Later when the flood, the difficulties, have abated, Noah sends out the raven and then the dove, but they return, not finding a resting place. Yet finally, the dove brings back an olive leaf, and all the animals leave the ark.

This might be teaching us to persist in our spiritual practices: not to be too impatient with the energies we expend, and not to be discouraged in our spiritual practices, but to wait, knowing that our efforts will bear fruit. Rest, calmness, serenity, goodness, generosity, working on ourselves, as well as on behalf of others is powerful, much more powerful, than we know. May we seek that rest, that inner calmness and elevation of spirit that brought such blessing to Noah and was beloved by God.

Inner Conversations

This week’s Torah portion is Noach: the well known story of Noah, the flood and the ark. God blessed Noah and his family: wife, sons, and daughters-in-law by allowing them to survive, because of Noah’s goodness. After the flood was over, and Noah and his family left the ark, Noah built an altar in gratitude to God for saving him and his family. The text tells us how grateful God was for Noah’s offering. God said to Noah, “I will not continue any more to curse the earth because of earthlings, for the design of human’s hearts are bad from their youth. God then promises never again to bring such a devastating flood to the earth, by reassuring Noah that all the days of the earth: “seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day, and night shall not cease.”

What are we to make of the statement, “for the design of his heart is bad from his youth,” also translated as “the devisings of man’s mind are evil from his youth.” The sages of the Midrash were quick to speak about the yetzer hara, the evil impulse, and the yetzer hatov, the good impulse. The unavoidable conclusion is that God knows us. God hears the negative mutterings in our minds and acknowledges what is, what truly exists: that to listen to the way we think isn’t always pretty. Nevertheless, God is merciful to us. The sage Nachmanides, who lived in 13th Century Spain, saw it slightly differently. He said that the phrase from his youth, means in his youth, in other words, Nachmanides maintains that there is learning that takes place, so that we grow out of plotting so much selfishness.

I think we could look at this with an additional perspective. We know that the thoughts that arise in us are often negative. We see life and interpret events, even events that occur to help us, negatively. We talk ourselves into depression. We allow our own often pessimistic thoughts to be the prevailing reality rather than the life, goodness, and blessings that have been given to us. Like the famous line from the comic strip Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us.” Rabbi Nachman of Breslau wrote so much on this topic. He knew how much misery we are capable of creating for ourselves by thoughts alone. Rabbi Nachman connects our negative thoughts to our opinions of ourselves. This is very psychologically wise and insightful. The principle of projection, that we project upon others what we lack or find unacceptable in ourselves, postulated by Freud in the 1890’s, is a modern day articulation of Rabbi Nachman’s insight.

In the Talmud there are two stories about a man named Gamtzu, which means, this too. The Talmud asks, “Why was he called…Gamzu? Because whatever befell him he would declare, Gamtzu This also is for the best.” Gamzu knew that maintaining an optimistic outlook always helped him in his life.

Rabbi Nachman used to tell this story: There was once a poor man who earned a living digging and selling clay. Once, while digging, he discovered a diamond which was obviously very valuable. Since he had no idea of its worth, he took it to an expert for appraisal. The expert answered, "No one here will be able to afford such a stone. Go to the capital, and there you will be able to sell it." The man was so poor that he could not afford to make the journey. He sold everything he had, and went from house to house, collecting funds for the trip. Finally he had enough to take him as far as the sea. He then went to board a ship, but he did not have any money. He went to the ship's captain and showed him the jewel. The captain immediately welcomed him aboard the ship with great honor, assuming he was a very trustworthy person. He gave the poor man a special first class cabin, and treated him like a wealthy person. The poor man's cabin had a view of the sea, and he sat there, constantly looking at the diamond and rejoicing. He was especially particular to do this during his meals, since eating in good spirits is highly beneficial for digestion. Then one day, he sat down to eat, with the diamond lying in front of him on the table where he could enjoy it. Sittting there he dozed off. Meanwhile, the mess boy came and cleared the table, shaking the tablecloth with it's crumbs and the diamond into the sea. When he woke up and realized what had happened, he almost went mad with grief. Besides, the captain was a ruthless man who would not hesitate to kill him for his fare. Having no other choice, he continued to act happy, as if nothing had happened. The captain would usually speak to him a few hours every day, and on this day, he put himself in good spirits, so that the captain was not aware that anything was wrong. The captain said to him, "I want to buy a large quantity of wheat and I will be able to sell it in London for a huge profit. But I am afraid that I will be accused of stealing from the king's treasury. Therefore, I will arrange for the wheat to be bought in your name. I will pay you well for your trouble." The poor man agreed. But as soon as they arrived in London the captain died. The entire shipload of wheat was in the poor man's name and it was worth many times as much as the diamond. Rabbi Nachman concluded, "The diamond did not belong to the poor man, and the proof is that he did not keep it. The wheat, however, did belong to him, and the proof is that he kept it. But he got what he deserved only because he remained happy.

We can learn how to be more positive in our inner monologues and be happier because of it. Just because we have a habit of mind of thinking negative thoughts, that doesn’t mean we cannot change that habit. In order for us to truly enjoy the great gifts we are granted, we can learn to wait before leaping to a negative judgment, and allow the Source of Life to hear our joyous, happy, hopeful thoughts. May we go right to work thinking more positive thoughts this year, and though it, cause delight to ourselves and our Creator, when we both listen to the loving, grateful, happy conversations within.

In the Wake of the Flood from The Jewish Week

Or: Noah Explains it All

This week’s Torah Portion relates the story of Noah and the Flood. Because of the corruption of humankind, God brings a flood to destroy all life except Noah, the righteous man, his family, and the animals in the ark. Later, God promises Noah never again to “smite every living being as I have done. Continuously, all the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. (Gen. 8:21-22),” This parable teaches us about how our world works and answers some of our most heart wrenching questions: why is the world so imperfect? Why are there disasters, disease, tragedies? Why do we have good days and bad days? Why will God never do this again? We may not like the answers, but this portion at least seeks to give us some insight into these questions.

Originally there was no disease and few natural disasters. We lived to unimaginably advanced ages: Methuseleh to 969 years and Noah to 950 years. There were no checks on human corruption. Sin piled up. The world became worse and worse. The system, which is all of a unity, could not sustain that amount of greed, untruth, rapaciousness, and crime. So God decided to sweep away the old system and put an entirely new, self-regulating system in place. In this new system the maximum life span would be 120 years. Human imperfection that led to selfish or sinful acts would be worked out and expiated little by little, constantly, in small and large ways. No person would be allowed to accumulate too much sin. Less worthy acts would be taken care of in the course of a life. God would constantly communicate with us through the positive and negative circumstances in our lives, letting us know the results of our actions. We would be able to take an honest look at our lives and know how we are doing because of the circle of choice and result that connects us to God: we do something good and experience blessing, or at the very least, good feelings from performing mitzvot. We miss the mark, do something less worthy, and are sent a correction.

But it’s not always so clear why negative things occur, or why terrible things happen to people who are virtuous. Rashi comments on the first verse (Gen 6:9) of the portion “The offspring of the righteous are good deeds.” Our sages agreed that the more righteous deeds a person does, the clearer is the correspondence between what happens to that person and their deeds. However, as part of society, we bear responsibility for the acts of our community. We may ask: why in the story of the flood did so many have to perish? Why the animals and plants? The story teaches us that what we do affects everything else. A modern example is that the people who cut down trees are seldom those who contract Lyme disease. We are connected to all existence, all being, and to God. When we choose only for ourselves, God is hurt, and the world cannot continue in that way.

The sober and very adult message of Noah is that if the world were not the way it is: if there were not built-in corrections to human sin, life would be even worse. There would be no progress and we would experience hopelessness. Sin would pile up. Life would go in a negative direction. However there is good news in this tale: the Noah story teaches us not only how our world is constituted but also about our great power to create blessing. When we strive to do what is good, like Noah, we need not be overwhelmed by destructive forces. We participate in our own salvation by choosing that which helps the world to be a better place. As the sage S’fat Emet taught, it is up to us to broaden the good impulse within us for our own benefit and the benefit of the world. Our task is to pour the balm of love upon that which is wounded and to be of those who repair what is rent. God knows our intentions, sends us blessings, and allows us to live even when we fall down, judging us in mercy and helping us to improve. May we be worthy of the great power for good given to us, and the faith, dignity, and respect for us that has been accorded to us by the Source of Life. Our world is beautiful; and we have an enormous effect on our lives and also on the world. The system works in our favor: God wants to bless us. May we broaden the goodness and Godliness within us, and experience how much blessing we may create.

Noah - Abandoning the Logical for the Real

Once upon a time there was a person whose name was Tranquility. And this person had three children; Renown, Warmth, and Beauty. If someone began to tell you a story and it started like this, what would you think?
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That is how the story of Noah begins, there was a man and his name was tranquility or rest. Other connotations are self composure, or as the Lubavitcher Rebbe said, pleasure, satisfaction, and yes, tranquility. His sons: Shem which means name and could refer to God’s name or to self esteem, or pride in a good sense, like pride in one’s work; and Ham, warmth, which connotes feeling, emotion, perhaps, or relationship; and Japhet, beauty or perfection.
Now this person, Noah, was said to be whole, perfect, and we’re told he walked with God. But then God gives him a ridiculous task: totally outlandish. Build an ark to the specifications I tell you. And then an even more improbable task: gather two of every animal and put them in the ark. How is anyone supposed to do that? They are commandments that are not reasonable. Any logical person would be thrown into a quandary as to what to do. But the Torah says twice, in two slightly different statements, Noah did everything which was commanded to him by God, so he did. And later, and Noah did everything that God commanded. What are we to think? That we should never question? That we should obey blindly? What is obviously metaphoric parable trying to teach us? I think one aspect of its teaching is about looking beneath the surface of this story at broad, general principles. First we can say that Noah accepted divine guidance. He was willing to take upon himself this unusual task, on faith and with trust. In a sense, he abandoned the logical for the real, for what turned out to be more real than logic. Let it be noted too, that he was happy working on this task for God. Later in this portion, after building the ark, after the flood was over, after his responsibilities were mostly completed: it is then that he gets drunk and becomes debased. It was only after he stopped doing God’s work and did something solely for himself; that he gets into trouble. So by being willing to follow God and doing these strange tasks he entered a deeper reality than the everyday life of human beings; a deeper reality than the appearance of our reality. The S’fat Emet speaks about Noah’s acceptance of the Divine tasks. He says, “The process takes place through human self negation, where everything returns to its source. It (concerns)…the one who understands that he has no life of his own.” This is a strange statement. We have free will. Of course we have lives of our own, don’t we? I would say, yes, and no. The Torah teaches that we are always being led to a higher, purer way of living. It’s like the morning blessing in which we thank God for guiding us on our path. By accepting Divine guidance, we partially negate our will so that we can participate in the deeper reality: that the Divine life is being lived through us. The means for improvement and healing in the world, and in ourselves, must come through us, though it does not necessarily come only from us. We are meant to be expressions of the inner life of the Divine, manifested on earth. It is our acceptance of our Divine tasks and our labor that makes this possible. We will be given tasks that may make no sense to our logical minds. As a matter of fact, evolutionary biologists have been trying to explain altruism for more than a century, without any real success. And the reason they can’t explain it is that it’s illogical, but nevertheless, very real: an observable phenomenon which permeates all of nature. We can’t always explain why following God’s commandments and guidance works. We don’t always know how it produces good results, but by being willing to negate our apparent self interest and work for the common good, we attain tranquility, pride, warmth and beauty: attributes that are not bestowed upon us, but earned by us. A person who is complete is tranquil and experiences rest, a good name, the warmth of love, and the beauty of living. It is this kind of person who can negate their own desires and attach themselves to their source, the root of all existence and all being. We were meant to live in two worlds simultaneously: the practical and the spiritual. May we be pliant enough to accept Divine guidance and take upon ourselves the tasks that we are lovingly given. May our labor be for others as well as for ourselves, that we may be an expression of the life of the Divine: tranquil, proud of our actions, connected by human warmth, and experiencing life’s beauty.