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Struggling With the Current
An adaptation by Yitzchok Wagshul of a discourse in Torah Or
The story of Noah (in Hebrew, "Noach") and the
Flood an also be interpreted as a mystical allegory conveying a powerful message of hope and
encouragement for those whose struggle to earn a livelihood threatens to
interfere with their spiritual pursuits.  | | " Like a flame, the very nature of a Jewish soul is to constantly reach upwards..." | | |
It is written, "Many waters would not be able to
quench love, and rivers would not drown it; should a person give all the wealth
of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned." (Songs 8:7) The phrase
"many waters" is a reference to the Waters of Noah, and the unquenchable love is
the innate love of a Jewish soul for G-d - of which love the preceding verse
said, "Its coals are coals of fire, a mighty flame." (Songs 8:6) For, like a
flame, the very nature of a Jewish soul is to constantly reach upwards, leaping
and bounding in its yearning to break loose from its physical moorings and
reunite with its Heavenly Source. Interpreted in this manner, the verse is
telling us that even all the waters of the Great Deluge would be incapable of
extinguishing the flame of a Jew's natural love for G-d.
This is more than flowery language, however. For the
"many waters" of the Flood symbolize all one's struggles to earn a livelihood,
and preoccupation with worldly concerns. These can indeed seem overwhelming,
and, as anyone who works for a living knows all too well, can sometimes make a
person feel they are "drowning" (G-d forbid). In particular, there is the danger
that preoccupation with one's livelihood may cause one to lose sight of what is
truly important: sincere worship of G-d and the effort to attach oneself to Him.
Yet the soul originated in Heaven, as it were, where,
unburdened by the distractions of this physical world, it basked pleasurably in
the radiance of the Divine Presence and was in fact utterly united with the
Infinite One Himself. In light of this, one may wonder why the soul had to be
born into this sorry realm at all: would it not have been better off to remain
where it was? The answer, however, is that, just as a person sometimes reveals
latent strengths when confronted with adversity, G-d saw fit to send the soul
into this material world so that, by overcoming the challenges posed here, it
would develop spiritually to a far greater extent than would have been possible
otherwise. Against this background, the verse in Song of Songs reassures us that
we have a real "fighting chance": even the seemingly overwhelming floodwaters of
this world and its material concerns cannot extinguish the fiery love of G-d
that a Jewish soul possessed before being plunged into this existence. | | " Through the crucible of worldly life, the soul achieves an even higher level of spirituality..." | | |
On the contrary, through the crucible of worldly life,
the soul achieves an even higher level of spirituality, as will be explained
below.
The "many waters" of the flood are called "the Waters
of Noah", not merely because Noah was the protagonist of the Flood narrative,
but because of the connotation of the phrase. The Hebrew word for Noah, "Noach",
denotes the satisfying type of rest one experiences after ceasing one's labor,
and is cognate to the Hebrew word "Shabbat", which means the same thing.
In fact, the Targum Onkelos (the classic Aramaic translation of the
Torah) translates the phrase "and He [G-d] rested on the seventh day" (Gen. 2:2)
using the root word for "noach" as the word for "rested". In a spiritual
sense, the Waters of Noah brought about this type of satisfaction.
The reason for this will be understood in light of the
fact that the Great Flood was not merely an instrument for the destruction of
the world's sinners. If that were all G-d meant to do, why go to such extremes?
Almighty G-d could have obliterated them without a trace in the proverbial blink
of an eye - even without a worldwide flood. The explanation is that, although
G-d did wish to annihilate the sinners who had overrun the earth, he chose
floodwaters, in particular, as the means to this end for another reason: | | " Water possesses the ability to spiritually purify..." | | |
Water possesses the ability to spiritually purify. The
corruption of that generation had defiled the very earth, as we are told, "for
the earth is filled with violence" (Gen. 6:13), and that, therefore, G-d would
destroy part of the earth itself (see Rashi and other commentaries). While
eliminating those who had defiled it, G-d also wished to purify the world. He
therefore chose water, which has the ability to accomplish this, as it is
written "And I [G-d] will sprinkle upon you pure waters and you will be
purified; from all your defilements and from all your idols I will purify you."
(Ezekiel 36:25) In this sense, the floodwaters were similar to a spiritually
purifying mikvah (ritual bath) - according to Jewish law, a proper
mikvah must contain 40 seah (a unit of volume) of water, and this is
the symbolic reason why the rains of the flood fell for 40 days and 40 nights.
The expression "Waters of Noah" with its connotation
of spiritual satisfaction thus refers, not to destruction, but to this
purification and renewal of the earth.
Now, the burden of earning one's livelihood may also
be referred to as the Waters of Noah. We are not entirely free agents so long as
we need to work for our bread. Many people - possibly most - would use their
time otherwise (to engage in Torah study, for example, or to spend time with
their families) if they were only "free" to do so; for this reason, the
necessity of labor may be described as a form of servitude. Servitude, like
water, possesses the quality of purifying; indeed, our sages teach that our
patriarch Abraham, when given the choice by G-d, chose servitude over Gehinom
as a means of achieving spiritual purity for his descendants. As we shall soon
see, it was actually part of G-d's plan that the soul, once born into this
material life, undergoes this purifying "economic servitude", thereby enabling
it to reach a level of spirituality previously unattainable.
(Note that this "economic servitude" does not refer to
subservience, the requirement of paying taxes to a governmental authority. Even
in King Solomon's time, the height of Jewish autonomy and prosperity, we paid
taxes. However, in King Solomon's day, the land was blessed by G-d and "flowed
with milk and honey", yielding supernatural bounty, so that, taxes or not, there
was no need to worry about one's livelihood. By contrast, in present times we do
indeed toil over our livelihood, as the popular saying goes, "It doesn't come
easy". It is this condition that is the purifying element of earning a
livelihood; the "many waters" that nevertheless cannot quench the soul's
yearning for G-d; the "Waters of Noah" with its connotation of spiritual
satisfaction. This is because by means of these many waters, a person can rise
to achieve a higher spiritual level than would otherwise have been possible.) | | " G-d constantly renews the totality of Creation from absolute nothingness..." | | |
The reason for this will be understood after
considering the state of the soul before being born into this world. Our sages
teach that at that point, the soul was close to G-d and (as the expression is
used in the Talmud with reference to the World to Come) "enjoyed the radiance of
the Divine Presence." (Berachot 17a) As with all teachings of our sages,
these words were chosen carefully: it was only the "radiance" of the Divine
Presence which the soul enjoyed; it was not able to commune with the Divine
Presence itself. Sunlight, for example, is an extension of the sun, and thus
provides warmth, illumination, and many other benefits, yet it cannot be
mistaken for the sun itself. The "radiance" metaphor is intended to convey the
same idea: the soul in heaven experienced certain revelations of G-dliness, and
indeed, derived great pleasure from this spiritual bounty, but was not able to
unite with G-d Himself.
However, a person of This World, who works all day at
earning a living and is beset by the worry and preoccupation attendant upon that
struggle, can reach a loftier level. The prayers which we Jews recite three
times a day were, as is well known, composed in their present form by the sages
of the Great Assembly, who were Divinely inspired to formulate the prayers to
arouse love and fear of G-d in every worshipper. When a person, thoroughly
immersed in wordly, material, concerns, sits down to pray, they should reflect
at length during the course of prayer on the manner in which G-d constantly
renews the totality of Creation from absolute nothingness. (This requires, of
course, that the person do it right: not merely reading through the text by
rote, but actually thinking about what one is saying!)
Specifically, as our sages teach (See Midrash,
Bereishit Rabba, 10:6; Zohar I:251a; Moreh Nevuchim II, ch.
10; Iggeret HaKodesh end of section 20) not even a single blade of grass
grows in this physical world without being individually directed to do so by a
spiritual force known as its "mazal".(See Midrash, Bereishit
Rabba, 10:6; Zohar I:251a; Moreh Nevuchim II, ch. 10;
Iggeret HaKodesh end of section 20) As a matter of fact, as we are about to
see, there is a whole hierarchy of spiritual forces channeling G-d's creative
force into the world. This is necessary, to put it simply, because it is not
feasible for a blade of grass, for example, to receive its spiritual
"nourishment", the divine life-force that brings it into being, directly from
G-d Himself. G-d is too "great," as it were, and a blade of grass too small and
insignificant, to permit this. A king implements his will by making his wishes
known to the proper cabinet ministers. These people themselves are powerful
officials with broad responsibilities, and they in turn pass on instructions to
subordinates with more direct, hands-on contact with the matter in question.
Possibly, these too transmit even more detailed instructions to lower level
workers, and so on until, for example, the king's desire that his glory and
splendor be reflected in the appearance of the kingdom results in a particular
gardener watering a particular blade of grass in some far-flung province. | " None of the spiritual life force that flows into the universe...
has any connection whatever with
G-d's very Essence..." | | |
That blade of grass is not the gardener's personal
project; it has a place - however small - in the king's overall plan. The blade
of grass does not owe its sustenance to the gardener, nor even to the succeeding
higher levels of officials who translated the king's will into detailed
instructions - only to the king himself. And even so, who is to say what
motivated the king to issue his command to beautify the realm? Unless we know
the king personally, we cannot know whether he appreciates fine landscaping;
wishes to improve the economy through this public works project; or is simply
trying to please the queen. Knowing the king personally is what is truly
worthwhile, but the lowly blade of grass has no connection with that,
notwithstanding its receipt of sustenance by the king's command.
A working person, more than anyone else, has the
opportunity to direct their thoughts along these lines at prayer. Whatever their
particular occupation, they know so well what effort and what worry and what
preoccupation goes into eking out their sustenance from it. (This is so whether
that sustenance is meager or bountiful, whether they are poor or rich. The
effort, the worry and the preoccupation may not be about whether one will have
food at the end of the day; the rich person does not worry about that.
Nevertheless, even the rich are prone to complete preoccupation with business
matters.) Such a person should reflect during prayer on how even an individual
blade of grass (let alone himself or herself) receives its sustenance at the
express direction of its spiritual mazal, and how such forces in turn
receive their allotment of spiritual life-force (all as explained in
philosophical and Kabbalistic literature) from a spiritual level known as the
seventy "angelic ministers", and the "angelic ministers" from the "sediments of
the rotating angels", which receive from the "messenger angels", and so on,
higher and higher until ultimately they all receive from G-d's blessed attribute
of sovereignty, as it says, "Your sovereignty is a sovereignty over all realms."
(Psalms 145:13)
It is G-d's sovereignty (" malchut" in
Hebrew) which brings all realms - from the highest spiritual levels to this
physical world - into being out of true nothingness; yet, for all that, even G-d's
attribute of malchut is nothing but the "radiance" of the Divine
Presence: it is only the command of the King and not the King
"personally" (so to speak); it is a mere "beam" or expression of G-dliness, and
not G-d's very essence and being, which is literally infinite (" Ein Sof"
in Hebrew) and completely transcends creation of the universe. In a simple
sense, none of the spiritual life force that flows into the universe - certainly
none of the sustenance that any given working person receives - has any
connection whatever with G-d's very Essence, so to speak, which encompasses
past, present and future as one, and is unaffected by whether the entire
universe was even created or not - as we indeed recite, "You [G-d] were [the
same] before the world was created; You are [the same] after the world was
created." (Daily Morning Prayers; see also Yalkut Shimoni 836 citing the
Jerusalem Talmud)
Love and Yearning...
After reflecting on all the above with deep
concentration, one's soul will be aroused with a quality of love and yearning
for G-d Himself, a love and yearning that burns like glowing coals with desire
to leave the darkness and concealment of this physical world - which prevents
the soul from attaching itself to G-d's very Essence, from "knowing the King
personally", as it were - and to cleave to none other than G-d Himself. This is
the attitude expressed by the verse, "Whom do I have in the Heavens [other than
You, O' G-d], and other than You I do not desire [anything] on earth." (Psalms
73:25) The Hebrew word used for "other than You" literally means "with You"; the
verse can thus be read, "Whom do I have in the Heavens? I do not desire anything
that is 'with You,' etc." That is, the speaker is so enraptured with love of G-d
and G-d alone that he is rejecting anything, no matter how spiritually sublime,
that is not G-d's very Self: "Whom do I have in the Heavens," i.e., I do not
recognize any spiritual level, not the "radiance of the Divine Presence," nor G-d's
attribute of malchut (which is the "word" of the King, but not the King
Himself); "anything that is merely 'with You,' i.e., not actually You Personally
(so to speak), I do not desire." The person's whole desire is to be attached to
G-d Himself, to literally dissolve into G-d's very Essence and Being (even
though this would entail the person's ceasing to exist as an independent
entity). This concept is referred to in the Zohar as "to be absorbed into the
Body of the King."
This level of love for G-d is termed "teshuva"
(usually translated "repentance", but literally means "return"). This is
because, by definition, it stems from contact with that which is far from G-d
and carries a resulting extra potency, an urgency caused by the realization
(upon contemplation as discussed above) of how great G-d is and how far one has
gotten from Him. This results in the overwhelming need to run from that
condition at the top of one's speed, utterly abandoning anything mundane or
unholy, and return to a state of absolute union with G-d Himself.
With all your might...
This kind of love is what is meant by the term "with
all your might", as in the verse which we say every day in the Shema
prayer, "And you shall love G-d, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your might." (Deut. 6:5) - it literally knows no bounds.
The paradoxical fact that G-d's greatness is thus most
appreciated by contrast with immersion in material and mundane matters may be
compared to light, which is best appreciated out of darkness. To be sure, light
is light, and does not change when it is surrounded by darkness. Nevertheless, a
flashlight beam looks relatively unremarkable (if discernible at all) in
daylight, but appears to shine forth as a diamond on black velvet by night.
Similarly, for reasons of His own, G-d created the universe in this way: His
"light", as it were, is most apparent out of "darkness" - i.e., by contrast with
what is not G-dly and holy.
We are now better equipped to understand what was said
above, namely, that G-d saw fit to send the soul away from its prior, spiritual,
existence and into this material world so that it would develop spiritually to a
far greater extent than would have been possible otherwise. Basking in the
spiritual delights of Heaven would not do it: it is only by exposure to non-holy
things and the mundane existence of this physical world generally, and, more
specifically, by confrontation with one's own material impulses, with one's
"animal soul," that one can achieve the boundless level of loving G-d "with all
one's might."
A Jew has two souls: the "G-dly soul" is the source of
a person's holy and spiritual tendencies, while the "animal soul" is what
animates the physical body and craves worldly pleasures. The "darkness" out of
which the "light" must shine refers to the animal soul and worldly concerns
being the impetus for the G-dly soul to rise ever higher, as discussed above.
Even more: not only must the animal soul provide a stark contrast from which the
G-dly soul is motivated to flee, but the animal soul itself should come under
the sway of the G-dly soul, should be "trained" to utilize its natural tendency
to crave things to desire not material pursuits but holy ones.
The reason the animal soul and its subjugation is a
necessary prerequisite to the G-dly soul's achieving its true potential is that
the animal soul is inherently stronger than the G-dly soul, because its
spiritual source stems from a higher level. The animal soul's spiritual origins
are alluded to by the verse, "These are the kings that reigned in the land of
Edom before there reigned a king over the Children of Israel." (Gen. 36:31) This
is a reference to the spiritual state known as the "World of Tohu", the
"Realm of Chaos", the state of affairs before G-d brought about the present
order, known as the "World of Tikun", the "Realm of Rectification".
[As explained elsewhere in connection with the Kabbalistic
concept of the "breaking of the vessels" (See
ARI BASICS, Etc.),
the entities ("vessels") of World of Tohu were unable to remain intact
and "broke", plunging them into what we now call World of Tikun. The
higher they were in World of Tohu the lower they fell into World of
Tikun.) The animal soul was of this lofty primordial order, and its "fall"
is hinted at in the subsequent verses (Gen. 36:32-39), which state that after
each king reigned, he died. However, at its root, the animal soul is superior to
the G-dly soul (as indicated by the statement that these kings reigned "before
there reigned a king over the Children of Israel", a reference to the G-dly
soul.]
That is the reason why, even in their earthly form,
the animal soul and worldly concerns have the ability to overwhelm a person (G-d
forbid), and also the explanation for the paradoxical fact that man needs
animals and foods to live, while they do not need man to live. Their spiritual
source is higher, rooted, like the animal soul's, in World of Tohu. These
powerful spiritual capabilities must therefore be harnessed by the G-dly soul,
which can, through them, be catapulted to the rarified heights of teshuva
discussed above.
Moreover, when a person is immersed in the
overwhelming floodwaters of worldly concerns and the struggle to earn a
livelihood, and that very immersion causes him or her to love G-d to the extent
described as "with all your might", as discussed earlier, then not only is the
G-dly soul elevated by this achievement, but also the animal soul itself is
raised up with it. In contrast with the "fall" of the animal soul alluded to by
the verses "and he reigned...and he died", this restoration of the animal soul,
through breaking its desire for materialism and substituting a desire for
spirituality, is akin to the Resurrection of the Dead.
One moment of teshuva and good deeds
The advantage gained from successfully grappling with
the temptations of this physical world accounts for the saying of our sages ( Mishna,
Avot 4:17) that "One moment of teshuva and good deeds in this
world is superior to the entire life of the World to Come". (In the World to
Come, of course, there is no grappling with and elevation of material things.)
We can now also appreciate why the "many waters" of
the verse "Many waters would not be able to quench love...", which waters
symbolize the potentially overwhelming flood of economic concerns, are called
the "waters of Noah", with its connotation of spiritual satisfaction.
When one spiritually "stays afloat", as it were, refusing to "sink" and instead
rising above one's worldly and economic challenges; when those very challenges
stimulate one to an insatiable longing for nothing but G-d Himself; then those
very floodwaters of material struggle are what raise one up and carry him or her
to the very highest level. This is similar to the way a ship - an ark - floats
always above the surface of the waters, no matter how deep, and is borne by the
waters to the heights of their ascent.
All the above is beautifully expressed in the fact
that the Hebrew word for "ark", "teiva", is the same as that meaning
"word". As explained above, it is concentration on the words of prayer and
internalization of their message that all one's sustenance is channeled through
various spiritual "intermediaries" but is utterly insignificant next to G-d
Himself, that brings one to rise above the overwhelming floodwaters of economic
concerns and "come out on top". This is why, on the threshold of inundating the
world with the mighty flood, G-d advised Noah, "You and all your household
should come into the ark ['teiva']." (Gen. 7:1)
This was symbolic of more abstract advice: in the face
of the flood of concerns over one's livelihood, one should get into one's "teiva",
i.e. the words of prayer, which have the ability to keep one afloat, and even
more - to raise one up above the rising waters.
This is of great comfort to those who work for a
living. Such people frequently make the error of supposing that their prayers
cannot reach the same level of spiritual purity as those of scholars and rabbis
who spend their days in spiritual pursuits. Actually, the contrary is true: it
is precisely the prayers of the workingman (or workingwoman) that constitute
that light which shines forth from darkness for which G-d created the world!
And that is why the word "noach" is related to
the word used to describe Shabbat, both of which bear that connotation of
satisfying rest from one's labor. The fact that the spiritual satisfaction we
have been discussing in the context of Noah is the same as that which obtains on
Shabbat is indicated by the verse "...for on it [the seventh day] He rested
[in Hebrew, "shovat"] from all His labor." (Gen. 2:3). The
elevation which comes through worship within the context of labor results in the
spiritual satisfaction of Shabbat.
Indeed, the prayers of each day of the week are in a
sense reflections of the level of prayer on Shabbat.
Now, the time after Mashiach's arrival is known as "a
time which is eternally Shabbat". There is a level of love for G-d which
surpasses even the level, achieved through prayer, of "with all your might"
discussed above. This level of love is referred to by the verse "And His right
hand embraces me" (Songs 2:6). At that time, it will no longer be necessary to
struggle with earning a livelihood to achieve this love of G-d, and that is what
is meant by the verse "Which I [G-d] have sworn not to bring the Waters of Noah
again over the land".
Translator's disclaimer: The Hebrew original contains much more than could possibly be presented here. Thus, for those with the ability to learn in Hebrew, this synopsis should not be considered a substitute for the original discourse.
Copyright 2001 Yitzchok D. Wagshul / www.likuteitorah.com
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