Thought for the Week Parshas Noach Be A Light, Rabbi Yaakov Winner - 5787

How are you? I hope everyone is strong and healthy, strong and happy physically and spiritually. Today is Kedoshim Parshas Noach. And we're going to speak a thought for the week. But first, as usual, we'll start with stock and we shall come now. We're going to start with a prayer which is directly related with what we're going to speak about today. And that's from capital God and I beat on the floor and I circle. This is a prayer where we ask Hashem to open up our eyes and let us see the wonders of your Torah. So today, we're going to speak about seeing the world through the lens of the Torah. As we saw last week, the beginning of the Torah, the first part of the Torah is part of the kingdom of heaven and earth. That means what do we see when we look at the world? A manifestation of Hashem's words. But my mother the world cannot exist. It's not a true existence on its own. Hashem, as the Rambam says, he made this world, he created this world, creations with his word which is a source of life, the source of life, and is life and existence. Okay. So now, I find it amazing that we spoke many times and this is the purpose of this is to show the beauty of the profundity of and how it's actually very, very difficult, in my humble opinion, very, exceedingly humble opinion, to be able to live as a Jew in the world without premium Toyota the inner dimension of Toyota. For example, this week's parsha speaks about a flood that destroyed the world except for Noah and his family. And we learn how Hashem makes a covenant with Noah that such a thing will never happen again. Okay, so if somebody doesn't look see this, what's the lesson that he takes? That there was a terrible time and Hashem had to punish the world. And he promised it will never happen again in such a way. Okay, fine. There's a lesson in that too. I'm not going to get into it now. See this comes along and in this parsha, besides for the fact that it talks about the idea of the waters as a mikveh, it's a cleansing. But there's another whole dimension which is so relevant, so real to any Jew who wants to live his life with spirituality. And that is it's amazing how right after Tishrei, the month which is called Marbe B'Moadim, it's called Shmini Atzeret it's packed, it's satiated, full of spiritual nourishment. And we have the high holidays. We're high from all the holidays and there's continual holidays, continuous Rosh Hashanah and Kippur, Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. And then we have the great fall. Monday morning back at the office. Smack reality. The reality of golus, the reality of earning a living, the reality of the meshugeneh velt surrounding us. The crazy world which is getting crazier day by day in a certain sense. So first of all, the question is is that what it's about? We had such a good time. We were so close. We were so intimate with Hashem through all these holidays. And now all of a sudden, I get hit, struck, attacked, harassed, surrounded by this decadent, materialistic, hedonistic, corporal world. How do I deal with it? It's a very big question. And over here comes the beauty of Chassidus. Both Ha Parsha Noach falls out in the Jewish calendar right after Tishrei. We're now in the month of Cheshvan, which is actually called Mar Cheshvan. The word Mar means bitter because there's no holidays. So going from the joyous, happy, blissful days of Tishrei to to to fall, have this descent into the days of Cheshvan, we start saying Tachanun again, and we're dealing with so-called reality, it's bitter. So here comes along Chassidus. Wow. And tells us in the Chassidic discourses of Parshas Noach something that hits us so real. And that is, we're all going through a flood. This whole story that we learn about in Parshas Noach is happening on a personal level. It's real that we have to internalize it and take the lesson. We're all flooded. Now the Rebbe in Pat Teirei Parshas Noach, the main thing he talks about is Teivas Noach. What's a Mabul? A Mabul is a land of confusion. A Mabul means that we're drowning in debt, in worries, in anxieties, in stress, in tension, etc., etc. That's the Mabul. And it's normal. By the way, in life personally, I don't want to get into it now. I talk to so many people. I have many disciples. And we have a discussion, you know, somebody sent something else an email or a WhatsApp or text. How can we get an answer? And today it's just regular. Everybody uses a line. I'm so inundated. You're swamped. You're being overwhelmed. That's what it means. You're in a mabul. How do we deal with this mabul? So, we have this week Rashi. And the way the Rebbe explains it in the Likutei Sichos, there's a Rashi that says as follows. We're meant to make a table. We'll soon get to the meaning of the word teivah as the Baal Shem Tov explained it. But even without that, so the pasuk says there was going to come a flood. Let's go back to the little meaning. There's going to be a flood that's going to destroy the world. And Hashem told Noach he should make an ark. And what should he do with the ark? Tzohar ta'aseh lateivah. A light shall you make for the ark. That's in a Perek Vav, Pasuk Zayin. A light shall you make for the ark. And Rashi says, what does it mean, tzohar, a light? Yesh oinim chalon, some say it was a window. V'yesh oinim even tovah, and some say it was a precious stone, ha'me'irah lahem, which provided light for them. So, this comes from a Medrash. There's an argument when it says tzohar, does it mean a window or does it mean a precious stone? According to the most common tale, it's a precious stone. It's a miraculous thing with the light that's emanating from the stone itself, even though it's completely dark. Like a lightbulb, for example. So, now, the Rebbe has a whole talk on this Rashi with many famous questions. You're going to have to see that the whole p'shat. Why does Rashi say why why do we have to both interpretations that it could be a window or it could be a stone? And what's the point of the window if it says that during the marble there was complete darkness? So, what does the window help? It's not going to bring in light. What's the advantage of the stone? The stone means the light is coming from the stone itself, so it's always going to be working and you can you can illuminate anywhere in the ark like a flashlight. You're walking around with the stone and it brings light. So, see the Rashi Sicha over there? It's a Chelek Yud. The first Sicha on Parshas Noach. What I'm going to get to is straight to the the last page where the Rebbe says Yayin Nesich shel HaPildash Rashi there. What does it mean in the service of Hashem? And the Rebbe explains like this. Yes. We're dealing with a world. What's the world? The world is Olam milashon helem hester. There's a concealment. As we spoke many times, your mission and the job of every single year is to three see through the facade. See behind the curtain. See what's really going on. So, in that we were given two steps. There's two steps to the mission. Even though the Rebbe totally just speaks about it in one column, we're going to extrapolate from this more to bring it down on a practical level. And the two steps are first of all, be like a window. And second of all, a higher level, become like an illuminating stone, like a jewel, like a gem, like a star. What does that mean? So, the main difference is between a window and the gem is that the window means that there's light on the outside. So, the light is from without. It has to be brought in. That's what it means, a window. But a precious gem means that the light is from within itself. So, let's talk about the first thing. You're a Jew, you're a good Jew. So, the first thing is remember, make a window. Be like a window. But me First, you start with make a window. What does it mean make a window? Make a window means you're in this world, always be attached to something higher than yourself. Make an opening. Make an opening to that which is above you. Be receptive. Keep your eyes open to see spirituality. Keep your ears clean to listen to the messages. Similar to what it says Pischu Li K'Churda Shel Machat, Hashem says, "Make an opening to me like the point of a needle, V'Anee Eftech Lachem K'Pischu Shel Ulam." And I'm going to make you an entrance like the opening of a hall. So, this is a message in general, as long as you have an opening, which means that you have a sense of humility and a sense [clears throat] of a mission and a sense of always seeking meaning in life and purpose in life and not just the world as it is seeming on the outside on a shallow level, then you'll be be good. To paraphrase it a bit differently, to be a window means at least at the very least not to be part of the cover-up, not to be part of the helem, but to be like a window, which means you're allowing the light. Make a window that you always have an opening to be receptive to the light. Become like a window to allow the light to come through. Chassidim used to farbreng, and they would say, "L'Chaim L'Chaim, Yisrael Achdus Pnimiyus Zein Bistira Zu L'Chavana." >> [laughter] >> L'Chaim L'Chaim, I should at least not be contradiction. I shouldn't get in the way. I shouldn't be an obstruction. There's a story that's printed in the book of the sichos that the Rebbe Rashab once sent the Friediker Rebbe on a mission when he was young, like 17 years old. But the Friediker Rebbe was the son of the Rebbe, so we're dealing with a tzaddik ben tzaddik. But he sent the Friediker Rebbe on this mission together with the Friediker Rebbe's childhood teacher, who was a very famous chossid, Reb Ashbats. So we're talking about somebody who's in the 70-year-old neighborhood together with a person who was his former disciple, who was more like in the 17-year-old neighborhood. When the Rebbe Rashab sent them together on the mission, he told Reb Ashbats, "Az vos vintsiger es charein mission mit dein ambes which means the less you mix in >> [laughter] >> it'll be better." In other words, the reason I'm sending you is maybe for for outward appearances, if you had to send the Rebbe Rashab to go meet some dignitaries or important people, since the Friediker Rebbe looked very young, maybe externally it wouldn't make such an impact. But he sent them with a very venerable older chossid statesman, so to speak. So therefore, people maybe give more respect to the Friediker Rebbe. But really, what the Rebbe Rashab was telling him, "Don't worry, my son hasn't he's got it. And he's a Rebbe and he's a tzaddik, a son of a Rebbe. He will be a Rebbe. He's a tzaddik, whatever." So vos vintsiger es charein mission in the inyonim mit dein elts besser. So that's one level. So that's what it means that you become a window. Now, the way the Rebbe explains what it means to become a window, in the built-in book of the sichos, if you look it up, in the unedited talk, originally, the Rebbe brings a couple examples of what it means, like in other words, how are you inculcating yourself, how are you developing, how are you training yourself that you should be able to be a proper window. And he gives examples. What that means is that the person realizes there's a secular way how to look at things. And as a side point, I probably mentioned this many times, it's we are pervaded by like a marble. We're surrounded by it. The secular viewpoint, the secular perspective, the secular mindset, the secular frame of mind. You have to be ON GUARD 24/7, and only if you're training yourself like to make the window, to always think, what's the Torah's perspective? What's the Torah's perspective? So, I understand what the secular perspective is, cuz I'm being surrounded by it and attacked from all sides about it. Like a marble where the we were surrounded completely with the tidiness, with the problems of whatever it is. So, what does that mean? So, what that means is also like we spoke many times, there's something which is called the cosmic sheetas, and oilam is b'shitas or oilam is b'shitas and oilam is b'shitas and oilam is b'shitas. The way the Rebbe says in the in the sicha comes out this is all part of the training. There's the training, and then we come to the end result, which means it becomes completely natural, the right way. In other words, like this, at this stage we were saying become a window, we see the world, and we see the physicality, and there's a tension, there's a friction, there's a struggle, but I'm being the window. I'm letting I'm connecting myself to the light, and I'm letting in the light. But that means that I have to try to train myself, I my brain to get things the way they are going to the tailor. How are they, for example? So, let's say the secular viewpoint is when you look at something that's happening in the world and you see it and you say, "It's nature." There's a natural explanation for every single thing. The other way to look at it, the true way, a Yid who has emunah and shema Yisrael, on the contrary, for every single thing that looks natural, he wants to try to see the supernatural in it, the miraculous, the divinity. And that's how a person This is what the Rebbe, by the way, always tried to accomplish. Somebody wrote to the Rebbe and said, "I have a heart problem. I have a heart difficulty. The doctor said this and this." The Rebbe would answer, "Check your tefillin." And then there's a story. He checked his tefillin and he found over there was mezuzah and the words of "b'chol levavcha" with all your heart, there was something missing from the word "levavcha". Now, someone could ask, "What does it have to do what is stated in my tefillin or my mezuzah with my physical heart health condition?" And the answer is that's exactly the connected. The spiritual and the physical are not two separate dimensions, but your physical deficiency starts from the spiritual. Now, of course, you have to go to the cardiologist and you have to follow the doctor's advice, but what you really have to do to get to the core of the issue is to fix the spiritual problem and then the physical means will do what it's meant to be done, that it should work. And I will challenge any person out there among the thousands and upon thousands of letters of the Rebbe where it doesn't go with such an approach, which is immediately get to the core, get to the source. As the Rebbe speaks of it, for example, about earning a living and he gives an analogy, but this applies to everything. He says one person makes sure that he's got money in his account, and one person is busy writing checks or or or buying bags to hold the money. Buying a bag to hold money is not going to get you money. You got to get the money. How do you get the money, let's say in the analogy? By connecting to our sham. By reinforcing and making healthy the spirituality. Cuz things start in the spiritual realm. Once you do that, of course, you should have bags to be able to fill with money. But you have to realize everything you're doing in the physical just to like making the bags but not actually getting you the money. I hope you understand what I'm saying. Another classic example is if you're going with the total lens, somebody had a robbery in his house. I probably mentioned this many times. So, you had a robbery in your house. So, there's one approach one person will have, "Oy, how did the robbery happen? It must be something wrong with the security." Uh, and then he decides, "You know what? I only had a $10,000 security system. Now I have to get $20,000 state-of-the-art, cutting-edge, the most advanced system." That's one approach, but then someone tells him, "Hello, it says mezuzahs. It says shin dalet yud shin mem dalet same as zero. That means that a mezuzah has a connected to protection. Ah, you know what? I don't want to make God upset. I'll get mezuzahs. Give me the bargain mezuzahs. Give me the cheapest mezuzah." So, when it came to the security system, he got the most advanced and the best. He's putting his trust in the physical more than in the spiritual. But if we're going with the Torah lens, it's just the opposite. He had a robbery in his house. The first thing he says is, "Oy, I have to check my mezuzahs." And he checks his mezuzahs and he finds something, let's say. And he really believes that this was the source of the of the vulnerability. So, therefore, when it comes to mezuzahs, now he's going to get to upgrade his mezuzahs. I want the most expensive mezuzahs. I want the most muhudedik mezuzahs. I want the best mezuzahs. What about your alarm system? What about your security system? Whatever. And he believes as the Rebbe said once, that means he could someone could be able to break through even the most sophisticated security. I have to have some security cuz you have to do things in a natural way because that's the Rebbe who wanted it. So, this is all on the level where we have one way where someone could God forbid be like a stickle subtle obstruction. He lets the physical dominate the nature, the natural dominate, the shame of the king dominate. Or he works on himself always to be like the window that he connects himself always to the transcendental level. And as much as possible, he tries to make himself a conduit to bring that and be a window to bring that light into the world. In the sicha in chelek yud, the Rebbe brings for example the idea that it says that balabaten, business people, see divine providence more than the scholars. So, this is very very important and very relevant to most people. Most people are not learning in kollel or or learning in a Torah environment all day. They're actually on Wall Street, on Beverly Hills, on Fifth Avenue, wherever it is. And here comes the unbelievable novelty of chassidus and and the empowerment and and and and the uplifting message that we tell the person, you could see godliness more than the scholar, more than the rabbi. Cuz the rabbi is studying about divinity and you're actually experiencing it cuz you see divine providence in the world. What an awesome statement. And this is also, by the way, one of the main points of chassidus was to talk about hashgacha protis of the shitah of the Baal Shem Tov, divine providence. And there's a story right now and I I don't I don't remember the source. If somebody knows where this story is brought down in the divrei rabbeinu, please let me know. But there's a story that the Baal Shem Tov was once talking about he was walking with his disciples and he was talking about his hashgacha protis and he said that everything and everything is hashgacha protis, divine providence down to the smallest details. And one of his disciples said, "Show me." So they're walking along and there was a leaf that was blowing in the wind and turning over and moving from here to there there and then it settled on the ground maybe on the floor of a certain tree or something on the ground. And then the Baal Shem Tov told him as they were watching he says, "I'll show you." And he showed them the way this wind the way this leaf was blowing in the wind and and then finally settled in a certain spot and he told his disciples, "Pick up the leaf." And they picked up the leaf and indeed there was a worm or a caterpillar that was under it. And either there was the worm eating from this leaf leaf or there was this caterpillar that was using it as shade and the Baal Shem Tov told his disciples, "You see? Look how the Ribono shel Olam made this leaf blowing in the wind to fall on this spot so that this worm or caterpillar should have benefit, shade or nourishment from this leaf." So in other words, there's two ways to look at it. Somebody can live his life walking through the streets, walking through life and he sees nature or someone lives his life and makes his whole life different every single day, every single second of every single day where he sees divine providence. And he sees divinity and he sees Hashem. It's unbelievable. He lives a life of wonder and he lives a life of inspiration. And that's the first level still of window. Then the Rebbe says, the second level is even toyiv, and that is that you yourself become a star. In the first level, there's still a a friction, there's still a tension, where you understand this this way to look at it this this perspective a secular perspective a Torah perspective, and you constantly training yourself and working yourself to get the Torah perspective, the Torah lens, the the lens of Chassidus to see everything in a different way. And this is amazing amazing amazing, and if somebody and it'll change your entire life to see G-dliness in every single thing, no matter what. But then the second level, which is a higher level, which is that it just it becomes natural. It just becomes natural. It already became natural. Natural in the good sense. There's working on Elokus b'shitos and Elokus b'hiskatchus, and then it's as you become Elokus b'shitos and Elokus b'hiskatchus. So, it's not the window that's bringing the light from the outside into the inside, but you are the stone that you yourself are the star. You yourself already have that perspective, and it becomes totally natural. It's like for example, you know, whatever in a practical level, you know, some people whatever they hear, they they train, they they they see the lesson in it. They immediately could could translate it into a lesson. Or let's say connections. Things happen in their life, and they immediately see the connections because they're living their life in such a way to always see the connections, to see they lived their life enough to say no such a thing as a coincidence, that they don't have to work they don't have to work at it anymore. It's just natural. You know, hegel mas as they say. When a person works on himself and works on himself, then he begins to see things a certain way. Like Donald Trump explains that the Torah should be in my inner and he explains that when a person learns Torah properly and he toils enough properly, so then the Torah becomes his blood. It's the same thing over here. When a person works on himself and toils to be able to see something always through the lens of the Torah, then that becomes his like second nature, which is really his truest nature from his neshama. Just to finish off with the story, which is you could say that it's the the the two ways, but I'm saying what I mean to say is you could say that there's one step of it where we see in this story both sides to the story and that is the the cousin of Nemus of Binyamin Kletzker. This is printed in safer Torah shalom, page six. And he was a very he was a businessman. His name was they called him Reb Binyamin Kletzker. Kletzker means logs, wooden beams, timber, that business. So he was a very deep thinker and a very big cousin of the Alter Rebbe. So Reb Binyamin Kletzker almond ala kletzer al khevriega, he was standing next to the river in Riga in the middle of his business, which was with timber and logs. When he vertracht in his meshech chabisha shais, he got lost in chassidic thought about the greatness of Hashem for five hours. Well, oil and the people around him in the business, I guess, employees, and they were very wondering about it. This was very surprised. So they said, "What happened over there? You know, you got lost in considering thought?" And they looked at it as something which is odd, strange. So, he said, "The wonder is that a pebble in the nation? Why is that the wonder in your eyes? Me does I wonder, to me it's a wonder. If I would have the kishka, how come when you say "Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad" in Sh'ma, with my kishka from being crushed to be intrigued? That's the question. How is it possible that a person could be davening Sh'ma Yisrael, thinking about the unification of Hashem as only true existence, meanwhile he's thinking about his business in the middle of davening? So, the question is not how in the middle of business you think about Hashem, the question is how could it be that in the middle of davening you're thinking about business? So, this is what gives you an answer. What does it mean? The two ways. He had already reached a level, he he was saying, "When you have a question, how is it possible that you're thinking about God, Hashem, in the middle of business? Then you're still working on getting to the higher level, you're a window that's that's bringing in the spirituality. But once you come to a state where you could just naturally think in the middle of the business about Hashem, and that's like your natural mindset, then you became like a star. Now, last but not least, obviously one of the greatest teachings of Chassidus is the famous words of the Baal Shem Tov, where he said, "Bo el ha'teivah." The word "teivah" doesn't only mean ark, it means words of Torah. "Tzoy es ha'teivah." The Baal Shem Tov also said means bring light into the words of davening. Don't just pray perfunctorily, don't just pray mechanically, don't just pray because you're saying mumbling words and ticking a box, but be passionate about it. Bring the light, the life, and the spirit, and the energy into your words. And then the Ba'al Shem Tov said, you will be able to transform, as the possuk says, "Eis tzara hiliaqri u'min mena yivashea." At the time of distress and worries and problems, that's tzara. It will be a time of tzara, tzaros. "U'min mena from the tzara itself will come the salvation." And the Ba'al Shem Tov connected with this possuk of "Tzoya tasel le'eiva." If you will bring tzoya, which is the same letters as tzara, if you will bring light, energy, and spirit into your prayers, so then we will transform tzara, whatever constrictions, whatever worries, whatever obstacles you have in your life, will be transformed, and they themselves from the tzara, through your bringing tzoya into your davening, the tzara itself will turn into tzoya. And on a practical level, just to to reiterate, what it means is you become a star. The higher level means, for example, you know, just you there's sometimes people they're living life, and they have questions. And they have questions, they look at things in the world, and things in the world to them are like a question about Hashem. How could this this thing be happening? This [snorts] is a contradiction, and this is a contradiction. I should have mentioned this before, maybe we'll have to leave it for another time. But the highest level is that you don't see these things as contradictions. You don't see these things as questions about Hashem, but on the contrary, you see them as proofs of Hashem's existence. You see them as answers. And that's the point that the Rebbe brings out of him, the two levels. One level is taking away the darkness, that's the level of window, but then there's the higher level when the darkness itself becomes transformed into light. There's no more questions. You have all the answers and the proofs cuz you see things differently from within, you see the godliness. So, they be sure to help. We should do our job of so you are possible to ever dive in with the brain, learn with the passion, dive in with the fiery enthusiasm, and through us doing our part, Hashem will do his part and take whatever sort of whatever limitations and problems any year has the whole show the whole Hashem will be completely transformed and primarily the goal I mean to say take it from me yet mamesh posting from my home there is Hashem is by your man in Melbourne.