Parshas Noach - Finishing Off with a Miracle | Mr. Charlie Harary

I once saw a beautiful idea in a book from R’ Bentzion Shafier. One of the most famous stories in Torah is the story of Noach. The world descended into depravity, Hashem needed to start again and told Noach: I'm bringing a flood. Noach has to build an ark that's going to save him and the animals and start again. And the pasuk says, This is how you should make it, 300 Amos by 50 Amos by 30 Amos. Now, when you read the pasuk, when I read the pasuk, that, like... I don’t know, that sounds about right. Like, I don't know, like, what's an Ama? I can't convert Amos in my head. It's like Shkalim. Like, you ever, like, go to a store in Israel, you're like: How much for a Coke? They’re like: 80 Shkalim. You're like: Umm, I don't know. That must be about right. Like, we have no idea. So we read the pasuk and, like, we just go to the next pasuk, like... it must be big. But let's put it into context. This measurements is about one and a half football fields, it’s about one and a half acres. It's not that big. The Bronx Zoo has 4,000 animals and it's 265 acres. This ark has tens of thousands of animals and it's an acre and a half? It's impossible. Well, this is not my question. This is Rabeinu Bachya’s question. By nature, he says, it would take 50 arks and that still wouldn't be enough. But then he says again, But why did He even do it this way? Hashem could have saved them without an ark, He could have had them walk on water or fly in the sky, like... Why did Hashem make it so hard? Do you ever wonder that question in life, like... Why put me in challenge? Why put me in תאוה? Why do this for? Like, if You're there, Hashem, just make it easy. And the Rabeinu Bachya gives us a line that explains one of the most important aspects of what it means to be a Jew and connect to Hashem. Here's what he says, Because the way of Torah, the way of Hashem, is to command someone to do something for that person to use everything he's got in a natural way. You ever confront a תאוה, a challenge, something, and look at it and go, It's impossible. You know what Rabeinu Bachya is saying? Hakadosh Baruch Hu says: Yeah, I know. You give me everything you got. And here's what Rabeinu Bachya ends, listen to this, You know what's lacking, Hashem says: You do your best. You know what's lacking? I will fill it in with miracle. And if you look throughout our history, you will see, again and again, Hashem puts us in scenarios that are impossible. Yam Suf and Amalek and Meraglim taking on Canaan and conquering Eretz Canaan and Chanukah and Purim and... go story after story, miracle after miracle, you will see that it's the same exact scenario. Hashem takes people and says, Yeah, it's impossible. What are you going to do? And when we go forward, giving everything that we got for what we can do, Hashem shows up and makes it last eight days and has us beat the nations and gives us Manna and splits the sea. Does all these things after we've given everything we've got. In life, we're confronted with challenges and we dismiss them because they seem impossible. The next time you're in a challenge and it seems impossible, go, That seems just about right. My job is to give everything that I got and I know ישלים בנס. A Jew never asks: Could I? A Jew asks, Should I? I want to be a conduit of Hashem's miracles and the way I do that is I go forward with everything I got. You do your best and Hakadosh Baruch Hu will end in a miracle.