By Rav Nisim Lagziel
October 28, 2024
We must create a new world order ourselves
Noah didn't see satellites and spaceships. He didn't even see a smartphone or a computer. But what he saw, and he was the first to see it, was hope!
Let's start with a joke. One couple, who could not find a common language with any of their neighbors, decided to move. They asked the real estate agent: "Find us a quiet place with new neighbors who won't make noise." "We'll find it," the agent said. What was their surprise when they saw that their new apartment bordered the cemetery!
What's new in the world?
The midrash ("Bereishit of the slave" 30:8) says that Noah "saw a new world". He is not the only one who is mentioned as a person who has seen the "new world", but he is the first. He was followed by Yosef, Moshe, Job and Mordechai; Noah paved the way "and opened the channel" for novelty in the world.
The question is, what new world did he see? How can you see the new world? Firstly, "there is nothing new under the sun", and secondly, Noah did not see the new world, at most - he saw a renewed world.
In other words (with the addition of an example from the world of technology), someone who is going to buy a new smartphone (not that this example provides for punishment for it) has two options: 1) buy something completely new, directly from the official supplier with all the tags; 2) buy a restored device that others used, and it may lack one or two, but it works and costs much less. The restored device can be obtained, perhaps, from dozens of intermediary companies and customers.
Similarly, a new world, a new creation, something out of nothing, something that did not exist before, can only come from the Creator. The renewed world is undergoing significant changes, including significant ones, and these changes can occur as a result of human actions, as during the Flood.
Returning to Noah, why do the sages of the Torah say that he saw a new world, although nothing new was created? The world could have been like new, but it wasn't new! As a student of Hasidism says, the concept of "new" refers to creation from nothing. The term "updated" refers to a creation from something. Since nothing new was created in Noah's time, all that happened was the change of the world from one reality to another, and this should not be designated as new!
Hasidism often quotes the words of the sages of the Torah ("Ktubot" 5a): "The works of the righteous are greater than the creations of heaven and earth." At first glance, this is surprising. How can you compare the work of the Creator and the work of mankind and even claim that the deeds of man are superior to the deeds of the Creator? It sounds almost heretical, doesn't it?
In an amazing conversation, Rebe sets out the essence of the matter. G-d created the world out of nothing so that the Jewish people could change the world with their ministry and turn it into a better place, into a "abode below". This means that the creation of the world from nothing was intended to bring to the world an additional novelty, a more sublime novelty, through the ministry of a Jew. Everyone understands that if the purpose of the first novelty is to lead to the second novelty, then the second novelty is far superior to the first. It's the same here: the creation of the world by God from nothing was solely for the sake of the second, greater novelty - the creation of a dwelling below through the Jews.
It turns out that indeed "the deeds of the righteous are greater" ("and Your people are all righteous") - the Jewish people turn the world from a physical essence into a sublime, spiritual essence, "greater than the creation of heaven and earth". G-d created the world only to change and improve it.
Based on this, we can also understand what a new world Noah saw. True, Noah did not see satellites and spaceships. He didn't even see a smartphone or a computer. But what he saw, and he was the first to see it, was hope!
Before Noah, the world had no hope. There was no ability in the world to change the current situation; the world was stuck in a low spiritual state, with ever-growing, non-stop impurity, unacceptable forms of human behavior, and no one could change it! The flood led the world to real change, to hope!
Good news about the "Delug"
The teachings of Chasidism explain that the purpose of the Flood was to purify the world, so it lasted forty days, just as the waters of the mikvah make up forty sea. During the Flood, the world was covered with water, as in the promise of the future Liberation: "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea." This and much more emphasizes the unique aspect of Noah's contribution to the world as a man who brought hope for the existence of man and the whole world. He brought general purification to the spirit of man and the world around him, paving the way to Abraham, and then to Moses and the gift of the Torah, until today!
True, Noah did not see how G-d created the heavens and how exactly He formed the earth. He also didn't see how a plant is created from nothing, and how the "spirit of God" hovers over the waters... But he saw much more than that. He saw a chance for a change. He saw a bright future. He saw the world of possibilities for man, and this is much more new than creation from nothing.
Having said all this, we can now see how the Torah, starting with the weekly chapters "Bereishit" and "Noah", teaches us an important life lesson. The weekly chapter "Bereishit" is primarily the history of the creation of the world, the creation from nothing, the work of the Creator. The weekly chapter "Noah" mainly tells about the improvement of the world and man, about the creation of something from something, about the work of man. Since we have already learned that "the deeds of the righteous are greater than the creations of the heavens and the earth", the novelty of the weekly chapter "Noah" is much greater than the novelty of the weekly chapter "Bereishit".
According to Divine Providence, this year we read the weekly chapter "Noah" in the new monument Heshvan. Heshvan is the first month of human service in the world in the new year. (Because, to be honest, in Tishrei we spend more time in the synagogue or with the family than in the service or in peace). On this day, the first day of Heshvan, we get a charge of cheerfulness for the new year, reading the weekly chapter "Noah".
The weekly chapter "Noah" teaches us the importance and value of human service in the world, how one person, a Jewish man or woman, can change the world forever! How can one Jew give hope to all mankind. How a Jew can bring Liberation by one deed, word or even thought!
Later, at this farhrengen, the Rebbe gave evidence emphasizing the importance to be attached to each action and his ability to change the world and lead to a new world.
In particular, Baal Shem Tov said r. I think that the soul descends into this world and lives for seventy or eighty years to render one service to the Jew - material or spiritual. This means that one act, one service for a Jew is worth living eighty years!
In the end, we will talk about the importance of one act, for example, saying a blessing. Once Baal-Shem-Tov sent his famous student, r. Haim Rappoport to correct the lost soul of Moshe Tsadok. His father, Shmuel Tzadok, was a student of the Prague MAARAL, but was very opposed to the study of Kabbalah, which made him distant from other students of MAARAL.
His son, Moshe, followed his father, but retired in the middle of his life. After the death of his Jewish wife, he even married a pagan woman and lived like a goy in all respects. There is a long story about how a group of hidden righteous people, led by Rabbi Eliyau Baal-Shem, returned the river. Moshe to Judaism.
The following passage ("Likutei Diburim" p. 32) is the end of the story related to our question.
- During this trip, another great mission was completed," Baal-Shem-Tov said sitting around him. In the holy book "Zohar" it is said that "the lower waters" exclaim: "We want to be before the holy King". All the sources, from the day when G-d divided the waters, the lower waters, shout that they want to be before the King, that He must use them for holy works, such as washing hands before prayer, immersion for the commandment, immersion for prayer and the Torah, washing hands with a blessing, which mentions the name of the Almighty, water for drinking when the blessing is pronounced before and after... And this crying of wells can last for hundreds and even thousands of years, until the Jew passes by and washes his hands and pronounces a blessing, or drinks and blesses before and after.
In the forest near the estate of Moshe there is a spring, which has been crying for 5519 years about why its share is less than the share of all springs, because since G-d created it, no one has pronounced blessings over this water and no one has used water for holiness and purity. That day the spring was saved thanks to him," said Baal-Shem-Tov r. Haimu. You drank water from it and washed your hands during the daytime prayer. It is a matter of Divine Providence, that each creation has its own time of elevation and through whom it will be exalted, and each soul has its own purpose, for what and where it should work and correct itself...
Source: https://moshiach.ru/torah/2/25065.html
By Rav Nisim Lagziel
October 28, 2024
We must create a new world order ourselves
Noah didn't see satellites and spaceships. He didn't even see a smartphone or a computer. But what he saw, and he was the first to see it, was hope!
Let's start with a joke. One couple, who could not find a common language with any of their neighbors, decided to move. They asked the real estate agent: "Find us a quiet place with new neighbors who won't make noise." "We'll find it," the agent said. What was their surprise when they saw that their new apartment bordered the cemetery!
What's new in the world?
The midrash ("Bereishit of the slave" 30:8) says that Noah "saw a new world". He is not the only one who is mentioned as a person who has seen the "new world", but he is the first. He was followed by Yosef, Moshe, Job and Mordechai; Noah paved the way "and opened the channel" for novelty in the world.
The question is, what new world did he see? How can you see the new world? Firstly, "there is nothing new under the sun", and secondly, Noah did not see the new world, at most - he saw a renewed world.
In other words (with the addition of an example from the world of technology), someone who is going to buy a new smartphone (not that this example provides for punishment for it) has two options: 1) buy something completely new, directly from the official supplier with all the tags; 2) buy a restored device that others used, and it may lack one or two, but it works and costs much less. The restored device can be obtained, perhaps, from dozens of intermediary companies and customers.
Similarly, a new world, a new creation, something out of nothing, something that did not exist before, can only come from the Creator. The renewed world is undergoing significant changes, including significant ones, and these changes can occur as a result of human actions, as during the Flood.
Returning to Noah, why do the sages of the Torah say that he saw a new world, although nothing new was created? The world could have been like new, but it wasn't new! As a student of Hasidism says, the concept of "new" refers to creation from nothing. The term "updated" refers to a creation from something. Since nothing new was created in Noah's time, all that happened was the change of the world from one reality to another, and this should not be designated as new!
Hasidism often quotes the words of the sages of the Torah ("Ktubot" 5a): "The works of the righteous are greater than the creations of heaven and earth." At first glance, this is surprising. How can you compare the work of the Creator and the work of mankind and even claim that the deeds of man are superior to the deeds of the Creator? It sounds almost heretical, doesn't it?
In an amazing conversation, Rebe sets out the essence of the matter. G-d created the world out of nothing so that the Jewish people could change the world with their ministry and turn it into a better place, into a "abode below". This means that the creation of the world from nothing was intended to bring to the world an additional novelty, a more sublime novelty, through the ministry of a Jew. Everyone understands that if the purpose of the first novelty is to lead to the second novelty, then the second novelty is far superior to the first. It's the same here: the creation of the world by God from nothing was solely for the sake of the second, greater novelty - the creation of a dwelling below through the Jews.
It turns out that indeed "the deeds of the righteous are greater" ("and Your people are all righteous") - the Jewish people turn the world from a physical essence into a sublime, spiritual essence, "greater than the creation of heaven and earth". G-d created the world only to change and improve it.
Based on this, we can also understand what a new world Noah saw. True, Noah did not see satellites and spaceships. He didn't even see a smartphone or a computer. But what he saw, and he was the first to see it, was hope!
Before Noah, the world had no hope. There was no ability in the world to change the current situation; the world was stuck in a low spiritual state, with ever-growing, non-stop impurity, unacceptable forms of human behavior, and no one could change it! The flood led the world to real change, to hope!
Good news about the "Delug"
The teachings of Chasidism explain that the purpose of the Flood was to purify the world, so it lasted forty days, just as the waters of the mikvah make up forty sea. During the Flood, the world was covered with water, as in the promise of the future Liberation: "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea." This and much more emphasizes the unique aspect of Noah's contribution to the world as a man who brought hope for the existence of man and the whole world. He brought general purification to the spirit of man and the world around him, paving the way to Abraham, and then to Moses and the gift of the Torah, until today!
True, Noah did not see how G-d created the heavens and how exactly He formed the earth. He also didn't see how a plant is created from nothing, and how the "spirit of God" hovers over the waters... But he saw much more than that. He saw a chance for a change. He saw a bright future. He saw the world of possibilities for man, and this is much more new than creation from nothing.
Having said all this, we can now see how the Torah, starting with the weekly chapters "Bereishit" and "Noah", teaches us an important life lesson. The weekly chapter "Bereishit" is primarily the history of the creation of the world, the creation from nothing, the work of the Creator. The weekly chapter "Noah" mainly tells about the improvement of the world and man, about the creation of something from something, about the work of man. Since we have already learned that "the deeds of the righteous are greater than the creations of the heavens and the earth", the novelty of the weekly chapter "Noah" is much greater than the novelty of the weekly chapter "Bereishit".
According to Divine Providence, this year we read the weekly chapter "Noah" in the new monument Heshvan. Heshvan is the first month of human service in the world in the new year. (Because, to be honest, in Tishrei we spend more time in the synagogue or with the family than in the service or in peace). On this day, the first day of Heshvan, we get a charge of cheerfulness for the new year, reading the weekly chapter "Noah".
The weekly chapter "Noah" teaches us the importance and value of human service in the world, how one person, a Jewish man or woman, can change the world forever! How can one Jew give hope to all mankind. How a Jew can bring Liberation by one deed, word or even thought!
Later, at this farhrengen, the Rebbe gave evidence emphasizing the importance to be attached to each action and his ability to change the world and lead to a new world.
In particular, Baal Shem Tov said r. I think that the soul descends into this world and lives for seventy or eighty years to render one service to the Jew - material or spiritual. This means that one act, one service for a Jew is worth living eighty years!
In the end, we will talk about the importance of one act, for example, saying a blessing. Once Baal-Shem-Tov sent his famous student, r. Haim Rappoport to correct the lost soul of Moshe Tsadok. His father, Shmuel Tzadok, was a student of the Prague MAARAL, but was very opposed to the study of Kabbalah, which made him distant from other students of MAARAL.
His son, Moshe, followed his father, but retired in the middle of his life. After the death of his Jewish wife, he even married a pagan woman and lived like a goy in all respects. There is a long story about how a group of hidden righteous people, led by Rabbi Eliyau Baal-Shem, returned the river. Moshe to Judaism.
The following passage ("Likutei Diburim" p. 32) is the end of the story related to our question.
- During this trip, another great mission was completed," Baal-Shem-Tov said sitting around him. In the holy book "Zohar" it is said that "the lower waters" exclaim: "We want to be before the holy King". All the sources, from the day when G-d divided the waters, the lower waters, shout that they want to be before the King, that He must use them for holy works, such as washing hands before prayer, immersion for the commandment, immersion for prayer and the Torah, washing hands with a blessing, which mentions the name of the Almighty, water for drinking when the blessing is pronounced before and after... And this crying of wells can last for hundreds and even thousands of years, until the Jew passes by and washes his hands and pronounces a blessing, or drinks and blesses before and after.
In the forest near the estate of Moshe there is a spring, which has been crying for 5519 years about why its share is less than the share of all springs, because since G-d created it, no one has pronounced blessings over this water and no one has used water for holiness and purity. That day the spring was saved thanks to him," said Baal-Shem-Tov r. Haimu. You drank water from it and washed your hands during the daytime prayer. It is a matter of Divine Providence, that each creation has its own time of elevation and through whom it will be exalted, and each soul has its own purpose, for what and where it should work and correct itself...
Source: https://moshiach.ru/torah/2/25065.html
