Parashat Noach - Illuminating the Darkness with the Power of Truth and Crying Out

A Tzohar You Shall Make for the Ark: Illuminating the Darkness with Truth

"A tzohar (window/light) you shall make for the ark, and to a cubit you shall finish it from above; and the entrance of the ark you shall set in its side; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks." (Bereishit 6:16).

"A tzohar you shall make for the ark (teivah) – meaning that you should speak words (teivot) of truth that illuminate... And the main intention is that when one is sunk in the ultimate overpowering of darkness and klipah (husk), and he is imprisoned and enclosed within the darkness and gloom that surrounds and encompasses him from all sides in several layers, Heaven spare us, and he has no opening, remedy, or tactic to escape the darkness, then his main advice is to draw himself to the truth, look at the absolute truth, and seek only the true truth." (Likutey Moharan 112).

A person must know, first of all, the foundation of the Rebbe [Rebbe Nachman] is truth. All the Rebbe wants is a point of truth, not politics, not lashon hara (evil speech). Baruch Hashem, a person eats, drinks, and is happy, until 120 years, but where will he arrive with this eating and drinking? Where will he arrive? A person is in the lowest depths of the abyss; is this how he will come to the World to Come? "Whoever says Hashem is forgiving [overlooks transgressions], his intestines will be torn."

Therefore, one must cry out to Hashem in truth! Start being a man of truth! Let every word come out in truth. A person needs to wake up from his sleep. If he sees that his mind is blocked and he cannot learn, what does a person do? He goes to sleep. Your mind is blocked? Go to the field! Cry out to Hashem! Until your mind opens up.

"From the straits I called upon Hashem," "From the depths I called You, Hashem."

Because every person is in the straits, and through crying out in truth, one draws down the advice to get out of the lowest depths, out of the darkness. Because one needs to know the advice in order to exit the darkness, the aspect of "deep waters in the heart of man" (water refers to the advice revealed through crying out from the heart). There are deep waters, a flowing brook, a source of wisdom; the advice of our Rebbe is a flowing brook, bubbling springs. Give a shout, one cry from the depths! Dig a little deeper! Then geysers of water will burst forth, rivers of water, and the advice to escape the darkness will be revealed to you.

The Constant War and the Cry for Salvation

The Rebbe said - it was also hard for me to pray, it was also hard for me to learn, but I cried and shouted to Hashem. A person can easily learn mathematics or physics, but Gemara is hard for him to learn. A person's mind is a physical mind, an animalistic mind, a gentile mind. Just as a gentile can learn mathematics, etc., he too can learn it, but a spiritual thing is hard to learn. Gemara is a spiritual thing; through learning Gemara, one merits to transform physicality into spirituality.

Therefore, if a person sees that he cannot learn, then he should pray about that very thing, he should cry out about that very thing. He should cry out to Hashem in truth from the depth of his heart, true cries from the depth of the heart, and one must constantly cry out to Hashem. And when a person is in public, he should cry out quietly, he should cry out from the depth of his heart. A person is in an abyss, in terrible lusts, and if he cries out to escape these things, then a point of truth will be revealed to him.

And this is what is written, "Please Hashem, save now," "Please Hashem, bring success now," that one must cry out to escape lusts. It is one thing if a person owes massive debts, needs to cover a check, or look for a loan, so he cries out to Hashem "save now," and when he is saved... now what will he cry out about?! Rather, now the main cry and prayer is to escape lusts, blemishes of the covenant, and forbidden sights, because every day a person's evil inclination renews itself against him and desires to kill him.

The entire war is with the evil inclination. If a person decides to defeat his evil inclination, to emerge from all blemishes, then there will be such a light in the world that all of the Jewish people will do teshuvah (repentance). And this is a 24-hour war; every second and moment there is not a second of rest, not a second that the evil inclination leaves a person. As Rabbi Akiva Eiger, of righteous memory, says in his letter, in his will: "The evil inclination is interwoven in all your 248 limbs and 365 sinews." There is no corner in the hair, in the sinews, in the arteries where the evil inclination is not present. All your blood is the evil inclination; the murky blood incites a person to bad things.

And only with crying out can they be cleansed, only with in-depth Torah study can they be cleansed, with forceful prayer they are cleansed. Through truth, the world is created, a new world is created; every moment is a point of truth. Even when a person is in the lowest depths of the abyss and beneath it, and from there he cries out a true cry to Hashem, the very cry from there to Hashem, "Take me out of these terrible lusts!"—that in itself shows that he is in truth.

Every person is a root for all souls, he is a root for six hundred thousand souls, a root for all the souls in the world. And the moment a person cries out in truth, "Please Hashem, save now," then he will emerge from his lowest depths and he will elevate with him thousands of other people, and the entire world.

Twenty-Four Hours of Dveikut (Attachment to God)

We constantly tell Hashem, "Wait, I'm coming soon, I'm busy right now, soon I will read... soon I will learn..." But in truth, being connected to Hashem is not only when I am reading. It is when I walk, when I sit, when I eat, when I drink. Wherever a person goes, wherever he turns, everywhere—in the street, in the yeshiva, in the office, in every minute and in every word.

When he speaks with the children, in every situation, at every point, he walks with Hashem. Hashem is with him, because he is a part of Hashem; Hashem cannot be separated from him, his soul is a portion of God from above. He manages to do something at home because Hashem moves his hands and feet. If he feels bad right now, it is because he abandoned Hashem just a little bit. If he has faith in Hashem, he will feel good.

One must walk with Hashem all the time. His whole purpose in life is how to remember every minute that Hashem is with him. If he forgets about Hashem for one moment, then that's it, then there are ups and downs, there are tests, that is life. There is no such thing as "now is the time for prayer, and now for Tehillim, and now is the time to eat, sit, and chat." Even when talking about physical things, one must constantly be in holiness and think about Hashem.

Sweetening All the Courts of Judgment

A person thinks to himself, "Out of the whole day, I can separate something for Hashem, just like one separates Challah. I will take some part of it and give Hashem something—one mitzvah, one prayer, one kiss of the mezuzah, one Tikkun HaKlali, one coin to charity, I will give something to Hashem. And essentially, all the rest of the hours are mine. If I give something like an hour of hitbodedut (personal prayer), I have already given a lot; an hour is a lot."

But what happens? It is written that all 24 hours are courts of judgment; every hour is a judgment, so one needs to sweeten all 24 hours. You cannot sweeten just one hour. Meaning, the true reality is that a person must be connected to Hashem constantly, all 24 hours. To go to sleep with the Bedtime Shema in dveikut, and to say the Shema Yisrael, and to say everything he can say, each person according to his reality. True, he doesn't always have time on the clock, but there are things that have no measure, that are not bound by time.

Externally, there is time. "I won't manage, I don't have time for this or that." Fine, there is no time, but in thought? In the heart? In feeling? In dveikut? Wherever a person's mind is thinking, that is where he is. Let's say he has time to give Hashem an hour. But what about all the rest? I absolutely cannot say, "Now I am relaxing, now I can sit on the chair, cross my legs, and now talk to my heart's content on the phone, or now eat to my heart's content, because I just prayed such and such, and I gave such and such to charity, and I hosted guests such and such." He cannot say this. Why? Because there are 24 courts of judgment, every hour he is judged, so he cannot say this under any circumstances! He must give all 24 hours as holy to Hashem.

Noah's Ark as the Secret of Nullification and Concealment

Due to the immense severity of the judgments that existed then in the generation of the Flood, a wondrous and awesome nullification (bitul) was needed to sweeten the tremendous judgment of that time. And for such nullification, a great tzaddik specifically like Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, is needed. But Noach did not merit such nullification, and therefore he could not completely cancel the judgment, and therefore there was a Flood in the world. Therefore, he was forced to enter the ark to hide there from the severity of the judgment and the destroyers, because Noah's Ark is Yom Kippur, and Yom Kippur is nullification, when one closes their eyes from the sights of this world, which is the aspect of the five afflictions.

Because this is the aspect of concealment, that one needs to hide and conceal oneself during the time of severe judgment, which is the aspect of the ark. Because when judgment overpowers, one needs to hide oneself inside the house without going outside, so that his eyes do not wander in the sights of this world.

And this is the aspect of "Go, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself for a brief moment until the wrath has passed" (Yeshayahu 26:20).

The partitions of the ark block the eyes, so that one's vision does not scatter outside, in order that he can look toward the ultimate purpose and be included in the Ein Sof (Infinite). Therefore, through this nullification of entering the ark, he at least merited to cancel the judgment from himself and his household, and to sustain the world through this.

And this is the aspect of "A tzohar you shall make for the ark, and to a cubit you shall finish it from above" - that he should make a tzohar and a window above so that all his looking and gazing will be only upwards, which is the aspect of looking toward the supernal purpose.

The aspect of "When Moshe would raise his hand" (Shemot 17:11).

Because the main nullification of judgments and the victory in the war against those who oppose holiness is through looking upwards, through nullification to the ultimate purpose.

The Virtue of Earnestness (Temimut) Over Greatness

"These are the generations of Noach, Noach was a righteous, earnest (tamim) man in his generations" (Bereishit 6:9).

The disciples of the "Chozeh" of Lublin (Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak Horowitz) once asked their master: Teach us, our master, who is greater than whom? Does the "earnest one" (tamim) surpass the "great" man in value, or is the power of a "great" man better than the "earnest one"?

The "Chozeh" replied to his disciples: Go out and see how a person acts when he comes to break (cut) a loaf of bread for the "HaMotzi" blessing - when two loaves of bread are placed before him, one large but incomplete, from which a slice has already been cut, and one small but whole. Over which loaf of bread does the man break and recite his blessing? Would it ever cross his mind to recite the "HaMotzi" blessing over the sliced loaf because of its size? There is no doubt that, according to Halacha, the man blesses over the whole loaf, even though it is the smaller one. From here we see that the "earnest one" (tamim/whole) is preferable to the "great" one...

The Severity of the Sin of Robbery

"The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them..." (Bereishit 6:13).

Regarding this verse, we learned in Tractate Sanhedrin (108a):

"Rabbi Yochanan said: Come and see how great is the power of robbery (how severe the sin of theft is), for the generation of the Flood transgressed everything (all the sins in the world), yet their decree of judgment was not sealed until they stretched out their hands in robbery, as it is stated: 'For the earth is filled with robbery through them - and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.' Hashem says: As long as there is peace among you, I forgive My honor. But when there is robbery (theft) among people, then - 'The end of all flesh has come before Me.'"

It is true that the main sin of the generation of the Flood was the corruption of flesh (sexual immorality), but had they behaved peacefully between man and his fellow - then their decree of death would not have been sealed, and only because they stretched out their hands in robbery was their decree of death sealed.

The tzaddik Rabbi Chaim of Krasna, one of the disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, used to say: In the early generations of Israel, the acronym (notarikon) for the word "Chochmah" (wisdom) was:

"Tremble before Him, all the earth" (Tehillim 96:9) [The first letters spell an anagram of Chochmah].

For only one who excelled in the fear of Heaven was considered by people to be a wise man, worthy of admiration. Whereas today, due to our many sins, the acronym for Chochmah is: "For the earth is filled with robbery" (Ki Maleah Ha'aretz Chamas), since many in this time believe for some reason that a wise man is one who knows how to outsmart others and rob people.

Inside and Outside with Pitch (Kofer): A Temple Without Salvation

Once, the Gaon and tzaddik Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch happened to visit a certain city, and he found neither a synagogue nor a study hall there, but only a large and magnificent temple of the "progressives" and reformers of various kinds, which had recently been built. As is known, Rabbi Samson Raphael was one of the leading fighters against those "progressives," who had begun to breach the wall of the House of Israel, and Rabbi Samson refused to even set foot in this impure temple, and therefore he prayed in the garden in front of the temple, outside.

And since the entire congregation of worshippers thought that he was not feeling well, and therefore he was praying outside in the garden because he needed fresh air - they all went out in his honor, and prayed with him in the garden of the temple. After they finished their prayer, the rabbi of these "enlightened ones" turned to Rabbi Samson Raphael and said to him: "Well! Does our temple find favor in His Honor's eyes?" Rabbi Samson Raphael answered him: "It is like Noah's Ark, and yet not like Noah's Ark."

The rabbi of the "progressives" was astonished, and asked Rabbi Samson: "And what is His Honor's intention?" Rabbi Samson answered him: "It is like Noah's Ark, in that it too is covered 'inside and outside with kofer' (pitch/heresy). 'And not like Noah's Ark' - because Noah's Ark was a salvation for its inhabitants and their offspring until the end of all generations, whereas this temple has no opening and no salvation - not for you, and certainly not for your offspring after you..."

The Power of Letters Spoken with a Broken Heart

"A tzohar (a window, but also light) you shall make for the teivah (the ark, but also a word)" (Bereishit 6:16) - make light for the word, let every word that comes out of your mouth be illuminating and bright (Chazal).

It is told of the holy Arizal that he would pray with tremendous intention during the High Holy Days. And behold, they showed him from Heaven that there was a certain man, in a certain city, who prayed better than him. The holy Arizal traveled to that city, called for that man, and asked him: "Are you a Torah scholar?" The man replied to him: "No." "And do you know how to pray?" - He replied to him: "No."

The Arizal asked him: "So what did you do during the High Holy Days?" The man replied: "Rebbe! I do not even know the letters of the Aleph-Bet, except only from the letter Aleph to the letter Yud. And when I came to the synagogue, and I saw that the entire congregation was praying with intention and aloud, while I could not pray at all, my heart broke within me, and I said: Aleph, Bet, Gimel, Dalet, Heh, Vav, Zayin, Chet, Tet, Yud. Master of the Universe, You make words and combinations from these letters as You wish, and may they rise before You as a pleasing fragrance. Thus I said with a broken heart, and with all my strength, and I repeated it over and over."

And the speech and request of that man accomplished more in Heaven than the prayer of the holy Arizal.