Parshas Noach 5781

A gitten erev Shabbos! This week’s parsha is Parshas Noach. This is quite the interesting parsha. Between Parshas B’Reishis and this parsha there is so much to unpack, whole seforim could be written about them. Of course every word of the Torah could have a whole set of Tikkunei Zohar on it. For now this medium will suffice for a nice shtikl Torah.

It says in the Tanchuma and Zohar that Noach was born without an orlah (foreskin), which the Zohar learns as a remez (hint) to why Noach was called Tzaddik in his generation; because he was already free from the klippah associated with orlah. In the sifrei chassidus the word for the ark, תבה, is explained to refer to the spoken word, תיבה, that the ark of Noach wasn’t just the p’shat of a big boat, rather it refers to a structure made from words of prayer.

There was another Tzaddik who built a structure out of wood: Moshe Rabeinu. Moshe Rabeinu is described in the Torah as constructing the Mishkan himself, just as Noach built the ark alone. Rebbe Nachman in Likkutei Moharan explains that Moshe Rabeinu in the aspect of the Tzadik HaDor (Tzadik of the Generation) gathered together everyone’s tefillos, and the true Tzaddikim in every generation accomplish this avodah.

So now what could be the purpose of gathering all tefillos into a unified structure?

At the end of Hashem’s command to Noach to gather together the various species of animals into the ark, the phrase concludes “לחיות זרע על-פני כל-הארץ” (to sustain seed upon the face of the earth). Considering birds are most recently mentioned, we could say this is a reference to keeping birds alive so they can eat fruit and distribute whatever seeds across the earth, as is their nature. More in the realm of Sod though we can see what the Aibishter is trying to tell us. The first word can be read as “L’Chayos,” meaning to vivify/sustain, or it can be read as “L’Chiyus” for life-force. Meaning: we need to be close to the aspect of the Tzaddik in order to bring all of our tefillos together that this should lead to a place for life-force to manifest within our world. Without this life-force called Chiyus, which comes from Hashem, nothing would live whatsoever, so the more of this we can draw down from Shomayim the better for the entire world.

The key way to come closer to the aspect of the Tzaddik, if one has a hard time finding a Tzaddik to be close to, is to learn Zohar and Tikkunim. The Tikkunei Zohar is described by the Tzaddikim as having an incredible power to clarify the soul and remove the influence of the Klippah, which is the point of bris milah. Even if you can be close to a Tzaddik, learning these seforim is crucial for self-development towards becoming a Tzaddik yourself.

A git Shabbos! Hashem should hear all of our tefillos and we should merit to have much Divine life-force manifesting in our lives, and we should see Moshiach soon within our days!