Rabbi Yossi's Blog

“Life is hard.” Anyone ever told that to you when you were having a tough time? Didn’t help make it any easier, did it? 

“Think that’s bad, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me!” This one may be an even worse response. Hearing about other people’s troubles doesn’t make yours any easier to cope with, right?

So what can help us through the tough times? What can help us overcome, rather than be overwhelmed? What can empower us to achieve our goals even after we’ve been knocked down?

The answer is embedded in this week’s Torah portion, Noah.

You might have learnt the narrative of The Great Deluge recounted in this week’s portion as some sort of fairy tale, you might view it as an entertaining movie; however it’s included in the Torah and is therefore not only accurate but perhaps more importantly - a valuable lesson for us. 

Whatever the case, you really should see in it the story of your life.

Think about it - in the beginning there was this idealistic, perfect world. Everything was wonderful for a while but over time reality set in, human nature went awry until it came to the point that G-d decided to completely reset the whole thing. He brought the flood and destroyed the world; save Noah, his family and a sampling of all animal life.

Then, after Noah exited the ark, G-d told him something very strange. G-d promised never to do it again; never again will G-d destroy the world. G-d even made a covenant with Noah regarding it - He showed Noah the sign of the rainbow as His way of remembering this covenant.

Let me ask you a simple question however - why should this time be different? It would seem that G-d is (so to speak) being a little naive. I mean, how can we know how things will be in a few generations? Maybe 10 generations down the line humanity will have once again deteriorated to the point that destruction will once again be necessary?! Why would G-d pledge to never again destroy the world? If it happened once, couldn’t it happen again?

Here’s the point - initially G-d created the world on His terms according to His high standards; it wasn’t fully aligned with the reality of the fallible human beings that inhabited it. After the flood, the world was recalibrated as it were to fit with humanity. This newly aligned world wasn’t under threat of being destroyed because it took into account the possibility for mistakes to happen and it included a contingency for when they would.

In other words, the world as it was initially created, in it’s idealistic state, wasn’t viable and needed to be reset. The world after the flood integrated the G-dly ideal in a way that was - and still is - sustainable.

What emerges from this understanding is that in truth, the narrative of The Great Deluge is not one of destruction and devastation - it’s primary message is one of hope and inspiration: there is purpose in the setbacks. There is long term success embedded in short term failure.

Being told that life is hard doesn’t make it easier to overcome the hardship; being told about other people’s challenges doesn’t make it easier to overcome your own. But finding the lesson and meaning in the setbacks - that gives us the ability to create a long term model of success. 

Have you ever considered the vastness of the universe? It makes you feel kinda small and insignificant, doesn’t it? Think about this: Imagine if Grand Central Station were filled from the floor to the ceiling with dust, one speck of dust would be roughly equivalent to the size of earth. And each one of us are basically like a seventh of a billionth of that speck of dust. That’s without even taking into account the unpopulated areas of earth - not to mention the plants, animals etc.

That’s mind-bogglingly insignificant.

But that’s not the whole story. You see, the Torah begins with the creation narrative. And however you choose to understand it, one thing is certain: G-d brought the world into existence. The entire universe was created before humanity was brought on the scene.

And this points to how mind-bogglingly significant we actually are. From G-d’s point of view.

While our world may be equivalent to a tiny speck of dust, G-d decided that all of existence is worth it for what we can accomplish during our time inhabiting this tiny speck.

All of existence was brought into being so that we could partner with it’s Creator in perfecting this world.

It’s a mighty powerful idea with massive implications. Think about it.

It means we have inherent value, every single one of us. It also means that G-d is invested in our success, He doesn’t want us to accept failure - our own personal failure - as final. We always have the ability to turn our life around and our biggest cheerleader is G-d.

Powerful ideas indeed. 

If your Jewish education taught you that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the most important Jewish holidays, you’ve been gypped! Seriously, you should ask for your money back. 

I mean how inspiring is it that the most important holidays are serious, with endless prayers and deep regret and repentance? I know that more than one Hebrew School student has checked out of the whole Jewish thing simply for this reason - if this is what it’s all about, I’m outta here!

The truth is that Sukkot (which ends today) and Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, which begin tonight, are the real High Holidays. And Simchat Torah is actually the highest holidays of them all.

While Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur tell us in stark and somber tones of the need to return to G-d, Simchat Torah celebrates our innate bond with G-d and Torah that spills over into every aspect of our lives; no matter who, no matter where.

So really, whatever your plans may have been for Saturday night, reschedule them. Instead, join us for the Simchat Torah celebration (details below). Joyous dancing, great food and treats for the kids - trust me, you don't want to to miss it!