his week we travel with Noah as he carries the seeds of the entire human future with him. And with us are a handful of animals - and inside them the future of life on earth. I apologize in advance if this crosses slightly over the line into slight heresy, but I don't think it is at all - this parsha always speaks to me of evolution. Let me explain, before you stone me.
Evolution, be it spiritual or physical, implies to me some innate trait that allows the entire species to continue in time - but what about all the other traits that person or animal has? They are allowed to live because of that one trait. But, of course, it is so hard to isolate what exactly that trait is - it takes place over so much time, cloaked in mystery, until finally it may show itself, shedding light on the past, showing how it was silently working through time, to achieve its end of survival and advancement.
I believe we work so hard to reduce ourselves down to that element in us, for that element in us, and only that element, is the bridge to evolution of self. We can hasten and intensify the evolution of self if we can locate that element, and give it strength and attention (Though it will happen anyway, I believe.)
That's why the ultimate self is called a "point" - the nekudah penimi - the more we can reduce ourselves to that point, the more we can grow and the quicker we can grow - because there is less distortion, less attention paid to the outside.
The commentators point out that Hashem spoke to Noah only once as Hashem. It is implied, perhaps, by the Netziv and the Ramban that this is the continuation of that "point" in human history, amidst the many repetitions of the name Elokim, evoking the immense panorama and power of nature. Amidst all the floods, there is the necessity of survival of this one person, within whom survives that nekuda, that one point , in Noah. Beyond being useful as a means of the survival of the human race, Noach is also a tzaddik, and tamim - simple, one point.
Rebbe Nachman describes this parsha as being about truth - that one point of truth. Amidst the maelstrom of the flood, the confusion and distraction, there is one point, and finding that one point is the Way Out, the way forward. The truth in us carries us forward, and becomes deeper as we grow, and we go through cycles of remembering it, and forgetting it, and remembering it on a ever deeper level.
Rav Gavriel Goldfeder
|
Rav Gavriel Goldfeder is one of the first semicha recipients of the yeshiva. A graduate of Drew University in Religious Studies, he came to Bat Ayin after stints in other yeshivot and found a spiritual and intellectual home. Here he met his wife, Ketriellah, who was a student in our short-lived Women's Yeshiva. Upon graduation, Gavriel took the position of rabbi of the Aish Kodesh Congregation in Boulder, Colorado and together with Ketriellah and their growing family, they are busy creating (in Gavriel's words), "a community infused with Torah values, passion for learning and prayer, consideration of one another, and action, as well as deep celebration of the joys of life." |