Latest / The Frum Health Club Podcast / Parshas Noach - Lessons & Inspiration by Dr. Rubie Minkowitz
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: Good chab is parsha snoyach.
- 0:03SPEAKER_00: This parsha begins with destruction of the world with the flood, because Hamas filled the land, and that needed to be destroyed.
- 0:12SPEAKER_00: And how Apropo that we read this parsha around October seventh, and we see the light at the end of the parsha, with Avraham, our forefather being born, who would devote his life proclaiming God's existence in the world.
- 0:30SPEAKER_00: And we are the children of Avraham, and we should do the same.
- 0:34SPEAKER_00: Noach had the title of Tsadik, which is very unique and special.
- 0:40SPEAKER_00: And we also see that Yosef, the son of Yaakev, had the title of Tsadik as well.
- 0:49SPEAKER_00: So what do they have in common?
- 0:52SPEAKER_00: They both save the world.
- 0:54SPEAKER_00: Noach with the Teva and Yis saved the world with supplying food during the Great Famine.
- 1:01SPEAKER_00: Yet Noach is called a Tsadik in Peltz, a tsadik in a fur coat, meaning if you are in a freezing cold room, do you just put a coat on or do you light a fire?
- 1:16SPEAKER_00: Nayach was given a hundred and twenty years to build the ark in order to convince people to do cheshuva.
- 1:23SPEAKER_00: He did not convince anyone, and when the Mobble came, it was just him and his family going into the Teva.
- 1:32SPEAKER_00: Essentially he wore a coat to warm himself.
- 1:36SPEAKER_00: This is in contrast to Avramavinu, who went out and taught the world about one God and changed humanity, and that is why he was the first Jew.
- 1:47SPEAKER_00: And we read that right after Naach left the Ark, he planted a vineyard and got drunk and naked.
- 1:55SPEAKER_00: His sons, Shem and Yepes, walked backwards and covered Noah's nakedness.
- 2:01SPEAKER_00: And the Balshenta teaches us a powerful lesson from this story about human mirrors.
- 2:09SPEAKER_00: That people we encounter in our life are our mirrors.
- 2:13SPEAKER_00: If we see a problem in them, we are really seeing a reflection of the problem within us.
- 2:20SPEAKER_00: Since we are generally blind to our own faults, Hashem arranges us to take the hint when we see someone with something that triggers us.
- 2:30SPEAKER_00: The sons of Naach, Shem and Yepes, were not triggered, so they focused on how they could help their father.
- 2:38SPEAKER_00: In contrast, Kham did share his father's weakness and got triggered and focused on his father's shame rather than how he could have helped.
- 2:48SPEAKER_00: Nobody is perfect.
- 2:50SPEAKER_00: In fact, in the blessing after eating, we say Bayre Nefashes Rabes, God is the creator of living beings, Vichon, and their deficiencies.
- 3:02SPEAKER_00: And even more so, in our parsha, we are instructed not to kill another person, because the other person was made in the image of God.
- 3:11SPEAKER_00: So if you're getting triggered by someone, maybe the problem is with you, because no one is perfect, and that is how God wanted it.
- 3:22SPEAKER_00: And to conclude with my favorite teaching of the Baal Shemtav that deals with grief and hardship, Hashem instructs Nach to place a Tsayar, a special window or a luminescent stone to light up the ark, to shine through the darkness and the flood.
- 3:42SPEAKER_00: The Balshamta says that if you take the letters of Tsaihar, Tsadik Hay Resh, they can be flipped to spell tsara, hardship.
- 3:52SPEAKER_00: And the lesson is, even though it is very challenging to do, is that with every tsara, every hardship, and even grief, you can flip it to Tsaihar to inspire someone and shine a light to help someone who is going through similar experience.
- 4:09SPEAKER_00: And this will help you heal as well.
- 4:12SPEAKER_00: And may it be that we should see the Tsayar, the shining light of Mashiach, with Marchman being the sweetest month yet.
- 4:20SPEAKER_00: Amen.