Parshas Noach 5787 "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it a cubit from the top" - Even the tools are given from Above

00:00 The Rebbe relates in Reshimos Hayoman, his journal notes. These are notes the Rebbe wrote in the early years, while he was still in Europe—in Poland and Riga—together with his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe. The Frierdiker Rebbe would tell many stories, which the Rebbe heard from him. These were stories he told in private, which only the Rebbe had the privilege of hearing, and the Rebbe wrote them down briefly for himself. In recent years, the notes have been published. There is an entry the Rebbe wrote on Motzaei Shabbos Parshas Noach 5691. By way of introduction: in 5691, the Frierdiker Rebbe had just returned from America, where he had traveled to raise money for the Jews in Russia. The year 5690 had been a difficult year. He had spent almost an entire year in America after returning from Eretz Yisroel. Then, after the month of Tishrei 5691, the Frierdiker Rebbe returned home to his wife and family; he had spent that Tishrei in Riga. The Rebbe was also with him that year—the Rebbe, his son-in-law, whom we refer to as the Ramash, was there with him. It was a special Tishrei, and Reshimos Hayoman contains quite a few wonderful stories from that period. In any case, on that Shabbos, Shabbos Noach, the Frierdiker Rebbe delivered a maamar connected with the verse,

01:41 “Make a window for the ark.” The maamar of Chassidus dealt with Torah and mitzvos and their power, and so on. On Motzaei Shabbos, the Rebbe relates in his journal that the Frierdiker Rebbe told him he wanted to repeat for him a teaching he had heard in the Lower Garden of Eden. That is how he put it: “in the Lower Garden of Eden,” in those very words. And what was the teaching? It says, “Make a window for the ark.” In the Garden of Eden, they explained: the word for “window,” tzohar, is related to zohar, radiance, and radiance is light. “Make a window for the ark”—bring radiance to the words. The word for “ark,” teivah, also means “word”: the words of prayer and the words of Torah, the words of prayer. When a Jew learns and davens, he should learn and daven with light—with vitality in his learning and vitality in his davening. The verse then says, “Finish it to a cubit from above.” What does “Finish it to a cubit from above” mean? The Frierdiker Rebbe explains that the word for “cubit,” amah, is an acronym for “Elokeinu Melech ha’olam”—“our G-d, King of the universe.” This is how a Jew davens: “our G-d, King of the universe.” In other words, how is the work of “Make a window for the ark” expressed? It is in a Jew’s davening, in the light within his davening: feeling that He is “our G-d, King of the universe.” That is, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is our G-d, the G-d of the Jews, and through this He becomes King of the universe, and His kingship is revealed throughout the world. He then asks: What does “Finish it from above” mean? When we do the work of “Make a window for the ark”—“bring radiance to the words”—davening with light and feeling that

03:26 He is “our G-d, King of the universe,” then “Finish it from above” is fulfilled. In other words, it is given from above: Hakadosh Boruch Hu also gives the Jew the vessels from above. The word for “finish it,” techalenah, is related to keilim, vessels. The “techalenah,” the vessels, are given from above. And the Frierdiker Rebbe added that, through this teaching, the Alter Rebbe granted a Jew a whole life, quite literally. What does it mean that through this teaching the Alter Rebbe granted a whole life? A Jew who needed salvation in material matters, who needed a whole life, was granted a whole life in the literal sense. What is the deeper meaning? What is the deeper meaning of this teaching? What is the connection between these points, and what is the order of the avodah in practice? More generally, the ideas of “Enter the ark” and “Make a window for the ark” are well known. The teaching of the Baal Shem Tov is well known; it is cited in books and in several maamarim of Chassidus. The Baal Shem Tov says that “You and all your household, enter the ark” refers to the words of Torah and prayer. When there are raging waters, mighty waters—which the Alter Rebbe discusses in connection with [unclear]—what are those raging waters? The pressures of earning a living, worries, practical concerns and distractions that threaten to unsettle a person, so that he has neither the strength, the time nor the ability to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu and feel love and awe of Hashem. In response to this, we are told

05:07 that “Enter the ark” is the solution. By entering the ark, a Jew makes an ark for himself. He takes the words of prayer and the words of Torah, and davens with vitality and learns with vitality. “Enter the ark”—as the Baal Shem Tov says, you must go inside. That is the point: you must cleave to them. “Enter”—go in with devotion, cleave to the words of Torah and prayer. Daven with your heart and learn with joy; cleave to the words of Torah and prayer. Through this comes “Leave the ark.” Through the work of “leave,” of “enter the ark”: we enter the words of prayer and daven with light. We illuminate the words of Torah and prayer with all our intention and all our joy. Through this, we receive the assurance that not only will the mighty waters not disturb us—not be able, G-d forbid, to disturb us and take away our love of Hashem—but on the contrary, [unclear] “Finish it to a cubit from above”: the vessels will be given from above. What does it mean that the vessels will be given from above? It is known and explained in Chassidus that in the flow of Divine blessing, a person has pressures connected with earning a living. They are part of human nature, the nature of reality and the nature of the world—those pressures of earning a living. As the Alter Rebbe explains at length in one of the maamarim, the mighty waters are the pressures of earning a living that distract a person. That

06:49 there are worries and pressures and all these things. The Alter Rebbe explains at length in one of the maamarim that these are the “mighty waters” and the “rivers” that threaten, G-d forbid, to extinguish a Jew’s love of Hashem. And the Alter Rebbe explains that the main issue is the worry involved, which distracts a person. Certainly, there must be “when you eat the labor of your hands.” A person has to act, but it is the “labor of your hands”: he must not invest all his faculties in his work. It is work done with his hands, while his mind and heart—his inner faculties—must remain connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, immersed in Torah and prayer. But sometimes the pressures do distract him. In response, the verse says, “Mighty waters cannot extinguish” love. It is possible [unclear], and indeed, the opposite can happen. The Alter Rebbe explains that through the pressures of earning a living, a person can awaken within himself—“as the advantage of light over darkness”—greater devotion, greater desire and greater love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is how one reaches the love of “with all your might.” And the Alter Rebbe explains the contemplation involved: by contemplating the darkness and the confusion, he feels [unclear] Hakadosh Boruch Hu here, and senses what is above, higher and higher still, until he reaches the true love of “with all your might,” as the advantage of light over darkness. Then, not only will his love of Hashem not be extinguished, but he will even reach

08:13 a greater love of Hashem; he rises to a higher level. And this is the Alter Rebbe’s teaching [unclear] about what this avodah looks like [unclear]. But the Rebbe [unclear] this: there are two levels. There is the ordinary level, the path for everyone: a person must work and take action, preparing vessels for his livelihood. This is how the order of the world was established, as the verse puts it: “Hashem your G-d will bless you in all that you do.” There must be the “you do”—the person’s own action. He has to prepare vessels and make the vessel, and it is concerning this that the verse says, “Hashem your G-d will bless you in all that you do”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu places His blessing in what “you do.” But the vessel must be made; there must be a vessel for livelihood. At the same time, he must understand that the worry must not disturb him. On the contrary, through it he should reach a higher level in his love of Hashem, a higher level in his avodah and a higher level of trust in Hashem. This is what the holy Baal Shem Tov says, as cited in works of Chassidus: “Cast your burden upon Hashem, and He will sustain you.” The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah says that the word for “your burden,” yehavcha, means a bundle—“a burden to carry.” “Cast your burden upon Hashem”: take your bundle and hand it over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “and He will sustain you”—He will make the vessels too. The word for “He will sustain you,” yechalkelcha, is related to keilim, vessels: He will make the vessels; He will prepare the vessels. What is new here is that sometimes a Jew can reach such a level of trust that he entrusts himself to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in this way.

10:08 It turns out that not only does the blessing come from above, but the vessel itself comes from above. That is the meaning of “He will sustain you.” Usually, a person needs to make his own vessel, and in addition, he needs to work on his faith and trust that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will place His blessing in that vessel. The more trust there is, the more blessing there is. But sometimes we hear that even the vessel comes from above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives everything. “He will sustain you.” Along these lines, the Baal Shem Tov explains the verse we say: “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem, and Hashem will be his source of trust.” The Baal Shem Tov asks: Why the repetition? It already says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem”—he relies on Hakadosh Boruch Hu; he must have trust. So what does “and Hashem will be his source of trust” add? The Baal Shem Tov says these are two different things. “Blessed is the man who trusts in Hashem” means trusting in Hashem’s blessing: a Jew is certain that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will give him his sustenance, blessing, and success. But there is something deeper here: “And Hashem will be his source of trust.” Not only is he certain of Hashem’s blessing; the “source of trust,” the Baal Shem Tov explains, is the vessel—even the vessel comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In other words, there are two levels. On one level, a person prepares the vessel and Hakadosh Boruch Hu places the blessing in it. But there is a level at which you say: No, even the “source of trust,” the vessel itself, comes from above. And that is what the Alter Rebbe said; this is the saying—as is well known, what...

11:52 The Frierdiker Rebbe said he heard in Gan Eden—the interpretation of “And to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” When you fulfill “Make a skylight for the ark,” when a Jew brings light into the words of prayer with vitality and joy—“Make a skylight for the ark”—this brings light into “to a cubit,” into “our G-d, King of the universe.” And the truth is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is our King, and from that we come to “King of the universe.” Then even the “finish it”—the vessels—come from above. Not only the light, not only the blessing: the vessel itself comes entirely from above. “And to a cubit you shall finish it from above.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu prepares the vessel. He gives a person what he needs, including the vessels. In this way, the Alter Rebbe gave life, livelihood, and real salvation to Jews who needed them. There is a story from the Alter Rebbe’s time; the Frierdiker Rebbe relates it in several sichos. There was a period then when Jews made their living producing beer. Beer, yes, what was called “breyerei” in Yiddish and Russian. You know, they would prepare drinks, all the beverages the non-Jews liked. Jews had a knack for making them, and it was a good livelihood; some Jews supported themselves this way. In the Alter Rebbe’s time, the government took over the monopoly; it took...

13:26 They took the whole business away from everyone. It became a government enterprise. And there were Jews, hundreds or thousands of Jews, who lost their livelihoods. It was a difficult time, a bitter time of hunger. Jews lost their livelihoods and came to the Alter Rebbe. At that time, the Alter Rebbe went out to the chassidim. As is known—but it is worth briefly mentioning one saying, a whole world burns in this one saying—the Alter Rebbe said: “He sustains the living with kindness, but not through the breweries.” In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the One who sustains. How does He sustain? How does He provide the vessels? With kindness. Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kindness is the vessel, not the breweries; one must not make them the only route to a livelihood. Hakadosh Boruch Hu sustains—He sustains with His kindness. The word “sustains” is also related to the word “vessel”: He makes a vessel so that the abundance can reach all the way down here. And this is the lesson we learn from Parshas Noach: A Jew needs to know that there are indeed mighty waters in the world, upheavals in earning a livelihood, confusion, obstacles—all those things that seek to interfere. And of this it is said, “Rivers will not sweep it away.” On the contrary, through this we enter the ark: a Jew does as the Baal Shem Tov says and attaches himself...

14:54 To attach himself to [unclear] Torah and prayer, to study with vitality and pray with vitality. And through this [unclear] Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe. A Jew needs to get up every morning, study Chassidus in the morning, and pray. The whole purpose of prayer is to internalize the truth that “there is nothing besides Him,” to internalize the Divine power that brings every created being into existence, gives it life, and sustains it at every moment. Then it becomes clear to him that G-dliness is self-evident. G-dliness is the true reality, and the world is not an independent reality. This enables him to reach that truth, that light, and to internalize that even the vessels—“and to a cubit you shall finish it from above”—are also given from above. He thus receives abundant blessing, without worries or confusion, and can [unclear] take the right actions, make the world a dwelling place for Him, and make it an illuminated world, a living world. As it says of Noach, “Noach saw a new world,” [unclear] to see a new world. A G-dly world, a world of Moshiach, a world of Geulah, a world in which “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.”