Shabbat Shalom Weekly

Torah Portion:  Noach

This is Boring!
by Rabbi Stephen Baars

When did “boring” become cruel and unusual punishment?

On any given Sunday, at least one of my children will proclaim his despair of life with the ubiquitous: “I’m bored.” I promptly give him the address of the United Nations and tell him to make a formal complaint to the Security Council.

He never does. I mean what’s the point? China will veto it anyway (China vetoes anything that would make the world better).

Truth be told, I get bored too. In fact, and I hate to tell you this, everyone gets bored. Even more shocking, no one lives a life of thrills and excitement where boredom isn’t a challenge. Do you think people who are living on the edge of their seats would watch the soaps or care what Tom Cruise is doing? This so-called entertainment only happens among very bored people.

Only in Hollywood do action men look like they live a life of constant excitement. But nobody really lives that kind of life. Or, to be more accurate, even the people who jump out of planes or hunt dangerous animals for a living get bored with it. This is one the of most interesting aspects of being human.

“Man is exceedingly gifted at taking any aspect of life and turning it into a habit.”  (Rav Noah Weinberg) 

It is equally evident that there are no aspects of meaninglessness to which human beings won’t apply great thought.

Marriage, children, friends and family are engaged with numbing routine. Yet we read books, discuss ad-infinitum, think and rethink our work, our exercise, our diet, our clothes and even our dishes.

Do you think these two phenomena are related?

In other words, to the degree we obsess with making the meaningless meaningful, we in turn, make the meaningful meaningless.

Take a look in the magazine rack at your local supermarket. It’s filled with super-glossy periodicals on everything from golf to weight loss, from cooking to cars. But parenting, marriage, prayer and introspection aren’t there. For fun, ask the store manager if they have “Enlightenment Weekly” or are they all sold out? No, you won’t see Brad Pitt on the cover of that one.

Coincidence? Not likely. Don’t take me wrong here, there is nothing wrong with a game of golf. But there is little right with it either.

Noah’s Story

Noah’s Ark was gigantic — about the size of a football field. The great flood was coming and God told Noah to build it to save himself and the future.

The project took Noah 120 years of hard work. People came from far and wide to ask Noah what it all meant. Noah told them of the coming destruction. Nobody listened and many in fact ridiculed him. Noah was subject to tremendous alienation and social pressure. The Midrash says that people even wanted to kill him for building the Ark.

However, when the waters finally came, a curious thing happened, Noah hesitated to enter the Ark. He wasn’t ready to be saved through the very means he’d labored so hard to build. It was not until the waters came in great torrents that Noah finally entered the Ark. (Rashi – Genesis 7:7)

What happened?

Anything, and more importantly, everything, when done repeatedly, can become boring.

The more familiar, the less thought. At one time, driving was exciting. At one time eating was fun. There is an endless supply of examples. Look at your own life and see how many things you do that at one time you thought were thrilling. It means that the things you think would be thrilling are just as boring if done repeatedly.  “In and of itreself, nothing is meaningful except change, and changes are only meaningful when things stay the same.”

There are two types of changes, the ones that happen on the outside. Those occur when we move, do something different, drive a new car, etc. Those kind of changes don’t make any difference:  “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  (Alphonse Karr)

Listen carefully to what Mr. Karr is telling us: The more things stay the same, the more they change.

When we don’t distract ourselves, then we think about what is really important. Anything meaningful needs repeating, and in the repetition, it will become more meaningful. The less we change on the outside the better we become on the inside.

Unless of course, we don’t want to.

There is a simple word for when we don’t want to deal with a life filled with meaningful acts: boredom.

You can be bored teaching the illiterate, feeding the poor, learning about life, even saving the world. That is, if you let it become a habit.

Habit is not limited to saving the world. Marriage can never be boring if you face the inner challenges you would rather avoid. Anything and everything can be a habit, with disastrous effects. “Men cling to opinions to which they are accustomed from their youth.  This prevents them from finding the truth, for they adhere to the opinions of habit.”  (Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim 1:31)

Brainstorming Questions to Ponder:

Question 1: Make a list of the five most meaningful things you do in your life.

Question 2: How many of them give you a thrill?

 

Ark de Triomphe
by Rabbi Jared Viders

A family visiting Manhattan from overseas stopped alongside a vast excavation site that was teeming with activity. Curious as to what was being built, one of the tourists innocently made inquiry, “Excuse me sir, can you tell us what is happening here?” To which a burly, gruff New York City construction worker sternly responded, “What’s it look like lady, we’re schlepping bricks,” and he pressed on with his hefty wheelbarrow.

Undeterred by the less-than-pleasant response, the tourists pressed the same question to the next laborer toiling under the Gotham sun. Again she questioned, “Can I ask you what’s doing here?” “Sure,” he smiled, “we’re building a palace!”

Two similarly stationed individuals (probably members of the same union), were equally burdened with that which most of us would deem “menial labor.” Yet, owing to one’s perspective, the very same task could become marginalized as insignificant or championed as an essential component of something much larger in scope and permanence. It’s all a matter of one’s perspective.

* * *

“God spoke to Noach, saying, ‘Go forth from the Ark; you and your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. Every living being that is with you of all flesh, of birds, of animals, and creeping things that move on the earth – order them out with you, and let them teem on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.'” (Gen. 8:15-18).

The inestimable gift that Noach bestowed upon humanity – i.e., the entire animal and bird kingdom – is readily apparent wherever we turn. It’s the squirrels squirreling nuts acorns for the winter. The sparrow on the telephone wire overhead. It’s your neighbor’s dog and your child’s turtle. The San Diego Zoo’s 4500 different types of animals. It’s Chicago’s Bears, Bulls and Cubs.

How did all of this come to fruition? Rewind a few thousand years to Noach’s year-long, grueling care of each and every species. Day-in and day-out. Alfalfa to the bunnies. Bananas to the orangutans. Fish to the seals. Dried corn to the parakeets. Make sure they have water. Make sure they have a clean cage.

How did the progenitor of humankind spend his days on the Ark? Strategizing how to develop the new world? Brainstorming over issues of urban planning and distribution of natural resources? No. Nothing quite as lofty nor as cerebral.

To the contrary, the individual responsible for saving humanity as we know it spent an entire year toiling ceaselessly in a manner akin to the overworked and underpaid clerk in your local pet store. What is the message here?

Much of our lives can seemingly be dismissed as mundane or trivial. It’s about car-pooling or remembering to put the recycling out on Tuesday night. It’s about packing a snack and unloading the dishwasher.

These are not the types of activities that command headlines. These are not the ways that (so-called) dignitaries spend their precious time. And yet, one of the take-home lessons from Noach and his efforts is not only that “big things often come in small packages,” but that “deeply meaningful and deeply lasting contributions to the world (and to others) often come in mundane packages.”

So next time you pack-up that PB & J sandwich remember you’re doing much more than just providing lunch — you’re helping to sustain the next generation of mankind. You’re not just helping out with homework – you’re cultivating a thirst for Torah and truth that will help forge another link in our chain of transmission back to Mount Sinai. You’re not just lending a neighbor a dozen eggs – you’re cementing a brick in the edifice of humankind and love for your fellow neighbor.

We’re not all Noachs. We’re not necessarily going to be responsible for saving the world as we know it. But in our own little arks, doing our best to navigate the high (and low) tides of life, if you double-click on that which appears mundane and insignificant, keep a close watch, as you just might find that which is truly heroic and extraordinary.

Good For Others
by Nesanel Yoel Safran

From this week’s Torah Portion

It feels good to live up to our values and do what is right. But what should we do if the people around us aren’t? Should we get involved and try to change them? In this week’s Torah portion Noah faced this very dilemma. God informed him that He was about to bring a great flood to destroy the world that had become very corrupted and evil. God told Noah, who was literally the only good and honest man left in the world, that only he and his family would survive to start the world anew. Although Noah was sad and hoped that everyone else would change their ways and also be saved, he made the mistake of not doing enough to influence them to change. We learn from here that sometimes just being good ourselves isn’t good enough. 

In our story, a girl learns the importance of helping others to do the right thing.

Quote of the Week

“A bird that you set free may be caught again, but a word that escapes your lips will not return” — Jewish Proverb

Joke of the Week

Moishie and Rivky, brother and sister were always fighting and teasing each other. One day, Moishie was getting sensitive about things Rivky was saying. He started getting angry so their Bubbie, Bubbie Ruth reminded Moishie that he had said the same types of hurtful things many times to Rivky in the past.

With quiet reflection, Moishie said, “But Bubbie, it doesn’t hurt as much coming out of my mouth as it does going into my ears.”