Shabbat Noach
נח
Noach = "Comfort"
Comfort can never be our Ark
Where will you find your Ark?
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Consciousness Builder:
Helping
Reb Gutman Locks
A very nice, young, non-Jewish man from Brazil came to talk with me at the Kotel. He waited several hours for me to arrive. He had what he thought was a major problem, or problems, and he wanted to discuss them with me.
He said, "I believe that G-d is infinite, but I do not know if I believe in the Torah."
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I told him, "You do not have to believe in the Torah. All you have to know about the Torah is that G-d told Noah to keep the Seven Mitzvot of Noach. The rest of the Torah wasn't given to you."
He said, "But I want to feel my soul and I do not feel it."
I told him, "You don't want to feel your soul, you want to become more aware of G-d's presence. You want to become more spiritually aware. The single most effective way for you to become more spiritually aware is for you to help others to know that G-d is one, and that He is infinite… so they stop worshiping idols, limited gods. If you will help others to learn this, G-d will be very happy with you."
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We spoke for some time and I told him over and over again how helping others spiritually was the solution to his spiritual problem. If helping others this way would become his spiritual life's work Hashem would be very pleased with him and treat him lovingly in this world, and in the next World, too.
Whenever you are down, and you want to pick yourself up, go pick up someone else, and Hashem will surely pick you up.
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Is helping others a spiritual law?
Do you think that helping others lifts your spirits? If so, do you visit the sick in the hospital? even if you don't know them.
Does only part of the Torah belong to the Non Jew?
Why do you think some people say only part of the Torah applies to non Jews?
Where can you be most helpful to others?
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Story Section:
The Wise Soldier With a Wooden Sword
By Asharon Baltazar
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Every so often, the Czar would dress up as an ordinary Russian citizen. In this disguise, he socialized with the public and received an unbiased and candid report about what transpired in his kingdom.
On one of these undercover ventures, the Czar decided to visit a local inn. The inn was crowded with soldiers sitting around tables and drinking, their laughter hanging in the air like thick smoke.
Sitting among his friends was a Jewish soldier who, other than his own identity as a Jew, knew nothing about his heritage. He was a cantonist, kidnapped from his family as a young boy, and forced into 25 years of service in the Czar’s army.
Noticing the man who had walked into the inn, the Jewish soldier approached him and offered to share a drink.
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Unable to refuse such an invitation, the Czar agreed. They both sat down at a worn table, and the Jewish soldier procured two cups and a bottle of Russia’s finest vodka. The Czar thanked him and guzzled the vodka down, placing the cup on the table as he smacked his lips. Without warning, the Jewish soldier reached over and slapped the Czar’s cheek, leaving the confused Czar with an expression of shock on his face.
“Why?” the Czar blurted out, unable to utter anything else.
The Jewish soldier glowered at him. “Don’t you know the drinker’s rule? You were supposed to fill my glass before putting yours down.”
Aware of his ignorance of local customs, the Czar apologized and filled the soldier’s cup to the brim. The pair continued drinking together, each one responsible for his friend’s cup, until they finally finished the bottle. Still thirsty, the Jewish soldier fruitlessly rummaged through his pockets for some kopeks before turning to the Czar.
“I’ll be right back,” he breathed tipsily.
Under the Czar’s attentive gaze, the Jewish soldier lumbered over to the innkeeper and spoke to him for a few minutes, occasionally gesturing to his side while the innkeeper nodded his head.
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Triumphantly, and to the Czar’s horror, the soldier tugged his curved sword out from its sheath and presented it to the innkeeper, who produced a bottle of vodka from underneath the bar and swapped it for the sword.
Seething at the sheer audacity of this soldier, who was willing to forsake his sword even temporarily for a bottle of vodka, the Czar quickly made a note of the soldier’s battalion before he could return to the table.
When the Czar returned home, he ordered his officers to notify a certain military camp that he himself would conduct an inspection there. He planned to catch the soldier red-handed without his weapon.
Having received notification of the Czar’s visit, the military camp underwent rigorous preparations so that it would please the critical eye of the Czar. Soldiers darted around the camp as though it were a colony of ants, their tension palpable as they performed their given tasks with extra alacrity.
In the middle of all the frenzied excitement, the Jewish soldier sat on his cot, slowly fashioning a sword out of a block of wood. To appear for an inspection without one’s sword was to appear for one’s death sentence. Masterfully, he managed to produce an exact replica, from the hilt down to the curved blade. Pleased with his handiwork, the soldier sheathed the sword and began preparing for the Czar’s visit.
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On schedule, a loud call heralded the arrival of the Czar and all the soldiers assembled in the camp’s center in symmetrical rows, their faces expressionless. Only the chirping of some birds interrupted the silence. The Czar sprang from his horse and landed neatly in his glossy boots, scanning the faces for the one he remembered from the day before. The soldiers stiffened and held their breaths as the Czar strode by aloofly, his hands clasped behind his back.
Finally, he spotted the soldier standing in the ranks and was surprised to see the hilt of a sword jutting out from the sheath at the soldier’s side. The soldier could have fooled him under different circumstances, but now he knew the truth: the real sword was at an inn on the side of some road, exchanged for a bottle of vodka. The Czar suppressed a smile. An idea had already formed in his mind.
Turning to the Jewish soldier’s neighbor, the Czar breathed in and eyed the soldier with a feigned disgust, a convincing frown playing on his lips. “Since when did soldiers dare to appear before me dressed like this?” the Czar challenged loudly, looking around. The soldier bowed his head in terrified shame, shrinking in his uniform.
The Czar knew there was nothing wrong with the soldier’s uniform, but he needed a justification for what he was going to do next.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” the soldier pleaded, his voice nearly carried away in the breeze.
But the Czar would hear none of it. “Have you no shame in appearing like this before me? You!” the Czar bellowed and pointed to the Jewish soldier, whose hair bristled at the Czar’s words. “I want you to take out your sword and behead him immediately!”
With the Czar’s order still ringing in his ears, the Jewish soldier hesitated, mindful of the fact that he was not capable of carrying out the Czar’s wish because his sword was made out of wood.
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Quickly gathering his courage, the Jewish soldier spoke up. “Your Majesty! Here I am, eager and willing to fulfill your command. I have no right to dispute your words, but forgive me, Your Majesty, my belief is that this man is innocent. But who am I to challenge you and your orders, and I stand by, ready to carry them out. G d Almighty, however, is the One who judges all of mankind, and if He does not agree with your sentence, let Him transform a sword of steel into one of wood!”
And with those words, the Jewish soldier pulled his sword out of its sheath and held it up high in the air in front of hundreds of stunned pairs of eyes. Indeed his sword had “changed” into wood.
The Czar was impressed by the Jewish soldier’s courage and ingenuity. Leaning in closely to the Jewish soldier so that no one could overhear, the Czar whispered softly, “You may not know this, but I know the truth, and in light of your courage, I promote you to a higher rank.”
Over time, bolstered to the upper echelons of Russian society by a series of steady promotions in the military, the Jewish soldier became a very close acquaintance of the Czar and his family. He never mentioned his religion, and the Czar never thought to inquire. But because of the Jewish soldier’s high-ranking position, the Czar was finally forced to ask.
“I’m Jewish,” declared the Jewish soldier truthfully.
The Czar could not believe his ears. “All this time,” asserted the Czar angrily, “I’ve helped you rise to prominence and treated you like one of my own. Yet, you kept this dark secret behind my back. Renounce your faith, as it will not benefit you in your pursuit of glory. If not, the consequence of misleading me is death. If you do accept our faith, the queen and I will support you like parents. There is practically no greater honor than us ushering you towards your noble assimilation.”
And slowly, the Czar tempted the Jewish soldier’s heart with illusions of grandeur, waving off any hesitancies, and eventually getting the soldier to agree to his proposal.
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The ceremony was set to be in a cathedral in the city of Kiev under the guidance of the Archbishop of Ukraine. True to the Czar's word, a large and ostentatious procession of soldiers accompanied the royal carriage, which slowly rolled its way through the city.
Sitting between the Czar and his queen, the soldier was suddenly overtaken by a powerful arousal of his Jewish soul, and he was cast into deep spiritual turmoil. A relentless storm of thoughts gave him no rest and scoured him raw from inside. What have I done? The Jewish soldier stole a glance at the Czar. Am I willing to give up my faith for this? Never!
The Jewish soldier’s mind was filled with this resolute thought just as they were passing over a bridge. He asked for the carriage to be stopped, explaining that he needed to attend the call of nature.
Standing by the raging river, the Jewish soldier looked heavenward and cried out, “Shema Yisrael ... Echad!” (“Hear O Israel: G d is our L rd, G d is One”). Then he jumped and disappeared beneath the dark waters.
The Czar was still sitting in the carriage when the news of the Jewish soldier’s drowning reached him. After mulling it over in silence for moment, the Czar remarked, “What a fool.”
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And as the soldier’s body descended toward the murky depths, the brave soldier’s soul ascended ever higher.
“There are some,” say the sages of the Talmud, “who acquire their portion of the World to Come in but one moment.” And such was surely the case of this soldier, torn from his heritage as a young boy, yet willing to give his life rather than renounce his identity.
Adapted from Shemuot Vesippurim, Vol. 1, page 284
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Questions
- Can a Child of Israel not know the Shema Israel?
- What did the soldier learn?
- What life lesson did the soldier learn?
- Is there a difference between the life lesson and another type of lesson?
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Go to this link as it is about the
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Shabbat Noach is always read during the month of Cheshvan. What is the connection between the two? The zodiac sign of Cheshvan is Acrav spelled
עקרב
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The middle two letters of Akrav spell the Hebrew word Kar which translates as "cold". The other two letters have a gematria of 72 and connects to the 72 Names. The inner essence of Parasha Noach is about a protection shield called an ark.
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The connection between the two comes from the statement "when one removes the cold the 72 Names comes to protect you from the flood of Mar - Bitter Cheshvan". Actually when you remove your coldness the Light of the 72 Names becomes your ark totally.
In Hebrew the word for ark and the word for Nature are spelled differently yet sound alike. this is called cognate. Both words sound like Tevah. In the word Hatevah meaning nature the gematria is 86. 86 is the same as the word for the God of judgement Elohim. The word Tevah meaning ark has a gematria of 409 which is one less then the Hebrew word Kadosh - Holy which is 410. This teaches that a path to Holiness requires an ark - a protection shield.
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The Zohar teaches that it is the ark or protection shield for our generation. If you want to become Holy you will require attaining the merit to acquire the Zohar.
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For Parasha - Noach - Genesis - Chapter 6 Verse 9:
אֵלֶּה, תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ--נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה, בְּדֹרֹתָיו: אֶת-הָאֱלֹהִים, הִתְהַלֶּךְ-נֹחַ.
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T
ranslation:
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God.
Transliteration:
Eleh Toldot Noach Noach Ish Tzadik Tamim Hayah, Betorotav: Et HaElohim Hithalech Noach,
Numbers from the Verse.
13 words: - connects to the unity of the 3 races of humans. Noach appears three times in the verse.
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Number of Letters:
47 letters. 47 connects to the Hebrew words phrase that translates as ":With the Hand of HaShem". 47 also is the gematria of 4 of the 72 Names, These Names are the 13th, 14th, 30th, and 55th of the 72 Names. The energies these Names connect to are: Heaven on Earth; Farewell to Arms; Building Bridges; Thought Into Actions.
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Shiluv - First Letters:
This is my intuitive connection. You need to do this for yourself as well
אתננאצתהבאההנ
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Regular Gematria:
1060 is the regular gematria. 1060 is the gematria of the Hebrew phrase that translates as "Hidden Intelligence."
Small Gematria:
52 is the small gematria, 52 is the gematria of the phrase "Father and Mother". It also is the gematria of the Hebrew word "Ben" which translates as "son" It is also a number that connects to the Sefirah of Malchut.
Normal gematria
Normal gematria is when the position of a letter within the order of the Alef Bet is recognized: 1+22+14+14+1+19+22+5+2+1+5+5+14 = 125
125 is the normal gematria. 125 is the gematria of the Hebrew word for "humble". It is also the gematria for the word Moad which translates as "a period of time".
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Shiluv - Final Letters
This is my intuitive connection. You need to do this for yourself as well.
התחחשתמהותםךח
Regular Gematria
Regular gematria is 1639. 1639 = 1577 + 62. 1577 is the gematria of the phrase Ain Sof which is translated as "endless" or "without end". 62 is the gematria of the phrase "Tov Meod" which translates as "very Good".
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Final Letter Gematria
2679 is The final letter gematria. 2679 = 3 + 2676. 2676 is the gematria of Psalms Verse 3:4 which translates as
"
But thou, HaShem, art a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head." 3 connects to the 3 column system of the Tree of Life.
Small Gematria:
65 is the small
gematria. 65 is a well known number as the gematria of the Name of God Adonai.
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Normal gematria:
Normal gematria is when the position of a letter within the order of the Alef Bet is recognized: 5+22+8+8+21+19+13+5+6+22+13+11+8 = 161. 161 is the gematria of the Hebrew word Venakay which is the 13th attribute of Mercy and translates as "cleansing".
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Please email
yeshshem@hotmail.com
with your own meanings to these letters as acronyms. Your meanings will be added to the parasha page along with the attribution unless you request that there not be an attribution posted.
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It is important that the above is not misinterpreted. There is only one God and He/She/It is the God of the Children of Israel. Always feel and show respect - fear, awe for God whose Name is
יהוה
Included in this name are all of the attributes that a human being perceives as belonging to HaShem, including Elohim - Shadai - myriads of other Names.
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In this section we offer a few Kabbalistic tools and links to more on their Explanations:
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What is in your Name?
The kabbalah teaches that everything is in your Name?
The answers to all of life's questions are in your Name . . especially
- Why was i born? What am i here to do?
- Where will i find my soul mate?
- When i change my name does it mean i have changed?
To learn what one can learn from one's Name one needs to know what is my name.
Your Name does not include your family name although things about all members of a family can be learned from your family Name.
Each person has 7 Names. Things related to these Names have great potential to help your spiritual growth. What are these Names? They are your name as a child of your mother and father as a son and daughter of both sets of grandparents.
Here is a link that has two additional links within it to help explain how ton utilize your name as a tool.
It is strongly recommended to learn what your names tell you about yourself
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Shiluv:
Yeshshem teaches about a spiritual tool named Shiluv - intertwining Hebrew Letters.This tool represents HaShem's mercy, yet only if you know how to utilize it.
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The DNA Tool:
There is still an opportunity to change the DNA of the year until Tevet according to the Kabbalists. From Tevet until Tishrai it is more difficult yet still possible.
Yes it is more difficult than doing this on Yom Kippur yet it still can be done. To do this requires us to continue our Teshuvah
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Teshuvah reminder and metaphor for many aspects
of our mistakes:
The Torah teaches that we are responsible for the deaths in the city of Chicago. We
did not pull the triggers yet we also did not reveal sufficient Light so that people who
pulled the triggers would know their responsibility to not pull the triggers.
Please add this to your list of items to do Teshuvah!
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Wednesday October 10th at 7 PM
- Questions and Answer
Thursday October 11th at 4:30 PM
- Deep Zohar of Parasha Lech Lecha
Thursday October 11th at 7 PM
- Zohar Noach
Friday October 12th at 7AM
- Psalm Study
Motzie Shabbat October 13th at 6 PM
- Havdalah
Motzei Shabbat October 13th at 7 PM -
Zohar Class - Lech Lecha
All classes can be heard live on our conference call system at
605 475 6333 using pincode 911904#
Please Note NEW Number
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The 72 Names come from 3 verses - Exodus Chapter 14 Verses 19 - 21. The Zohar tells how to form these 3 verses into 2 sets of 3 letter sequences. These Names are utilized as meditative tools and Kavenah when saying the Shema Israel Prayer.
If you can not find your Name send an email to yeshshem@hotmail.com requesting your Personal Name and Chart.
As we enter the new year and Month of Nissan we recognize that there are many ways to allocate these Names.
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Hebrew Astrology
Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan is the 9th and 10th of October. Our connection will be on the evening of October 9th during our 7PM class..
Rachel Imenu Hilulah is on October 20th.
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Sidereal Hebrew Astrology
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The Moon begins the week in Virgo. The New Moon commences in Virgo also. The emphasis this month is on self discipline or our lack of self discipline. We can also have a tendency to self improvement during the month as well.
Aspects:
Venus goes retrograde Oct 5 to November 16. This period will relate to the contemplation of our relationships. During this retrograde it will be a good time to contemplate and experiment with new values.
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Wanted Volunteers to put some links up on the Yeshshem website -
Looking for Volunteers who wish to learn more about a deeper Kabbalah - send an email to
yeshshem@hotmail.com
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