How does one survive a stormy sea?
We all have our practices. Some do their best to steer the ship. Others take anti-seasickness medication. The prophet Jonah hunkered down in the hold. Others hold tightly to friends and loved ones.
In this week’s Torah portion, Noah gets the idea to build an ark. The Hebrew says aseh-lecha “build for yourself.” On a mystical level, this can be understood as make yourself into an ark. That is, you yourself can be an ark, can find a place inside that grounds you in the midst of disruption.
In the words of a Hasidic commentator, The Holy Blessed One advised and protected Noah throughout the period of the storm, and likewise protects anyone who needs help and protection to learn how to survive whatever evil and disruption is occurring in the world. That is, when someone is in dire straits, one should turn inward, to the inner ark, and restore balance of mind.
(The Ishbitzer Rebbe, known as Mei Hashiloach, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica, Hasidic rebbe in the 19th century)
In this week of celebrating the very first survivor, Noah, we are all called to build an ark. At the very least, we need to find that inner place—call it resilience, call it equanimity, call it faith—where we can find respite.
And some of us will have the creativity and courage to find a way to take in the animals, that is, to help others survive as well. Each of us has our own calling in this stormy sea. Just as the flight attendants always instruct us to put on our own oxygen mask before helping others, so too, we should attend to our own survival. This is not selfishness. Indeed, being strong and stable internally is a prerequisite to being for others.
We may not be Moses. We may not be Abraham. But at the very least, we can each follow Noah’s example, to survive in body and spirit.
May the rain stop, the floodwaters subside, and may we see dry ground soon.
Rabbi Barbara Penzner