This week’s Torah portion is called Noah.
It is the story of the flood which Gd wreaked upon the world. The morality of the generation of Noah had tanked.
Moral turpitude was the norm.
People were focused on their own needs and desires to such a degree that all boundaries were destroyed.
Gd felt that there was no returning from such gross misconduct and the world was irreparable.
The world was slated for destruction.
Noah, a righteous person, was tasked with building an ark, a floating haven which would protect the future of humanity and the animal kingdom.
Noah was given strict instructions on the dimensions of the ark.
Gd also told Noah how to create a source of light by installing a “tzohar” in the roof.
Tzohar is an unusual word and the commentaries differ on what it actually was.
They conclude it was either a window, think skylight, or some kind of precious jewel which emitted light.
What’s the difference between the two?
A window’s light comes from the outside.
The precious jewel had its own inner light.
It’s an interesting conversation, but do we really care about the nature of the lighting in the Ark? How is it a relevant lesson for us today?
A window opens up to the outside world. It allows light to come in from the outside.
So too every aspect of our lives has access to divine light. Our job in this world is to open a “window” to allow that light and goodness to permeate our lives.
A window is also the portal to the outside world. Sometimes we really want to focus only on ourselves. We don’t want to open a window into someone else’s suffering or another’s loss.
We would rather remain oblivious.
Gd says put a window into your ark. Do not allow yourself the chance to look away when someone needs you.
Former hostage Elya Cohen just got engaged to his longtime girlfriend. He was released eight months ago. Why did he wait until now to propose to his girlfriend?
Cohen said in many media interviews that he wouldn’t marry until his fellow hostages were released from captivity.
How poignant that someone who was trapped for so long, lived in a reality of a window flung wide open, seeing the sorrows of his friends. He could not rejoice while they were trapped in the dark.
Cohen never shut the window on his fellow hostages.

The other interpretation of tzohar is a precious stone. A jewel shines from within.
It has its own inner light that shoots forth. The jewel in the ark represents the idea that a person can transform a mundane reality with her own inner light and eternally alter any environs into a holy place.
Omer ShemTov, another Israeli hostage, spent 505 days in captivity, much of the time in darkness. The darkness was so intense he thought he might be blind. When he describes the brutal times he endured, Omer speaks about his conversations with Gd in those darkest of tunnels. Those conversations and the energy he felt from his loved ones, filled that dark place with so much light. That was light that he generated from within himself and that light was the hope that fueled him and kept him going.
The jewel which radiates an inner light reminds us of those people who are in our inner world, who bring us light. We in turn have to pay attention to those precious individuals. We cannot become so preoccupied with caring for all those outside our immediate orbit that we neglect our nearest and dearest.
Somehow it is so much easier to be giving, loving and patient to strangers than those who are part of our inner circle. Think of the parenting expert who is frantically preparing for an evening class for moms who yells at her child “don’t bother me now, can’t you see I’m preparing for a parenting class?”
Sometimes we need to be that jewel, glowing and warm and shedding light on those nearest.
Those who are in our midst need us as well. We have to strive to find the proper balance.
Sometimes it must be time to close the window.
Raquel Kirschenbaum teaches that when our world is tossed asunder, we feel submerged by the flood waters of life and we are surrounded by darkness, we have a choice on how to filter that darkness and bring in light.
Our light is defined by our dignity and our humanity.
We need to actively choose to focus on the light we bring to the works, even when our inner bonfire may be just an ember.
Let those traits light the way in dark times.
Noah missed the boat.
When Gd instructed him to build the ark over 120 years, he missed the opportunity to reach out to others and bring them aboard.
Our patriarch Abraham lived in dark times as well. Yet he never missed an opportunity to share his light with everyone in his orbit.
It was cold outside. The world was dark.
Noah reacted by putting on a warm coat. Abraham lit bonfires to show people the way.
Whether we use an outside source or find the light within, Gd instructs Noah, and by extension, each one of us,
to bring light into our lives.
How we do it is up to us.
Either way - be a bonfire. 🔥
Shabbat Shalom and so much love!