"G-d said to Noah: 'Enter, you and all your family, into the ark.' " (Gen. 7:1)

QUESTION: What practical lesson can we learn from G-d’s command to Noah to enter into the ark?

ANSWER: The word "Torah" derives from the word "hora'ah" - "teaching." Every detail of Torah teaches us eternal lessons which we can use in our daily lives even now.

The Hebrew word "teivah" used for "ark" (meaning here a large, floating "box") also means "word." G-d is telling us as well to "enter" into the words of Torah and prayer.

Sometimes when we study Torah we forget its holiness and the One who gave it; we say our prayers without sincerity or attention to their meaning.

Just as Noah was commanded to "enter" with his entire being into the ark ("teivah"), so are we told to "enter" with all our heart and soul into the words ("teivot") of Torah and prayer, reading the words carefully from the Torah-book or prayer-book, saying each word with feeling.

In this way we will fulfill, in the spiritual sense, a previous command G-d gave to Noah: "A light shall you make for the ark (teivah)" (Gen. 6:16) - you shall illuminate the words ("teivot") of Torah and prayer with deeper feeling and holiness, until they become "bright and shining" words that illuminate one's whole being with G-d's holiness.

published and copyright © by Sichos In English.

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