When most people hear the expression about “seeing light at the end of the tunnel” they think of the light and instant exit from a challenging situation. However they say that worrying Jewish mothers usually think of the light at the end of the tunnel as being the headlights of a train barreling towards them and about to run them down.
Sometimes things might truly be the light at the end of the tunnel in a good sense, but sometimes, the worrying Jewish mothers might be awfully right. But just because they are right it doesn’t mean it’s all over….
Noah the great and brave hero in this week’s Torah portion, is willing to go it alone and to remain the last man standing when it comes to morality and ethical behavior. Even when the masses think and act otherwise, and mock him for who he is, Noah holds strong and rides the tidal wave of immoral behavior and stays true to a higher moral code and inner calling.
Yet then G-d tells him to build an Ark to rescue his family and the animal population of the world from the impending devastating flood. There is a lot to discuss on this story and on what Noah did and didn’t do, and what can be learned from so much of the story. Yet I would like to draw attention to one element of design in the Ark, which sends a very powerful message about the inner dimension and perspective of what was happening.
Among all the details that G-d tells him to include in the Ark, was something called a “Tzohar” that should be at the top of the Ark. What was this Tzohar? The root of the word seems to suggest “light”, thus the commentary Rashi, understands it to mean either a “window” or a “precious stone”, and other commentaries explain it to mean “oil” for creating light.
There are a lot of interesting commentaries and explanations on these above ideas, but besides the technical ideas, there is also a fascinating lesson that can be taken away from here.
The bottom line of this “Tzohar” was that it was to be a source of light for the Ark. This is not meant to be simple physical light, as they probably had other windows. Instead this light represented something different, as it represented bringing spiritual light into the Ark. Even more than that and perhaps most importantly, it represented, Noah’s responsibility to turn a negative situation into a light one, to turn a potential flood into something that would instead be a source of light.
The “Tzohar” reminded him, that even when G-d had said, that the flood was a done deal and it was about to happen, G-d had also left room for it to be turned around and instead turn into something that could be a blessing and light for the world. The Tzohar that he was to install was his reminder from G-d , that he needed to constantly be mindful of the underlying job that he had, which was to tirelessly work on turning the potential negative situation into a positive situation over the many years that he built the ark and prepared for the impending flood.
This very idea is actually seen in the Hebrew letters of the word Tzohar which are spelled with the Hebrew letters of Tzadik, Hay & Raish, which when switched around to Tzadik, Raish & Hay, spell Tzarah, which means “trouble”. Thus Noah’s job was to transform a Tzarah (trouble) into a Tzohar (source of light).
Our lives all include elements of good, and elements of challenge and hardship. One of our responsibilities as Jews, is to transform the potential “Tzarah” “trouble” moments of life into “Tzohar” “light” moments. Not every challenge has to become a problem, instead with the right attitude and perspective, and a trust in G-d that he can help us succeed, we can often turn a moment of challenge into a moment of opportunity and blessing.
Good Shabbos & much success in creating lots of Tzohar moments in your life!