Enter Your Ark It's not merely an ancient story about a flood of epic proportions. The story of the Biblical flood, like all Torah's stories, is the story of our own life. The waters of the flood are the torrents of worry, anxiety, and distraction that threaten to drown us and divert us from the path of happiness, meaning, and fulfillment. The waters of the flood surround us from every direction, leaving us with no place to run or escape. The only solution is to enter an ark and ride the waves. The Hebrew word for ark, Teivah, also means "word". The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, explained that the words of prayer and Torah study are the spiritual and psychological "ark" which protect us from the waters of the flood. The words form a spiritual haven of peace and serenity that ground and anchor us when we emerge from the "ark" and engage in daily life. The Torah's words, "And the Lord said to Noah: "Come into the ark", is G-d's calling to each of us to begin our day with creating an "Ark", a Teivah, holy words of Torah and prayer. Two generations after the Baal Shem Tov, The Alter Rebbe, founder of Chabad, added a new dimension to this teaching. He pointed out that while the conventional understanding is that the ark was a response to the flood, serving merely as protection from its threatening waters, upon a careful reading of the Torah's words, we see that the purpose of the flood waters was to actually raise the ark: "Now the Flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and they lifted the ark, and it rose off the earth." (Genesis 7:17) The challenges that one experiences actually intensify the spiritual experience. The tension, and energy of the negative worries, become the fuel that raises the spiritual experience, intensifying the passions and drive to connect to holiness. When you enter your ark, you will realize that the waters are not there to drown you. They are there to raise you ever higher.
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