A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parshah, Parshat Noach. In Noach we learn about the mabul. And the pasuk describes the mabul as נבקעו כל מעינות תהום רבה, all the wells of the underground cracked open and the water came out rushing out from underground, וארובות השמים נפתחו. And the windows of the heaven opened up and it poured poured rain. And Noach, in order to protect himself, the Eibershter gave him made him told him to make the teivah, and in the teivah, in the ark, by being there was protected from the danger of these waters that came from under and from came from above. Now the Rebbe explains the meaning of this על פי חסידות, the meaning of this in עבודת השם, how it applies to every person in his service of Hashem. All this is based on what the Alter Rebbe writes in Torah Ohr. The Alter Rebbe writes in Torah Ohr that the mabul represents in עבודת השם the mighty waters. There's a פסוק, מים רבים, etc., mighty, strong, a lot of waters, and they are able to disturb a person from his service of Hashem. What are these mighty waters that could destroy and stop a person from serving Hashem properly? That refers to, he says, the טרדות הפרנסה, the hardships and a person has in making a livelihood, and bichlal in all the veltliche worldly things from down here from this world. A person gets involved in these things, and these are mighty waters that could sweep away the person and destroy the person in ruchniyut, because this all takes around the person and it ruins his רוחניותדיקע עבודה. That's what the mabul means baruchniyut. So the Rebbe says that he could explain what's the pshat that the mabul came from below and from above in the רוחניותדיקע sense. How do we apply that to the רוחניותדיקע meaning of the mabul that's in every single person? When we speak about the טרדות, the hardships a person has in things of this world, there are two kinds. You could have the טרדות from parnasah, from making a livelihood, from other גשמיותדיקע things, things from down here from this עולם הזה, which is the the lowest world, things from below, that these things could disturb a person and interfere with his עבודת השם.

But then you could have another thing. You could have sometimes a person is involved in heavenly things, good things, holy things, and they could also disturb him if he doesn't do it properly. A person could be involved in high matters, inyanim like עסקנות ציבורית, to be involved in communal matters, in inyanim as we call inyanim of chesed. But if you get involved in it so much, in such a way, in a certain way, it could also disturb you from your service of Hashem. You got so much so carried away in the side things that this is also included in the מים רבים. So the Rebbe says just like in the physical mabul there were two types of מים רבים, there was the water that came from below and that was dangerous, and the water came from above that's dangerous, and the eitzah was to be in the תיבה, the same thing ruchniyut. There are these mighty waters that could disturb a person from his עבודת השם that comes from below, from physical low matters, and could be things even from higher matters that could also disturb a person if he doesn't do it properly. What's the eitzah against it that it shouldn't disturb him? So just like in the physical mabul what was the eitzah? The eitzah was that Noach should be in the תיבה, and he was protected from these mighty waters from above and from below, it shouldn't hurt him, it shouldn't be dangerous to him, so too baruchniyut. What is the inyan of going into the תיבה ברוחניות?

So we all know the vort of the Baal Shem Tov on the pasuk that Hashem said to Noach, \"בא אל התיבה\", go into the תיבה. Simple peshat means go into the ark, but the word תיבה in lashon kodesh has another meaning, תיבה means a word. What the pasuk says, \"בא אל התיבה\", go into the words! Into the words of Torah and the words of tefillah, which means don't just learn and daven, it should be superficial. Go into it! It should become part of your life. You should be one with it, you should go into it. And that's the פשט ברוחניות. The eitzah against the טרדות הפרנסה, the hardships side from down here from the physical things, and the hardships sometimes from good things that also make it hard, go into the words of the תיבה, go into the תיבה! If you learn and you daven and you're involved in it with your whole heart, so then that's the best protection against that all these things should disturb a person from serving Hashem. So not the things from below and not the things from above, they will all be done in a proper way that will not disturb a person from עבודת השם, and what will happen? It will bring a cleansing to the person, just like the mabul brought a cleansing to the world, that the Alter Rebbe says the mabul was like a mikveh. That's why the mabul was for 40 days, just like a mikveh is made up of water, 40 סאה of water. This was water for 40 days, cleansed the world. So too if a person goes into the teivah and gets involved, completely becomes one with the words with the davenen and the learning, he's protected from all outside problems, and this cleanses his life, and if everybody would do this, it would cleanse the whole world, and then we would be ready for the coming of Moshiach, which we hope and pray and are sure he will come very, very soon.