Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Wake Of The Flood, Laughing Water, Forty Nine; Get Out The Pans, Don't Just Stand There Dreaming (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia "Wake Of The Flood")



Now that school has resumed and there are no more holiday interruptions for the 8-9 weeks, our son realizes that all the work, all the quizzes, and the tests will begin to appear on his calendar and task planner. He sensed, realized and even anticipates that all these assignments, quizzes and test are about to happen in waves and bunches. For the first time since he began high school, he understood that high school is very different than middle school. So our came downstairs and asked me a few homework questions as he was preparing for a couple of quizzes. While he asked and I answered; the news was on and reporting a Hurricane Michael in the Gulf of Mexico and the fact that it went from a Category 2 to a Category 4 overnight, and was making landfall in Panama City, Florida on Wednesday. As we were trying to understand and answer his question, he expressed his concern over the fact that so many people went to bed thinking that this hurricane was a Category 2 but had unexpectedly become much more serious and much more dangerous. Then he made an interesting comment. The lack of information or the lack of timely information can contribute to the chaos. He pointed out that he has started to realize that if he doesn’t stay on top of his workload, if he doesn’t stay organized and plan accordingly, then he anticipates that he might feel overwhelmed and that his school life will become chaotic. My jaw dropped and I told him to always remember that the key to fighting chaos is information and organization.
This Shabbat we read from Parshat Noach. Comprised of two distinct narratives; both deal with the theology of chaos and confused boundaries. First we read the story of  Noach, God’s disenchantment with creation and mankind’s behavior, the instruction to build the Teva (the Ark), the Flood as punishment for mankind’s unethical behavior, the covenant made between God and Noach and the resulting offering to God, and then an odd story about Noach’s drunkenness and one’s sons inappropriate behavior. The second distinct narrative is also about chaos and confused boundaries. This time mankind confuses boundaries and trying to build a tower up to the heavens. The result is that God scatters mankind across the earth by making mankind speak numerous languages and making communication difficult.
While both narratives can conceivably stand alone; both narratives are related. As manifested in the previous Parsha, God is a god of creation and order. Therefore, in order for God to destroy, Order must be removed or chaos must become firmly entrenched.  Meivi et HaMabul Mayim AL HaAretz L’Shacheit Kol Basar Asher Bo Ruach Chayim Mitachat HaShamayim Kol Asher Ba’Aretz YigvahI will bring the flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is on earth shall die. Clearly from the text, there must be other kinds of floods besides water, otherwise, we do not need to be told that this particular flood is one that involves water. The message is that God will punish creation by instituting chaos for a period of time. Later in Chapter 11 as mankind begins building a tower up to heaven God becomes disappointed again. Vayomer Adoshem  Hain Am Echad V’Safah Achat L’Chulam V’zeh Hachilam La’Asot V’aAtah Lo Yibatzeir Mei’hem Kol Asher Yazmu La’AsotBehold the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be withheld from them which they have schemed to do. Hava Neirdah V’Navlah Sham Sfatam Sher lo Yishmu Ish Sfat Rei’eihuCome let us go down and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. Instead of the flood of water, God created the flood of language and confusion the flood of a cacophony.
The flood of chaos and the struggle to handle chaos is part of our human condition. The first narrative, the Noach narrative, teaches that chaos is now part of creation and in a sense a type of punishment. The second narrative, the Tower of Bavel, teaches us that chaos is part of everyday human life. It is part of our task as human beings as we struggle to elevate ourselves from the animal aspect of our existence to the spiritual aspect of our existence that we create order from chaos. To do so is a Godly endeavor. To do so allows us to transcend the physical world. As our son watched the news about the chaos being inflicted by Hurrican Michael, and the anxiety he was feeling as his own work piled up; our son, began to understand something very important. The world can exhibit lots of chaos. Our son now understands that our response to chaotic conditions can contribute to chaos and make it worse, or we can determine that which we can control and create order from it. No, it may not eliminate all the chaos around us, but by doing so, we prevent ourselves from drowning amid chaotic conditions.  I just hope that our son remembers our discussion during Hurricane Michael, as he grows older realizes just how chaotic life can be.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

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