This week’s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored by the Deutsch Family, in memory of Rae Daniel z”l, a truly special and beloved person. She was a unique combination of scholarship, piety, sincerity, and tremendous dedication, whose passing in October 1992 (2 Mar Cheshvan 5753) left an immense void in the hearts of her family, friends and students. During the many years that she taught in Hebrew schools, she was more than just another teacher. She was that rare individual who truly inspired her students with love of Judaism, tradition and the Land of Israel. In the words of a parent of two of her students \u201c… she touched our lives, and opened a new world for Amy and Leah …\u201d. The CTN Shabbat Fax tries to represent all that Rae Daniel was. We pray that her memory be blessed, as the Shabbat Fax continues to bring Jewish thought and inspiration to more and more people.<\/p>\n
1. THE GREAT FLOOD.<\/p>\n
Many ancient cultures had the story.<\/p>\n
But the Torah is unique.Its story has powerful lessons of morality. And justice.<\/p>\n
Mankind had become corrupt. Especially in their dealings with each other.<\/p>\n
G-d destroys them. And starts all over.<\/p>\n
Noah is righteous. So he and his family will be saved. He is to build an ark. And \u2018ride out the storm\u2019.<\/p>\n
Straightforward lessons. About what G-d wants. And about accountability.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s another lesson in this story.<\/p>\n
Think about life on the ark.<\/p>\n
It would have to be very challenging.<\/p>\n
Noah is busy around the clock. Caring for a tremendous number of animals.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason it was done that way.<\/p>\n
\u2026 According to Jewish tradition, the root of the corruption was selfishness.<\/p>\n
People caring only about themselves. At the expense of others.<\/p>\n
And even a righteous man \u2013 a Tzaddik \u2013 is affected by the society around him.<\/p>\n
Can become desensitized.<\/p>\n
So Noah had to be reminded. Again and again. Day after day.<\/p>\n
To care for others. Even for animals<\/p>\n
Because only then could he remain a Tzaddik.<\/p>\n
And hope to rebuild a better world.<\/p>\n
It’s something to think about in our own lives as well.<\/p>\n
Imagine you\u2019re driving a car. Another driver cuts you off.<\/p>\n
And you\u2019re upset. Very upset.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s one thing you should be careful about.<\/p>\n
That things like that don\u2019t make you lose your sensitivity to others.<\/p>\n
One suggestion: The rest of the day you can try to be especially courteous to other drivers.<\/p>\n
Try it. It can make a real difference.<\/p>\n
2. THE … ANIMALS … THE BIRDS AND ALL THAT WALKED THE EARTH, CAME TWO BY TWO TO NOAH, TO THE ARK … (7:8-9)<\/p>\n
Noah was saved. Along with two of each animal.<\/p>\n
… The Talmud points out an amazing thing.<\/p>\n
That it doesn\u2019t say \u2018Noah took the animals.\u2019<\/p>\n
Instead? \u2018The animals came to the ark.\u2019 By themselves.<\/p>\n
It seems pretty far fetched. Unlikely.<\/p>\n
… Hard to believe.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s how it was for thousands of years.<\/p>\n
… Until scientists learned a lot more about the world.<\/p>\n
Not just about the big things. Like the galaxies. And the Big Bang.<\/p>\n
But also about some very little things.<\/p>\n
… One example: The Monarch Butterfly.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re pretty delicate creatures. That can\u2019t survive the long cold winter.<\/p>\n
So they fly to a warmer climate. Like California. And Mexico.<\/p>\n
… The trip is up to three thousand miles long.<\/p>\n
And each year the next generation of butterflies takes the same trip.<\/p>\n
To the same area.<\/p>\n
… Often to the exact same tree.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the many unsolved mysteries of nature. How do they know where to go?<\/p>\n
Scientists haven\u2019t figured it out.<\/p>\n
… It\u2019s something to think about.<\/p>\n
Because it can give us a different perspective on things that are \u2018hard to believe.\u2019<\/p>\n
3. A DEEPER LOOK<\/p>\n
The English word \u2018face\u2019. It comes from the Latin \u2018facies\u2018.<\/p>\n
From which we get words like \u2018facade\u2019, \u2018surface\u2019 and \u2018superficial.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2026 The Torah idea is very different.<\/p>\n
The Hebrew word for face?<\/p>\n
\u2018Panim\u2018.<\/p>\n
Literally it means \u2018inside.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2026 It\u2019s a reminder next time we look at another person.<\/p>\n
We should not get caught up in externals.<\/p>\n
But get beyond the surface.<\/p>\n
To see the depth, the uniqueness and the inner beauty of the person.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This week’s CTN Shabbat Fax is sponsored by the Deutsch Family, in memory of Rae Daniel z”l, a truly special and beloved person. She was a unique combination of scholarship, piety, sincerity, and tremendous dedication, whose passing in October 1992 (2 Mar Cheshvan 5753) left an immense void in the hearts of her family, friends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-chicago-torah-network-shabbat-fax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1491,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490\/revisions\/1491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torahnetwork.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}