A Box of Life

ESSAY: A Box of Life
Page by page, book by book, the Jew has constructed a world of words. Is he living in a reality of his own making, or is he remaking reality?

INSIGHTS: The Constructive Statement
A “partner” is one who contributes a significant part of the initiative and resources invested in an enterprise. How, then, can man presume to be G-d’s partner in creation?

DIALOGUE: It's Up To You
I've done what I can, said the Rebbe in an urgent address shortly before he fell ill. Now the ball is in your court

On that day, all wellsprings of the great abyss burst forth, and the windows of the heaven opened.

And Noah... entered the teivah, in refuge from the waters of the flood...

The literal meaning of the Hebrew word teivah is “container” or “box.” The teivah of the above-quoted verses is the floating ark which Noah constructed, at G-d’s behest, to shelter him and his family for the twelve months that the waters of the flood ravaged the face of earth.

Teivah also means “word.” Words are containers: they package ideas, feelings, sentiments and convictions. They house personalities, movements and communities, delineating their aims, defining their raison d’être.

Therein lies the eternal relevance of G-d’s command to Noah, “Enter into the teivah.” ^[1] When the abyss of earth overwhelms you with the burdens of material life; when the windows of heaven open to deluge you with spiritual ills; enter the teivah. Enter the word—there you will find refuge from the floodwaters of life.

Upon waking each morning, we envelop ourselves in words. “Modeh ani lefanecha...,” we say, “I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for restoring my soul to me...” These first words of the Jewish day are followed by many more words—words of prayer, words of Torah—that amplify the profound particulars of the simple, potent truth the words of the Modeh Ani contain: that G-d is the exclusive source and objective of our life, and that each morning He restores our soul to us newly fortified to meet its every challenge. Nestled in this knowledge, we are insulated from the currents of fear, doubt and despair that threaten to overwhelm the teivah-less swimmer through life.

The teivah, however, is more than a sanctum: it also holds the seeds of a post-Flood world. Noah was commanded to enter the teivah together with his extended family (“you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives”) and to gather into it specimens of every living creature (“and of every living thing of all flesh, two of each, male and female... and from every edible food... to keep seed alive upon earth”).[2] Then, when the waters of the flood subsided, G-d commanded him to exit the teivah and recreate a world from the micro-universe he had assembled inside the teivah’s walls.

In the same vein, the teivah we create is not to remain a personal ark. We are to invite our ‘‘families’’–all fellow human beings to whom our influence extends[3]–into the words of sanctity and purpose with which we navigate the hazards of material life. Furthermore, our teivahs are to embrace also the non-human elements of our environment: every time we enlist one of the resources and forces of our world for a G-dly end, we make it part of the tranquil universe-in-miniature sanctified by the words of Torah and prayer. The bread and meat that provide the energy for prayer, the paper and ink that facilitate our Torah study, the resources and talents that earn the money given to charity—these are the “specimens” rescued from the flood of mundanity and brought into the sanctity of the divine words in which we enwrap our lives.

The divine call, “Enter the teivah” is followed by the command, “Come out of the teivah.”[4] Having created an island of G-dliness in a mundane world, we are enjoined to transplant it outside the walls of our teivah. The inviolable hour of prayer in the morning should have a sanctifying effect on the business day that follows; the hour of Torah study should pervade our round-the-clock thought process and decision making; the dollars given to charity should influence the way in which we regard all our property and wealth. And ultimately, the private and communal sanctity of our teivah-contexted lives should translate into the universal harmony and perfection of  a world “flooded” in the positive sense—a world that is “filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters submerge the sea.” ^[5]

Based on the Rebbe’s talks, Tishrei 24, 5717 (September 29, 1956)[6] and on other occasions

The Constructive Statement

“Man was born to toil” (Job 5:7). But man is more than a beast of burden or a clock-punching nine-to-fiver. Our sages tell us that we are “partners with G-d in creation.” As partners, our life's work is driven by the initiative and industry of one who has a personal stake in the outcome of his toil.

What is the nature of this partnership? How does our investment in life collaborate with G-d's to form an enterprise profitable to us both? The Talmud offers us the following example and prototype: “One who prays on the eve of Shabbat and proclaims Vayechulu ... becomes a partner with G-d in creation.”[7]

Vayechulu is the three-verse passage (Genesis 2:1-3) recited in the Friday evening prayers and kiddush. It recounts G-d's creation of the world in six days, His cessation of work on the seventh, and His sanctification of the seventh day to attest to these facts. By reciting Vayechulu, we observe the mitzvah to “Remember the day of Shabbat, to sanctify it” (fourth of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:8); the pronouncement of Vayechulu, corroborated by our cessation of work on Shabbat, is our weekly testimony that G-d is the creator of the universe.[8]

This is in keeping with the prophet's proclamation, “ ‘You are My attesters,’ says G-d.”[9] And this, the Talmud is saying, is the essence of our partnership with G-d: our introducing an awareness of His truth into the spiritually mute world He created.

At first glance, this may seem an extremely imbalanced “partnership.” If one party conceives of, develops and manufactures a product, while the other party's contribution lies solely in that he publicizes the identity of the product's creator, would one consider them partners?

But if we examine the function and purpose of the universe, we see that our testimony is no less integral to the product's development than the divine act of creation. G-d's goal in creation, say our sages, is that “there be made for Him a dwelling in the lowly (i.e., material) realm.”[10] In other words, G-d desired that there be a “lowly” reality, one that is distant from its divine source, and that it be transformed into a “dwelling” for Him---an environment hospitable to and expressive of His truth. [11]

So the creation of heaven and earth was merely G-d's preparation of the raw materials out of which the edifice of creation is to be constructed. It is we who complete the project, by imbuing the self-absorbed world with an awareness of its creator and source. This we achieve through our observance of the mitzvot: when we take a material object or resource and utilize it to fulfill a divine command, we are, in effect, changing its very nature---something indifferent or even in opposition to the divine truth has now been remade into an instrument of G-d's will. A piece of leather becomes tefillin, wooden boards become a sukkah, a human brain becomes a reservoir of the divine wisdom of Torah. The very content and message of these objects has been transformed: instead of saying “I am, period” they now state “There is a master to the universe and I exist to serve Him.”

This is why the mitzvot are also called eidot, “attestations”---witnesses who attest to the divine source and function of our existence. The archetypical eid, the prime example of the testimonial quality of the mitzvah, is the mitzvah to “Remember the day of Shabbat, to sanctify it”: for twenty-six hours each week, our every deed and non-deed (beginning with the recitation of Vayechulu on Friday evening) attest to G-d's creation of the universe. Ultimately, however, every mitzvah we perform is a testimony as to the essence and purpose of the created existence---a testimony whose delivery itself constitutes the realization of this purpose, making us full partners to the divine endeavor of creation.

Based on the Rebbe's talks

It's Up To You!

Editor's note: On Thursday evening, Nissan 27, 5751 (April 11, 1991), exactly eleven months before the he fell ill, the Rebbe issued this impassioned call to his followers and to the entire Jewish and world community. This unusually strongly worded message, and the anguished voice in which it was delivered, shocked and roused his chassidim to a heightened initiative in the Rebbe's campaign to bring the world to an awareness of and preparedness for the redemption .

How is it that Moshiach has still not come?! Why are we still in a state of galut (exile)?! Why is our world still a place in which evil and suffering prevail?!

Why is it acceptable that the redemption should not come tonight, nor tomorrow, nor the day after, G-d forbid?! The Jewish nation are ``a stiff-necked people.'' Were there to be found even a few individuals who would adamantly insist on bringing Moshiach, he would have certainly long arrived!

What more can I do?! I have done all I can to bring the world to truly demand and clamor for the redemption. But it seems that all my efforts have been in vain: we are still in exile and, more significantly, in an internal galut of clouded vision and distorted priorities.

I have done all I can. I leave it to you---Do all that you can to bring our righteous redeemer, immediately!

It is not sufficient to mouth slogans. It is up to each and every of you to bring the ultimate redemption with your actions. It is in your hands to bring about the harmonious, perfect world of Moshiach.