What world do YOU live in?
Here is what I mean by the question.
Some people tell me that they love living in Thailand because... listen to this, ‘there is no politics in Thailand’.
Well, that is not exactly the case. Just do a google search on ‘Thai politics’ and you will see that politics is alive and well here as much or more than anywhere else in the world.
I know what they mean. They are living in Thailand as guests and don’t read or hear about the local politics. Even if they hear about it they are not perturbed or disturbed by it.
Like some people are not very perturbed about the elections for mayor of New York.
Anyone I know who has an interest in Jewish life in the USA is deeply concerned about the upcoming mayoral elections in NY.
The candidate who seems to hold a large lead in the polls is open and clear about his support of efforts delegitimizing Israel’s right to exist. He refuses to condemn the terrorists who massacred our brothers and sisters on October 7th. He uses the term genocide for a war that of self defense that was thrust upon our people.
Many people in New York who are usually much more blasé about local politics are galvanizing their efforts about this unwelcome development.
Yet, as much as some have severe angst over this surprising development, many other Jews around the world are not even aware of this.
And so it goes with many other topics.
Tariffs for example. My business friends who import goods from Asia are following the USA tariff rules obsessively. Those who are in other lines of work don’t seem to pay much attention to it. It is just another line in the news feed that they skim over.
As Jews we live in many different countries.
We have many different interests. Depending on where we live.
Israel is our G-d granted inheritance and is the largest Jewish community in the world. What goes on in Israel interests the vast majority of Jewish people.
Yet, many Jews, including some of those living in Israel, do not follow the news in Israel on an hourly or daily basis.
They are ‘living’ in their ‘own world’ so to speak. Consumed with taking care of themselves, their loved ones and simply surviving. There are myriads of tasks that vie for our attention and we don’t all engage in the same issues.
There is one unifying ‘world’ though, that every Jew ought to live in.
The world of the Parshat Hashavua – Weekly Parsha.
The ‘world’ of G-d’s relationship with him or her.
This ‘world’ is communicated by G-d to each of us via the Torah.
The Torah has been transmitted to us from G-d via Moshe who also gave us a systematic way of studying the Five Book of Moses during the course of one year in the form of the ‘Parshat Hashavua’ the portion of the week.
We read a portion from the Sefer Torah publicly in the shul every Shabbat. In the course of the year, ending in Simchat Torah, we finish the Torah cycle. And promptly start again. Which we did last week.
In a deeper dive, each portion is subdivided into seven portions.
Hence, we have the parsha of the day withing the overall parsha of the week.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman – the Alter Rebbe – said that a Jew must live with the ‘times’.
This means to ‘live’ with the weekly and daily parsha.
A Jew can choose how updated he wants to be in world news, but one thing he should not forego, is to be updated with the ‘G-dly news’ – the Torah portion of the week.
This week’s portion is a turbulent one. Literally.
The corruption and moral depravity of the world lead Hashem to bring a massive flood in which the entire humanity is wiped out, leaving only Noach and his children who are saved.
Quite depressing.
But don’t stop at this point in the story. Soldier on.
Avraham was born at the end of this week’s Parsha.
A ray of light enters the world injecting hope and optimism that Hashems presence will become known again after the many generations of idolatry.
Indeed, Avraham and Sara changed the world for ever. Belief in one G-d becomes popular and the default belief throughout the thousands of years of life since then.
Essentially, we are on a bit of a roller coaster.
The Torah begins with a description of an idyllic life in the Garden of Eden.
The end of the first parsha is not so exciting (an understatement) as it is the prelude to the Flood.
Notwithstanding that, we call it a ‘happy parsha’ as we choose to focus on the good beginning.
The second Parsha – Noach, starts with a destructive flood but ends with a beam of light entering the arena, the birth of Avraham.
Again, we choose to focus on the good and allow ourselves to be swept away by the cheerful happy outcome.
Next week in the third Parsha it is a truly joyful parsha. The whole week is spent talking about Avraham, Sara and their achievements and accomplishments. While they too had their ups and downs, at all times they were consciously one with their Creator and witnessed many miracles from Hashem.
(see Hayom Yom 3 Cheshvan).
To me this is a reminder on how to live our lives today in 2025.
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Breishit: Even if your life is a ‘Garden of Eden’ right now, don’t become complacent. Keep on your toes to ensure that your moral and spiritual compass and sensitivity stay healthy and alive. And watch out that your inner ‘drives’ (yetzer harah) don’t allow you to fall into the wrong places.
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Noach: Don’t ever give up. Even if you are G-d forbid in a scenario that is so immoral that it is facing a ‘flood’. When the entire society around you are doing the wrong thing and heading in the wrong moral direction, stay the course. An ‘Avraham’ may be born. A transformational beam of light can result from your unyielding commitment to Hashem’s code of conduct.
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Lech-Lecha: Once you have an Avraham and Sara in your life, when you have found moral clarity and connection to G-d, follow the path of Hashem with joy and enthusiasm. Even when there are challenges, stay the course, as our great ancestors did. You will see that the light will dispel the darkness. It always does. Hashem ensures that.
This is the ‘world’ that Jews live in. The weekly Parsha.
Once you learn to look at the Torah as your ‘world’, the lessons from the Parsha will jump out at you.
If you need help to make the Parsha relatable just ask Ai… there is so much Torah information out there that something pertinent is bound to show up.
Or you can use the ‘classic’ ‘old-fashioned’ way and go to www.Chabad.org/parsha for a treasure trove of materials discussing the parsha.
Happy learning,
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor