17 Oct NOACH: FIGHTING THE BATTLE

Hashem had an infinite
number of ways in
which to rescue Noach
and his family from the
flood. For example,
according to tradition, the flood did not
affect the Land of Israel; Hashem could
have thus simply had Noach and his
family move to Israel so he would be
saved.
Yet, He had Noach spend 120 years
laboring to build an enormous ark, while
the people of his time laughed and jeered
at him. Why?
Rav Yaakov Galinsky spent time in
Siberia during World War II. He would
later recall that there was a fellow inmate
who would wake up every night in the
middle of the night, put on a stolen army
uniform which he had with him, and walk
up and down the barracks like a general.
Finally, one night, Rabbi Galinsky asked
the inmate why he did this.
“I was a general in the Lithuanian

army,” the man explained, “and the
Soviets captured me and sent me here to
Siberia. Right away when I was captured,
I knew that they would going to have me
perform slave labor and live in miserable
conditions, in order to humiliate and
disgrace me. I resolved that I was
never going to forget who I really am. I
promised myself that I would always
remember that I am a distinguished
army general, not a lowly prisoner. And
so every night, I spend a few minutes
marching as a proud, strong general, so I
never forget who I am.”
Noach lived in a world that was overrun
by evil and sin. The pressure was
overwhelming. The only way he was
going to survive was by remembering
who he was, by fighting like a
general. This was not going to happen if
he just relaxed and took it easy.
This is why Hashem had him work hard
to build an ark. The only way to win
this battle was through hard work and
sacrifice. By the time Noach was finished,

he was able to
march onto the ark
like a proud general,
knowing that he had
won the battle. He
walked into the ark
knowing that he
had fought valiantly
to achieve this,
to stand apart, to
resist the pressure,
to triumph over the
evil that surrounded
him.
Today, we are all fighting a battle. There
is so much hype all around us, and we
cannot escape from it. Trillions of
dollars are being spent to not only grab
our attention, but to get us addicted, to
get us obsessed. Whether it’s movies,
games, sports, politics, or worse – entire
industries exist aimed at pulling us in and
keeping us there.
We need to remember who we are –
that we are proud soldiers in Hashem’s

army, and we are dutybound to fight this
battle as valiantly as we can. We must
understand that we will need to put in
effort and make sacrifices in order to win
this war, to resist the pressure, to rise
above the “floodwaters” of hype that are
all around us.
Just as Noach had to build an ark to
protect himself and his family – so do we
need to work hard to protect ourselves
and our homes from the “floodwaters,” to
remain firmly devoted to Hashem, and to
never forget who we really are.