17 Oct NOACH’S TEIVAH AND THE CHEFS OF TEL AVIV

Eis tzarah hee l’Yaakov, It is a time of deep
pain and tragedy for Klal Yisroel. We are all
walking around with aching hearts. We are
one nation, one people, all connected. The
pain of our brothers in Eretz Yisroel is our
pain. We cry, we daven, for those being held
in captivity, for the injured, for the lives lost,
and for their families. It is a tragedy so
horrific, the numbers so many, it’s hard to
fathom.
At the same time, we hear stories of
inspiration. Stories of amazing strong men
and women, doing the best they can for Am
Yisroel, giving it all they got. Stories that
give us hope and warm our heart.
Tel Aviv is a lively, busy city, home to many
restaurants. Diners frequent its upscale
steakhouses, and Israeli-style food joints.
While a large segment of the population was
called up by the army, and family members
at home aren’t eating out, the restaurants are
anything but empty. They are filled with
extra chefs, staff, and volunteers, going all

out for Chayalei Yisroel, those on the front
lines, fighting for the Jewish nation.
Before supplying meals for the soldiers,
many of the Tel Aviv restaurants had a
hurdle to overcome. Some restaurants in this
city unfortunately did not maintain kosher
kitchens, or were kosher “style”, while
others, whose owners kept their kitchens
nominally kosher, didn’t have a teudah, a
kashrut certification. But their desire to
help, to do chesed, was so strong, that they
undertook the proper measures to kasher
their restaurants and receive certification.
As chef Shalom Simcha Elbert of OCD (one
of the top restaurants, known for the chef’s
meticulous care that goes into every dish –
hence the name OCD) said, “The restaurant
now has kosher supervisors and is closed for
Shabbat… We want to feed people in a way
that will honor them.”
Ha’achim, another bustling Tel Aviv
restaurant, also went through a kashering
process, and is now preparing twenty
thousand meals a day for the soldiers. Chef
Yoatim Doktor plans to increase the
production next week, by providing freshly

cooked meals for the displaced surviving
families of the horrific massacre in the
south. The gourmet chef will be making

schnitzel-pita sandwiches, and other child-
friendly foods.

There are even some vegan and gluten-free
restaurants that received a kashrut teudah.
They too wanted to join the effort to provide
special meals for those who requested it, as
well as for hospital patients.
Dovid HaMelech says, “Olam chesed
yibaneh, The world is built through acts of
kindness” (Tehillim 89:3). It is a message
that resonates for all time. We can
continuously build – and rebuild – the world
with kindness.
This Shabbos we will read Parshas Noach.
“Vatimaleh ha’aretz chomos, And the land
became filled with thievery and corruption.”
(Bereishis 6:11) The very moral fiber of
society was lost, as there was a total lack of
respect between man and his fellow. It was a
time of social discord. Additionally, it was a
generation of self-centered people. People
refusing to share their G-d given gifts and
talents. Artists and musicians wouldn’t share
their creations. People refused to help
others, offer advice or provide information
that could help their fellow man. It was a
generation with “attitude”, what’s in it for
me, what do I get out of it.
It was time to rebuild a new world. A
world based on honesty, truthfulness,
justice and chesed.
HaShem saw Noach as the person through
whom the world could be rebuilt.
“V’Noach motzah chein b’einei HaShem,
But Noach found favor in the eyes of
HaShem.” (Ibid. 6:8) Noach was his own
person, and defied the world around him.
“Everyone’s doing it” was not part of his
lexicon.
HaShem told Noach of the impending
mabul, the flood that would bring
destruction upon the world. He directed
Noach to build a teivah, a safe haven that
would sustain the remnants of the
destroyed world by way of its chesed.
Noach hammered away, building an ark of
epic proportions. A three-floored structure
where he housed not only his family but a
menagerie of animals. While it rained for
forty days, it took a full year for the water
to subside. A year of living in the teivah,
being the world’s busiest “zoo-keeper”.
Noach was on call morning through night,
feeding, caring for and cleaning the
animals, never taking a break. Life in the

teivah was chesed “boot camp”.
The trait of chesed, of being a giver,
remained with Noach and his family. A trait
that has been ingrained in the DNA of our
people from that very day. To be a giver. To
be concerned about others. To help when
help is needed. To put a smile on someone’s
face.
Our world today has witnessed a different
type of chomos, destruction and devastation.
Lives snuffed out, families decimated,
communities destroyed. Yet, when all looks
bleak and helpless, there are those who
follow Noach’s example of building a
teivah, a sanctuary in which to do chesed.
We have all been hearing and reading of the
enormous acts of chesed that have been
done over the past ten days. People all over
the world going way beyond their comfort
zone, offering support and relief in a myriad
of ways. I couldn’t help but think of the
chefs of Tel Aviv, uniting in a remarkable
display of achdus and kindness.
Not everyone is on the front line, or has a
restaurant that can cook up thousands of
meals. But each and every of us can be do
something positive during these difficult and
trying times. We can take upon ourselves
additional davening, saying Tehillim, giving
tzedakah, or being more scrupulous with a
mitzva as a z’chus for our people.
This past Shabbos, we blessed the new
month of Mar-Cheshvan. Mar – bitter,
because it is a month without any Yomim
Tovim or special mitzvos. It is a month in
which much suffering and tragedy befell our
people throughout the ages. With a difficult
war going on in Eretz Yisroel, the word mar
took on extra meaning for me. What painful
times we are living in. But as we bentched
Rosh Chodesh, we said chaveirim kol
Yisroel, we are a nation of friends, a nation
that is interconnected, coming together,
being there for one another.
With acts of chesed, may the bitter become
sweet, and may HaShem bless us with
shalom al kol Yisroel, peace onto all of Klal
Yisroel.