Haftarah Noach

My love shall not budge from you...
Haftarah Noach

Yeshayahu 54:10  The mountains may move and the hills may collapse, but My love shall not budge from you and My Covenant of shalom shall not fail, says the Merciful One, HaShem.


Even if G-d's oath to Noach were to falter and the foundations of earth were to fail, His oath to the Jewish people will stand for all times and His love for them will transcend Creation.

Even if the forefathers' and matriarchs' merits have come to an end, G-d's love for His people will not cease - their own closeness to G-d will earn them His Covenant of peace.

Your suffering in exile was to bring you back to Him, so that He be called your Holy One.  He is your Master who provides all your needs, both the material and the spiritual - surely He will bring you Redemption!

[MeAm Lo'ez]

Parashat Bereishit

G-d Saw the Light was Good...

Parashat Bereishit

Bereishit 1:4 G-d saw that the light was good, and G-d divided the light from the darkness.

The light that was created on the first day was extremely brilliant. We can have some idea of it if we imagine a small room filled with intense lights, illuminating it from all sides.

With this primeval light, it was possible to see from one end of the universe to the other. (Bereishit Rabbah; Tosefot, Shabbat 22) One could see not only tangible things, but even ethereal things, which are normally invisible. (Zohar 2; Moed Katan, Chapter 2; Chagigah 12a; Yad Yosef. Also see Zohar Chadash) This light was very fine, filled with glowing mental power. Through it, one could attain knowledge with which he could see to the ends of the world. (Bereishit Rabbah; Zohar Chadash)

Since human beings would be evil, such as those in the generations of the Great Flood, the Tower of Bavel, and the idolatrous contemporaries of Enosh, they were not worthy of enjoying this light. G-d therefore set it aside for the righteous in the Olam Haba. The light that remains in our world is merely a seventh of the light that existed during the days of creation. Some say that this primeval light was 60,075 times as bright as the light of the sun.

- MeAm Lo'ez - Bereishit