Lamech gave birth to Noah and prophetically exclaimed: “This one will bring us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands, from the ground which God has cursed” (Genesis 5:29). The word “Noah” is related to the word “rest.” According to Rashi, man would now be able to more easily work the earth, which had been cursed since Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. With Noah’s birth and Adam’s concurrent death, the curse that had been in effect during Adam’s lifetime, would be diminished, in effect, laid to rest. Furthermore, Noah reputedly invented the plow, making agriculture far easier. As a result of these two events, people had a sense of respite from their unproductive and backbreaking labor.
Given the meaning of his name and the rest he brought mankind, it is no surprise that the Zohar links Noah to Shabbat, the day of rest (Tikkunei Zohar 54a). In Kabbalah and Chassidut a tzaddik, an exceptionally righteous person, is commonly called “Shabbat,” as his or her state of consciousness even during the week continually draws from and is connected to Shabbat. Noah in fact is the first person referred to in the Torah as a tzaddik.
Various Chassidic commentaries explain that Noah and his family’s experiences in the ark, riding upon the turbulent waves of the Flood, mirror the reality of Shabbat. After a week of navigating the sometimes chaotic and unpredictable realities of this world, the Shabbat provides a refuge and welcome rest from the difficulties of making a living and dealing with the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life.
Based on the fact that the opening verse of the portion contains Noah’s name twice in succession – “These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God” – the Zohar speaks of a “higher rest” and a “lower rest” on Shabbat (Zohar Chadash 3, 94a). Several times in his classic work Netivot Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe declares that a person who meticulously keeps all the laws of Shabbat but does not experience its joy and spirituality will certainly inherit the World to Come, but in the World to Come he or she will only be a park bench. Just as this individual’s Shabbat observance was static and joyless, his or her reward in the World to Come will take the form of becoming an inanimate and static park bench. The lower rest is attained by observing the Shabbat prohibitions, whereas the higher rest is attained by connecting to Shabbat in the deepest way. Establishing this connection allows the Jew to experience the awesome joy, spirituality, and peace that the Shabbat holds.
The Slonimer Rebbe offered a further derash (homily) relating the symbolism of the ark’s three floors to the Shabbat. The upper floor represents man’s thoughts, the middle floor his speech, and the lower floor his actions. A Jew can observe all the laws of Shabbat, but speak and think about mundane matters totally out of synch with the Shabbat’s essential spirit. The lower and higher rests of Shabbat can only be experienced when a Jew’s actions, speech, and thoughts all reflect the peace and tranquility of the holy Shabbat.
