NOACH
THROUGH HEAVEN DOWN TO EARTH
Felix Baumgartner was not a very well-known name until this week. As of this past Sunday, however, this daredevil Austrian native did something no one had ever done in history: He jumped out of a space capsule that had taken him to the edge of the atmosphere. It was a free-fall for about four minutes, and he parachuted the rest of the way down.
While doing so, he set a world record as the first person ever to break the sound barrier while not in a vehicle. To this end, he was equipped with a specially-designed space suit, lest the friction of the speed and the thin atmosphere cause him fatal damage.
And so, this bold – and perhaps foolhardy – fellow, dropped out of the top of our atmosphere, hitting, at one point, a speed of over 833 miles per hour, which well exceeds the supersonic speed of 768 miles per hour. As a perspective, this speed means that his body hurtled and plunged towards the earth at around one mile every four seconds.
So much could have gone wrong, but Baumgartner met with success. After taking over two hours to go up, it took just six minutes to come down. He landed, unscathed, in Roswell, New Mexico, and he is now in the record books.
What would be going through the mind of a person standing at the precipice of a space capsule from a height where the curvature of the world makes it look like a blue ball, into which this person is about to jump?
After his successful jump, Mr. Baumgartner shared that “Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.” As he jumped, he was recorded live as saying: “I’m going home now!” He later elaborated: “Trust me, when you stand up there on top of the world, you become so humble. It’s not about breaking records any more. It’s not about getting scientific data. It’s all about coming home.”
In his mind, then, he felt humbled by the vast physical space before which he stood and into which he jumped. And he was also focused on bringing it all back home.
There are very few people in this world, with that mindset and tenacious ability, who have the desire to do what this man did. No one, in fact, had ever done it before him. To the rest of the common people, there is a very important message from this story, which can be better expressed through a close look at this week’s Torah portion, “Noach.”
First, though, the following preface: Earlier this week, I met with someone who was trying to deal with an issue that was bothering him. Together with his family, he had attended services and participated in the various festivals and holidays that seemed to have arrived by the minute in the past month. He had spent more time than ever at the High Holiday services; over the festival of Sukkos, he had eaten in the Sukkah for the first time in years; he was an active participant in the festivities of Simchas Torah for the first time in as long as he can remember.
And he loved it all.
“What do I do now?” he asked. “I feel as though something has opened up inside me. After this high, how do I continue?”
The Hebrew month of “Tishrei,” which just concluded this week, is packed with festivals and special days. The next month, the current Hebrew month of “Cheshvan,” does not possess even a minor one. There is not even a special theme to focus upon. This month is the only Hebrew month in which this happens.
This month remains sans any holidays for a very important reason. This is the month in which even the common person gets to “jump out” of the “space capsule” in order to come down to earth.
As with the space jump, from heights like this one only brings down that which one takes up. The gain is in the mindset and attitude, which could, and should, change when one reaches the ground. Similarly, in life, the whole purpose of going upward is to enhance that which is already on the ground.
Just as, when he was about to jump, Baumgartner saw something from that vantage point that made him humble, similarly, whenever anyone reaches a “high,” especially the peak, one can then see and realize humility and awe.
And then, of course, it is time “to go home.” It is time to go back down, and take “home” this lesson and feeling.
Bringing a piece of Heaven down to earth while elevating earthliness is also what plagued two sets of people who lived generations apart, but are united in this week’s Torah portion. The first was the generation of Noah, who, as the Torah describes, filled the earth with violence. (B’raishis (Genesis) 6:13.) They behaved terribly towards each other. Those people were famously destroyed by the flood, while Noah and his family were saved by Noah’s ark. This story occupies a large section of the Torah portion.
The second episode is found at the end of the portion. A large group of people living in the Babylonian region chose to build a city, in whose midst would stand a tower which would reach all the way up to the heavens. This is known as the “Tower of Babel.” These people were not building this tower to discover what the edge of the world’s atmosphere feels like, or how to jump from there. They were rather intending to construct an edifice that would take them high enough to fight with the Almighty. Others suggest that they wanted to discover how to reinforce the heavens, lest another flood be unleashed on them.
This tower was destroyed and the people were dispersed by an act of the Almighty. (Genesis 11:1-9.)
The first group ruined the earth they were in. They chose to live carnally, without imbuing their lives with any spirituality and heavenly focus. They ignored anything coming from Heaven which could have been used to elevate the earth they were on. They were aware of Heaven, but they had no problem with leaving their G-d there. The misbehavior of these people was among themselves, not towards Heaven. Alas, they failed the human mission of uplifting and enriching the earth. They went too far. So far, that no redeeming features were left to them: aside from a single family, the rest of the world was disposed of.
Those who built the Tower of Babel, however, were very good to each other. They colluded and collaborated to build this tower. They were unified in their lives, in their goal and in their mission. Their “earth” was fine. They did have a problem, though, with Heaven. Instead of choosing to follow heavenly mandates and bring Heaven down to earth, they chose the pick a fight, seeking their own earthly methods instead.
No one ever picked a fight with Heaven and succeeded. They failed as well.
Both of these groups failed to reconcile the merger between heaven and earth. They either failed in comprehending the point of earth, or they missed the point of heaven.
There are differences and a major disconnect between Heaven and Earth. And this is by design. The Torah itself contains extremely scant details about Heaven. If Heaven is so important, one would expect to be provided with more details about it. Instead, even the Torah, Heavenly Divine wisdom, deals almost exclusively with earthly matters. In the words of Torah, “This (body of) commandments (the Torah)… is not in the skies that you should say, ‘Who will go up to the skies for us and take it for us?... Rather, this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.” (Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 30:11-14.)
Yet there is a “Heaven” designed to work with earth. And there is the “high” which is provided by Heaven. The focus should be for earthly beings to be elevated through the injection of the Heavenly spirit, and that Heavenly energy be drawn down to earthly matters and beings.
Every once in a while, such as during a festival, or when someone like Baumgartner is elevated to unfathomable heights, an earthly being can be transported to amazing heights.
The purpose of those experiences is to bring the taste of Heaven back down “home.” Once a person has the Heavenly awareness, one must bring this back to earth: By acting towards earthly matters, as well as towards one another, by the guidelines of Heaven.
SUMMARY: Rising up to the heavens is only one part of the journey. Coming back down to earth is when the journey to heaven becomes a legitimate experience.