There are many words in the Torah that are difficult to understand. Our sages of the Talmud, as well as later commentators, clarify our doubts regarding their explanation. Parashat Noach presents one of these words: tzoar. As we explained previously, there are four dimensions of Torah interpretation, summarized by the word PaRDeS (garden): Pshat (simple meaning), Remez (implicated meaning), Drush (analogy), and Sod (esoteric meaning). Each Torah commentator focuses on one of these four dimensions.
When it comes to the meaning of a particular word, the correct thing to do is to refer, first of all, to the Pshat, the simple explanation of the word.
One of the principal commentators on the Torah was Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi (France, 1040-1105 CE). His main role was to explain the Pshat in each instance where questions arose.
One of the Divine commands for the construction of the ark is "you shall make a tzoar to the ark" (Genesis 6:16). Rashi comments on the word tzoar, which has two explanations: "some say [it refers to] a window, and some say [it refers to] a precious stone that illuminated them.".
Apparently, Rashi's intention is to explain to us that the tzoar The light from the ark was the way the inhabitants of the ark, Noah and his family, along with the animals, had light. What the verse would be saying is that God commanded Noah to do "something" through which there would be light in the ark. However, this explanation presents several difficulties, including:
1) The word tzoar It is written in the singular. How could the light from a single window or a single precious stone be enough to illuminate an entire ark 150 meters long by 25 meters wide and 15 meters high?
2) In the description of the ark, it is written "you shall make rooms in the ark" (Bereshit 6:14) and that "you shall make three floors" (Bereshit 6:16), which makes it more complex to understand how a single window would illuminate different rooms and different floors.
3) One of the rules for studying Rashi's commentaries is that when Rashi presents two explanations of the same issue, it is because each explanation has a flaw that is corrected by the other; the commentaries complement each other. What is the flaw in each of these explanations?
To understand all of this, we must understand that in God's command to Noah to build the ark, not every detail was explicitly stated. For example, we find nowhere that God tells Noah to make a door for the ark. The only thing indicated is where the door should be (Genesis 6:16). The reason for this, from the perspective of the Pshat, is that many details are understood from the moment God commands the construction of an ark. Only those things that Noah himself would not have known, God explicitly commanded.
The same applies to the matter of illuminating the ark. It is obvious that Noah had to do "something" to illuminate the interior of the ark, without needing any divine command.
Therefore, if God commanded that a tzoar, It is because there is something specific that God is indicating, beyond the lighting system that Noah would surely put in the ark, without needing to be commanded by God.
Regarding this special mandate, Rashi comments: "Some say [that it refers to] a window." Through this window there would be additional light in the ark, and it would also serve secondary purposes, such as entering and exiting, ventilation, etc.
However, this explanation is not very adequate, since the Torah could have clearly used the word "window," so why did it change from the norm and say tzoarThis is why Rashi offers a second explanation: "and there are those who say [that it refers to] a precious stone that illuminated them." In this way, the inhabitants of the ark could carry the precious stone to illuminate them wherever they needed it.
However, this explanation is not the most appropriate either, since the verse should have said ""tzoar you will enter to the ark," and you shall not "do" (because one does not does a precious stone, he uses it), beyond the fact that God would be ordering something totally out of the ordinary to be done, which requires a more specific explanation.
This is why Rashi brought the two explanations, where both complement each other and resolve the difficulties of the other.
Despite being classified within the category of Sod, the mystical secrets of the Torah, Hasidic philosophy introduces vitality and light into every dimension of Torah interpretation. In this case, from the Hasidic perspective, two levels of service to God emerge from the analysis of Rashi's commentary.
The difference between the light that enters a place through a window (Rashi's first explanation) and the light that comes from a precious stone (Rashi's second explanation) is that the light from a window "comes from outside", and the light from the precious stone illuminates "from within".
These two matters indicate two ways of serving God: the ultimate goal of the Torah and the Mitzvot (Divine precepts) is to make a tzoar for the ark, that is, to introduce and reveal the Divine light into the world. This objective can be achieved in one of two ways:
1) Create a window. The truth is that Divine light is already present in the world. As is well known, businesspeople can see Divine Providence, how God manages the world in every aspect of its affairs, more clearly than a sage immersed in Torah study. However, to truly see this "hand of God," it is necessary to remove the obscuring of Divine light that nature creates, obscuring the Divine light that transcends nature. This is the first step: creating a "window" in the obscuring that "the ark" (nature) creates, so that Divine light may "enter" and be "revealed.".
2) After the "window" is opened in the concealment of nature, when the Divine light that transcends nature illuminates the person's life, this gives strength to rise to the second level and form of service to God, indicated by the second explanation of the word tzoar, "a precious stone that illuminated them," that is, not only removing and taking away the concealment of nature but making nature itself illuminate and reveal God on earth.
Extracted from Likutei Sijot vol. 10, p. 19.