T112 PNC - Make a Tzohar — Light in Darkness / Truth Opens / Middle Path (5 segs)

Opening verse: 'Make a tzohar (light/window) for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from above' (Genesis 6:16). Rashi explains that 'tzohar' means either a precious stone that illuminates or a window. Rabbeinu builds on this: it is known that 'around the wicked they walk' (Psalms 12) — the sitra achara (the Other Side, the side of spiritual evil) surrounds holiness, just as God made 'one opposite the other' (Ecclesiastes 7:14). This is especially true for someone who has already been drawn after transgressions — the darkness of the sitra achara is most dense around such a person. Yet the teaching comes to say: even within the darkest situation, there is a tzohar — a window of light, an opening — that can be found and used.

The way to find the tzohar even within deep darkness: speak the truth. Even a person who cannot pray with enthusiasm or proper spiritual arousal — even if his prayer feels flat and lifeless — if he says even one word in truth, according to what he genuinely is in that moment, then through that word of truth he begins to see the openings that exist within the darkness itself. The darkness is not total; it has internal windows. And by speaking truth, the person merits to exit from darkness to light.

'And the door of the ark you shall place in its side' — this means: make an opening even in those who are 'from the side,' that is, those who are from the Other Side, not from the side of holiness. The teaching here extends to the work of reaching even the most distant souls — those deeply embedded in the sitra achara. Even for them, an opening can be made, a door placed in their side, to arouse their hearts to return. The work of the tzaddik extends to such souls: to find and make the opening that allows them to begin to exit the darkness.

'Lower, second, and third' (the three decks of the ark) correspond to the three worlds: action (asiyah), formation (yetzirah), and creation (beriyah). The tzohar — the light-window — must penetrate all three levels. The work of spiritual illumination is not only in the highest realms but must reach down through all three 'decks' to the lowest level. This is the comprehensive nature of the ark's light: it illuminates from the very top (the cubit opening above) all the way down through all three levels.

The middle path is always best — as Avot (chapter 2) teaches: 'Torah is good with derech eretz' (wisdom and worldly engagement together). This corresponds to being between north and south — between the extremes. The ark is oriented to the middle path: the tzohar (window/light) placed at the top navigates between the extremes of north (representing wisdom) and south (representing wealth), holding them in proper balance. Prayer — which is the aspect of one's 'bed' (resting place/inner sanctuary) — must similarly be positioned in the middle, balanced between wisdom and material concerns, neither entirely detached nor entirely material.