Bereishis/Noah - Flood

The main theme of chapter Noach is the Flood. What spiritual work does it represent?
The word "Flood" in the Holy Tongue is מַּבּֽוּל - "Mabul". The first letter (on the right) - מ mem, can be deciphered as מים - maim, water. Then the second and fourth letters ב-ל, when rearranging the order, we get לב - "lev" - heart. And finally, the 3rd letter is ו - vav, which symbolizes the descent downward, since the writing of this letter begins with the letter yud י, on top of the line, and continues to the bottom of the line. Thus, in Kabbalah, this letter symbolizes the descent of the light of wisdom of Torah (letter Yud י) into the lower layers of creation. It turns out that the very word מַּבּֽוּל "Mabul" tells us its inner story, that the Torah, the Divine light of wisdom, is like water, and through the letter ו - vav, descends down, between the letters ל-ב, the heart, as if into its very center to get מַּבּֽוּל, i.e. the waters of the Torah's wisdom descend and penetrate the center of the heart.

And where do we see this? There are two more stories about water.

The first, in the Agadah "Avos D'Rebbe Nosson", which tells about Rabbi Akiva, that when he was 40 years old and being uneducated, he observed how splashes of dripping water drilled a hole in a solid rock. He concluded that if water can drill a hole in a rock, then all the more so the words of the Torah can drill a way into his heart. He began to diligently study Torah and became the greatest sage in Israel.

The second reference is found in the prophet Isaiah 11: 9, "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God, as waters cover the seas." But this will be at the end of days, at the time of the righteous Mashiach.

It seems that the same principle of descending waters is at work here. And all of these happen in the human heart. Drop by drop, day by day, while studying, praying, listening to the lessons of the sages of the Torah, drop by drop penetrate into the heart, words that arouse love and fear of God, the desire to understand Him, accept His law, and rejoice in serving Him. And just as Noah built the ark for 120 years, so a human, for 120 years of his life on earth, under the influence of drops of Torah wisdom, like Rabbi Akiva, drills in his heart a dwelling place for the Creator, until within the heart is opened heaven and abyss, and fill his heart with infinite and eternal knowledge of God, as waters cover the seas.

May it be soon in our day.