As the curtain rises on this week's parsha, the scene is set by mention of the selfishly-living masses, and Noach, who felt divinely prompted to construct not a ship (sfinah or oniah in Hebrew), but rather a Teva (ark). Ah-ha. Teva, is also a word for "word." So, just the word teva implies a sense of harmonious coexistence, in that every word requires at least two letters working together. But then this theme is further addressed with the description of the inhabitants of the Teva, humans and animals, all different, all stuck together but managing to live and thrive together, mostly.
Needless to say, words like community and unity are on my mind when this parsha rolls around, as are all the ways we can consider community for ourselves. Doing our part as individuals to make the earth clean and healthy works for the greater of the global community (well, I suppose technically most positive actions benefit the global community in the buzzword sense, but I suppose I mean in the earthy sense here). Championing human rights causes supports the human community as does helping to develop and teach sustainable agriculture and turning to sustainable resources. Then, we can look at our national and ethnic and religious communities, our communities as men or women or singles or couples or special needs or survivors or gay, bi or straight or transgendered persons or however and wherever we find ourselves in the world. What about our cities? Our neighborhoods? Our city block? Our homes? Our families? Our… selves?
There are a lot of communities to support and it can be overwhelming. Do we work micro to macro or the reverse? Or, do we try to take on all of our various levels of community all at once?
Perhaps the description of Noach taking foreverrrrr (120 years) to build his Teva is meant to remind us to value persistent, determined effort, and perhaps to not dismiss and ridicule the small groups of individuals committed to making positive changes in the world, no matter how insurmountable their tasks seem. And, perhaps it serves at a reminder that daily mindfulness spreads light into all the different communities we each touch, and the more of us to live in ways that bring forth our daily best, the more light spreads, micro to macro, macro to micro. Back and forth, sent and reflected, all at once.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."” -Margaret Mead