The Rebbe reminds us that our purpose begins when we leave the safety of our “Ark” and illuminate the world with faith and joy.
From Silence to Sound
Recently, a touching story was published in the Israeli media about a Chabad couple, both of whom are hearing impaired — Rabbi Baruch and Rivka Wilhelm — who underwent surgery to receive a cochlear implant, an electronic device that enables the hearing-impaired and the deaf to hear. The surgery was highly successful.
Rivka, 56, has been hearing-impaired since birth, and Baruch, 61, was injured as a child in a car accident that left him almost completely deaf. “I was born with a hearing disability,” says Rivka. “As a teenager, I traveled to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and when I realized that I couldn’t hear him — that’s when I understood the depth of what I was missing. Even then, I decided — I will only marry someone who truly understands me.”
Baruch also shares his side of their story, which began as a matchmaking suggestion. At first, he refused the idea — he didn’t want a partner dealing with the same challenge. But in the end, the Rebbe gave his blessing for the match. “Our lives took place in a world of silence,” he says. “At first, I said — it’s not enough that I can’t hear, she can’t either? But very soon I realized that this was meant for me. Within a week, I made the best decision of my life.”
The two married, their children grew up, and the couple continued to face life with their hearing difficulties. The COVID period, which brought with it face masks that made lip reading impossible, became the trigger for the surgery that would change their lives.
“I realized I needed a more significant solution than what had been offered to me so far,” describes Rivka. “A speech therapist suggested I consider an implant. I knew the technology had advanced, and it felt like the right step.” Baruch was still hesitant — until Rivka took the initiative: “I told him, ‘I’m going for it. Are you coming with me?’ And he did.”
They decided to take the step and turned to Professor Sharon Avnat-Tamir from the public medical center Assuta Ashdod. The surgeries were successful, and then came the most emotional moment of all. “We just burst into tears,” Baruch recalls. “Suddenly I heard sounds I never knew existed. At home, on Shabbat, I heard a ‘tick tick.’ I thought it was a leaky faucet — until I realized it was the ticking of the clock. That’s a moment I’ll never forget.” Rivka adds, “Baruch came home from synagogue in tears, after hearing the prayers clearly. For us, being able to tell people that it’s possible — that’s our sense of mission.”
It’s a deeply moving story, but what makes this couple unique is not only the successful surgery, but the long journey they’ve taken together — decades of shared challenges, love, faith, and joy, which led to the building of a beautiful family — five healthy children, and a source of inspiration to anyone facing personal struggles.
As a child, Baruch received a hearing aid so he could hear somewhat, but in those days there were almost no other hearing-impaired children, especially in Jerusalem. He stood out in class, and it was a difficult experience. At age twelve, his parents — devoted Chabad chassidim — decided to travel with him to the Rebbe to ask for a blessing.
When they entered for yechidus (a private audience), Baruch’s mother burst into tears. The Rebbe asked her, “Why are you crying?” She explained that Baruch didn’t want to wear his hearing aid — he wanted to hear like everyone else. The Rebbe replied, “I understand him — he’s embarrassed by it. But he needs to wear the hearing aid and do so with joy. If he wears it with happiness — he will succeed. And it will not harm his chances for a good Shidduch.”
The mother added that Baruch wanted to stay in New York until he could hear well.
The Rebbe answered, “Here, it’s a different language, and he has no friends. He needs to return to the Holy Land — that’s his language.”
Then the Rebbe asked the parents to step out, and Baruch remained alone with him.
He handed the Rebbe a note with his personal request. While reading it, the Rebbe said to him, “You must be joyful and glad of heart.” Then he lifted his holy eyes and asked, “Do you hear me? Do you hear me?” “Yes, I hear” Baruch answered.
The Rebbe continued, “You must continue to wear the hearing aid and be joyful and glad of heart — and you will succeed. Just as some people need glasses to see, there are those who need a device to hear. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has their own challenge to face.”
Baruch then asked the Rebbe for a blessing to be able to hear well. The Rebbe answered, “You must be joyful — and you will succeed.” When Baruch left the audience, he felt that the Rebbe had given him incredible strength to face his challenge. He internalized the message — that when a person is joyful, he can overcome any difficulty. Baruch grew up, got married, and built a wonderful family — with five healthy children and great happiness in his heart.
When G-d Said “Go”
In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Noach, we read about the Flood. After almost a year in which Noach and his family were closed inside the Ark, the earth finally dried, and G-d said to Noach: “Go out from the Ark.” The obvious question is — why did G-d need to tell Noach to leave the Ark? Anyone who had been trapped for an entire year on a ship full of animals, beasts, and birds would have surely jumped out the moment they could!
As the Rebbe explains in a talk: Seemingly, it would have been easier and more comfortable for Noach to remain in the Ark. While in the Ark, he served G-d day and night — as it says, Noach was “occupied with the care of the animals and fulfilling G-d’s mission.” Moreover, since he was closed and isolated in the Ark, protected from all the matters that could distract a person from serving his Creator, and since even his food was provided for him in the Ark, he could have devoted himself entirely to Divine service.
On the other hand, going out into the world meant descending to a lower, coarser place. The world had just been destroyed by the Flood, and now it needed G-d’s promise and oath that there would never again be a Flood, that there would be peace in the world.
And yet, G-d commanded him: “Go out from the Ark.” Go out and act in the world. The goal is — “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” Engage with the physical, material world so that it will not remain empty and chaotic, but become filled with G-d’s creations.
Even regarding the animals and beasts in the Ark — their state there was loftier than it would be outside. While in the Ark, they received their food directly from Noach. So when he came to release them, they “cried out” and said, “We don’t want to leave the Ark!” Yet they, too, were commanded to leave — even “if they do not wish to go out, you shall bring them out yourself,” against their will, so that the world would once again be inhabited.
The directive is that each and every one must go out from his own “Ark” — from the higher and loftier matters in which he is enclosed — and descend into the world: “Fill the earth,” to the lowest level in the world, worldly matters, and even to the lowest of the low, to places where for a long time the word of G-d has not reached, and moreover, to places where the word of G-d has never reached — a state of spiritual poverty.
And “subdue it,” meaning that the Jew must conquer the place, so that even there he will instill Judaism. Through this, even there he will remain firm in the observance of Torah and mitzvos, until he fulfills the commandment that is “the entire Torah in its entirety” — “Love your fellow as yourself.” Through this he will bring about the spreading of Judaism and the spreading of the wellsprings outward, and he will influence others.
(Toras Menachem 5749, vol. 1, p. 273)
In simple terms — what happened here is that Noach became used to the Ark.
When he opened the door and looked outside, he saw a world utterly destroyed. Nothing remained — no trees, no houses, no people, no animals — nothing. Everything was gone.
Noach stood before a completely empty world, and he was the one who had to go out and start everything anew. But he didn’t have the strength, the energy, or the courage. He felt hopeless. How could he possibly do it?
And so, G-d commanded him: “Go out from the Ark.” This was not only a command — it was, first and foremost, an empowerment from G-d. G-d was telling him: You can do this. You will succeed.
And so it is for every person — there are moments in life when one feels despair and says to oneself, How can I possibly do this? It will never work. But then one must listen to the Divine voice speaking through the weekly Torah portion: “Go out from the Ark” — leave your comfort zone, the familiar and the safe. You have a mission in this world.
And the formula for success? Be joyful.
If you live with joy — you will succeed, you will grow, and you will overcome everything.