While the meaning of תיבה is normally "ark", it also means "word". Sefas Emes says that the "words" of one’s prayer & Torah study save him from the deluge of crass materialism and hedonistic obsession that floods the world.
The Zohar tells us that the name Noach alludes to the day of Shabbos, which is a day of מנוחה , rest. Just as Noach saved the world from being totally destroyed by the flood , so, too, the Shabbos saves us from being totally encompassed in mundane daily pursuits.
The גרי"ז tells a story of a girl that grew up secular & decided to become religious. However, her parents were against this lifestyle change and wanted her to act like they do so she quietly & secretly kept the Torah as best she could. Her parents owned a housewares store from which they earned a living.
One Friday, they came to her & said that they had to go out of town for a day & wanted her to open the store on Saturday. Not wanting to cause conflict, she didn't say anything & her parents left. Right before Shabbos, she went to the store & prepared whatever she could so that she could avoid desecrating the Shabbos. She turned on the lights & set up the store for the next day before Shabbos arrived. On Shabbos, she walked to the store & sat there with her siddur praying that no one came in so she could keep the Shabbos.
For most of the day her prayers worked & no one came in. She didn’t know how she would explain the empty register to her parents. They surely wouldn't believe that no one came in all day. Then, some time before the end of Shabbos, a man came in, started looking around & found a five dollar item that he liked. He asked her the price. She, not wanting to conduct business on Shabbos, told him it was five hundred dollars so that he would just leave her alone. The man was incredulous. How can this cheap item be five hundred dollars?? She said that if you don't want to buy it, you don't have to. He really wanted it & tried to get her to lower the price but she wouldn't budge. He left; then came back a few times, each time he offered a little more. She wouldn't budge and said, “just wait a little & my parents will be back so you can deal with them. She kept pushing him off so that she wouldn't have to desecrate Shabbos.
However, the man wouldn't give up until she said, “just wait a half hour & then we can talk”. The man was adamant, however, and said, “I'll give you double what you asked; for just sell it to me.” As they were arguing back and forth, the end of Shabbos arrived. She then said, “ok, I can sell it to you now but only at the five dollar price. The reason I asked for such an exorbitant price was that I didn't want to sell on Shabbos. Now that it’s over, I can sell it to you at the regular price. The man however, said, “I can't do that; once I said I would pay a price, I have to pay it.” Her praise to Hashem was twofold. First, she didn't have to desecrate the Shabbos & second, she made a tremendous profit.
When she told her parents what happened & showed them that keeping the Shabbos actually made more money than they made in a month, they, too, saw the beauty of Shabbos & that they wouldn't lose out.
The אוצר התורה explains: the ark had a precious stone to light up the surrounding physical darkness. We, in turn, must take the day of Shabbos & use it to cast a light on our earthly existence. The power of Shabbos to be our safe haven from the everyday pursuits is even alluded to in the numerical value of the words of the Posuk. צהר equals 295, תבה equals 407, the combined value of 702 is the same value of the word שבת at 702.
We have to be able to tap into the power of Shabbos & totally disengage ourselves from the world around us. We have to appreciate that we will never lose out because of it. For that one day, let the spiritual uplifting surround us & last throughout the week to take us to new heights in our service of Hashem!
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