I’ve always been fascinated by the faculty of metaphors and always love to flesh out the meaning behind them and convert them into practical terms. What is a משל really? A mashal (and its obvious child, the nimshal/moral) is a device used to explain something that would otherwise not be understood clearly either due to depth of the idea or lack of comprehension in the listener. This is different than an example; for an example is a real life application of a certain idea whereas a metaphor is something that never was and never will be and is only for the purpose of explaining a certain idea that would otherwise be too difficult to grasp.

Let’s create a scenario and clarify: You want to explain to a young child how to understand fractions so you pose a question- you andfive of your friends are at a birthday party and there are 12 cookies. How many cookies will each child get if we distribute an equal amount to each child? Two. This scenario is merely just a way to simplify fractions by using an intermediary that is relatable to a child with which to explain something much bigger than cookies or pieces of pie.

In the above scenario, there are a few things happening simultaneously: the child learns how to equally split something into parts (tangible math) and how to share with his friends in a way that everyone gets a fair share of the cookies (the altruistic ideals of bein adam l’chaveiro). But it was never really about the cookies; rather, in fact, it was about the sharing all along. However, because of the intellectual limitations that a young child may have, they would need a relatable way to understand this concept. So the example of the cookies could’ve very well been lollipops or scoops of ice cream.

This is exactly what Hashem did. He created a world which is really complex and seems to not make sense sometimes (like the commandment to send away the mother bird or to wear strings on the edges of your four-corned garments) but they are never about the thing itself, rather the message which lies beneath the real-world object is meant to show us a spiritual message that will bring us closer to Him.

Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, in one of my favorite pieces of Michtav M’eliyahu (p.99) describes this idea as a child who is playing inside a cardboard box but imagines that it is a boat or a plane. Clearly, the box is still just a box, but in his understanding (imagination really) he is able to look past the real-life 28 x 12 inches and turn it into a 2 floor, 4-engine Airbus A380 with 600 passengers. He goes on to explain how as we get older, we are meant to leave behind the mashal and connect more to the nimshal but laments the one who walks away from life only holding onto the imaginary mashal without seeing past it at the bigger picture. However, this is unfortunately not so as is clearly evident when we see people who are still living in a dream-like reality.

As we get older, the stakes get higher for one who hasn’t yet stepped out of the cardboard box and still chases imaginary ideas such as honor, wealth or worldly pleasures when they and everything in our world is really only just a metaphor to understand something bigger. Eventually, of course, we are meant to reach a better understand of Hashem which is the ultimate and highest form of ‘understanding’ anything.

This is what is said about Shlomo Hamelech in Melachim 1 5:12

וַיְדַבֵּ֕רשְׁלֹ֥שֶׁתאֲלָפִ֖יםמָשָׁ֑לוַיְהִ֥ישִׁיר֖וֹחֲמִשָּׁ֥הוָאָֽלֶף׃

“He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five.”

Rashi explains and quotes from the Gemara Eruvin 21b that he was able to understand the Torah on 3,000 levels progressing from its simple meaning which is just a mashal for something deeper, which is really just a mashal for something deeper than that…… 3,000 times over. I can’t even begin to think a metaphor for a metaphor but I would imagine that once you pass the first few levels, it becomes exponentially more astounding and unbelievable and each level takes your breath away before you even get a chance to breathe again from the level before like an unrolling of a beautiful tapestry that never ends.

And so, we come to the oft-quoted principle which appears in Zohar (Parshas Terumah 161a) and in the Medrash Rabba Bereishis (3:5 & 64:8) which states histakel b’oraisa u’bara alma: He looked into the Torah and created the world. Commonly this is understood that Hashem first wrote the Torah (as also seen in Medrash Rabba Vayikra 19:1 where Shimon Ben Lakish says Hashem wrote the Torah 2,000 years before Creation) and only then when he began to create the world he looked into the Torah and used it as a ‘blueprint’ for what He was going to put into the world. This means, that just like if you were to point at a certain steel beam or copper tubing in a building and ask the architect what it’s purpose is they would tell you what structural or foundational purpose it serves, so too, the Original Architect put whatever was in the blueprint of the Torah into the world to serve as a means to accomplish a greater purpose.

Therefore, for example, the fruit that we know as an ‘esrog’ only exists because the Torah requires us to take an esrog (and three other species) on Sukkos. Had it not been need for this or any other purpose it would be unnecessary and extraneous and Hashem would’ve probably not created it. No engine in any car ever made has a nut or bolt that serves no purpose whatsoever. The moon only exists because we need to say Kiddush Levana on it every month and align our calendars with its varying phases. Surely it does not exist only to be a light source at night or be the force that causes the tides to rise and fall because the Infinite One could’ve created any number of other things to accomplish those needs (or create the world in a way that tides are not necessary).

It is upon this principle that I base much of my Torah thought and it is the primary lens with which I view whatever I see. This is the reason why the blog is called TorahWater. The Gemara in a few places (Baba Kama 17a, 82a) and Midrash Raba Shir Hashirim 1:19 and many other places compare Torah to water. Just as water is one of the primary sources of sustenance for every living thing, by way of a metaphor, Torah is the life source of the world, especially for the Jewish people. There are a million and one examples of this and I hope to investigate them in depth along with fire, earth and wind (which are the other three of the four foundations of everything physical that exists) but that is for another post. I would like to touch upon a few ideas just to get our minds going and study what water is in the context of its analogousness to Torah and how we are meant to view it as a metaphor for our lives. Let’s study a few properties of what water is and how everyday interactions with water can teach us about how to properly live Torah lives.

It’s commonly estimated that 70% the world’s surface is covered by water. Furthermore, the United States geological survey states that an estimated 96.5 of the world’s water is in the world’s oceans. These numbers are simply astounding. It’s interesting to note that 70 is the gematria of the letter ע and the Zohar in many places (Vayikra 20a and others) states that there are ayin panim l’Torah- there are 70 ‘faces’ i.e. different ways of understanding the Torah. It’s also commonly estimated that the human body is about 70% water as well.

It’s quite clear that nothing can exist without water. Space scientists always search for signs of water on other planets because life (or at least the kind of life that we are familiar with) cannot exist without water. Similarly, archaeologists will look for water reservoirs when unearthing what appears to be an ancient settlement or city (or look for the settlement when unearthing what appears to be a reservoir). A hungry lion or tiger will know to look for watering holes amid the vast plains of Africa because lunch will always be there.

Where do we find, however, the idea that the Torah will be the indicator of truth, that the Torah is the barometer for reality? Ask any contractor how they level the ground when building a foundation or finding the exact straightness of the painting they are hanging up: a yellow leveler with….. you guessed it, water in the middle. Water is the only thing that is reliable enough to use to measure straightness because it will always be level and never be curved or slanted. If you are on an airplane and the planes banks left or right, your cup of coffee will leaning to the side too but the water will remain flat and level.

Torah never changes. The truth of Torah is everlasting and will always be the lens through which the truth will prevail and remain the same no matter what is done with it. Although it might appear to be different because faulty logic or misconstrued interpretations of the Torah lead it to be slanted or twisted in any direction, but when you remove the water from its slated vessel it will always return to being completely flat and level. This is why it is customary to ask a rabbi or Torah scholar for counsel on things that are not necessarily spiritual or seemingly Torah-related such as business or relationship advice because they will always give an answer looking through Torah glasses which will result in the most preferable and beneficial course of action possible.

In a similar vein, any Torah idea or thought always needs to mesh with other Torah concepts because just like when two pure water droplets touch each other they become one, so too with two true Torah ideas are put together they become one. This is not so however of Torah ideas that are mixed with other biases or interests, i.e. mud or grease, they do not become one. They might overlap but will still be visibly impure and the newly formed droplet will be water-like, but have very obvious presence of other stuff mixed in.

Our minds are like a bucket. If we fill it up with water (Torah) it will be only water without any other influences. However, if we mix in some mud (sins) it will immediately get dirty. What’s tricky is that even a small, small amount of impurity can cause a large amount of pure water to be compromised. This is the nature of sinning. Even a small misdirected step or deliberate action off course can cause a previously unadulterated soul to become murky and impure. Similarly, when preparing flight paths for a spaceship, engineers need to be extremely precise because even a single fraction of a degree off can cause the rocket to fly millions of miles off course once it leaves the atmosphere traveling at 24,790 mph.

However, not all is lost. Once the bucket is full of this water-dirt mixture, it is possible to clean out the bucket by pouring in a tremendous amount of water in order to cause the mud to pour out. When one begins to do Teshuva they must learn a lot of extra Torah to filter out the affected water that was there originally. Only then can we see clearly again (as water is transparent) without being distorted by the impurity that previously tainted our outlook.

These are just some of the ideas about water that are as deep as… the ocean. If you don’t water a plant it’ll die after a few days. If you don’t drink water you will not survive more than a few days. Water is the most common thing we use to clean things. Water is used to cut through cement and can cut through steel when using a high-pressure water jet. Etc etc etc.

The presence of this metaphor is so commonplace and there are endless examples. I hope we will be able to study this and many other Torah thoughts with the principle of mashal in mind so that we can drink from the fountain of Torah and dive to the deepest of its depths.

As Rabbi Eliezer said right before he passed away, “I have learned much Torah, and I have not taken away (learned) from my teachers even as much as a dog lapping from the sea.” (Sanhedrin 68a)

Come my friend, have a drink.