You and Water Are One and the Same
We are alive when we flow from a source of life.
Dear Healthy Jew,
Whenever I bump into a reader of The Healthy Jew on the street or in the park, I ask them which articles have particularly resonated with them. This helps me understand what type of content you appreciate.
Perhaps one of the most common answers is, “That article last summer on drinking meals of water was fascinating and really helped me.”
But when I recently revisited that post, I realized two things:
It’s way too long (like many of my posts were until embarrassingly recently).
THJ’s readership has more than doubled since I first sent out the post in August 2023.
So as the summer heats up, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicting that 2024 may be the hottest year on record, we’ll return to the crucial role that water plays in healthy Jewish living.
This week we’ll look at the deep meaning of water, and next week I’ll suggest how and when to drink it.
Springs of Life
Whenever scientists search for evidence of life in outer space – whether on Mars, our moon, or Jupiter’s moon, Europa - the first thing they look for is water.
One reason is that water is chemistry’s universal solvent, so it’s uniquely capable of holding and transporting nutrients all around. Water also supports cellular structure and participates in countless biochemical reactions.1
Another reason, perhaps, is that life’s essence is a sparkling spring of water flowing from hidden depths out into the world.
Let me explain…
Dead, inanimate objects have specific forms and keep them until they’re destroyed. For example, a table is built to be a table, and it remains a table until something ends its tablehood, say, a fire.
Living beings, however, receive new life every moment.
Last minute’s breath won’t oxygenate blood now. Yesterday’s meal won’t satisfy today; its nutrients are long gone. Closer to life’s essence, our soul constantly imbues our bodies with new life, and our minds (hopefully) direct our movements.
When beheld in depth, life is not a noun but a verb – the perpetual flow of existence, emanating from the inside outwards.
Life itself spurs the desire for more life. If I’m alive, that means I want more life, because life is the uninterrupted flow of becoming alive. If I don’t want more life but am satisfied with staying the same forever, then I’m already dead as a table.
This life-desire is comfortable, natural, and neutral: it seeks nothing but the continuous unfolding of life’s desire. And it’s not some abstract, spiritual concept, but a practical way to transform desires and drives from self-nullifying to self-perpetuating, as I’ve explained here:
Flow of Life
Because life means existing in the constant flow of becoming alive, the Torah - the Book of Life - portrays life as a flowing spring emanating from God, and contrasts it with a blocked, muddy pool that has lost its true Source.
For my [God’s] nation [Israel] has done two evils: they have abandoned me, the source of live water – in order to dig for themselves broken pits that won’t hold water. (Jeremiah 2:13)
Yet another reason to hike through the Land of Israel during its hot, rainless summers. On the trail, we’ll encounter both types of water: cool, refreshing, and clean springs – and muddy and stagnant pools, covered with slime and swarming with flies. It’s the same water, but without a source, water quickly loses its life.
Unsurprisingly, walking through God’s world has much to teach about God’s world.
And so is the story of our own lives…
60%-75% of our body weight is water, and that water is always flowing out through breathing, sweating, and urinating. To remain alive, we must regularly receive new water.
Dehydration begins from losing only 4% of body water, and 15% can be fatal. Similarly, it’s possible to survive a month without eating – but not more than a few days without drinking.2
If you think about it, we are almost literally walking streams of living water, always drinking from life’s Source, always flowing onwards into the world.
Our blood - which is mostly water - constantly flows out from the heart, circulating to every nook and cranny. Not for naught do we talk of the blood-stream.
So next time you drink water, notice how you’re connecting with the flow of your own life.
To learn how and when I suggest drinking water, check out the next post here:
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/uncategorized/2019/biological-roles-of-water-why-is-water-necessary-for-life/
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