Last week, I pulled down College Street, only to find it was closed. What was the city doing? As it turns out, they were replacing the old pipes leading into houses. These were the pipes that had lead fittings. It was a mess.
But it is so important. After a 100 years, these pipes were leaching lead into the drinking water. Lead poisoning is a known problem, especially for children under six. Lead poisoning occurs when lead builds up in the body. Even small amounts of lead can cause serious health issues. It can lead to serious mental and physical developmental delays. It can even be fatal. Often we think about it in terms of old lead based paint. Little kids love to gnaw on things like window sills and other wood. When you sell a house you need to certify that there is no lead paint.
We at CKI had already taken steps to mitigate as much of the risk as possible. We went to bottled water for drinking, added filters to the sinks in the kitchen for food preparation and dish washing and then we added a bottle filling station.
We are pleased that the city is taking the steps necessary to mitigate the risk. We all remember the photos from Flint, and we don’t want to become another Flint. Between April 25, 2014, and October 15, 2015, about 99,000 residents of Flint were exposed to lead when Flint switched its water source from the Detroit Water Authority and the Flint Water System. The risk fell disproportionately on people of color, and those who couldn’t afford access to good medical care, and good, pure drinking water. It illustrated something we talk about a lot. Who is in the camp and who is outside the camp.
Pure water is important. On this the Shabbat closest to Earth Day, it is important to talk about water.
In our parsha this week, we talk about how the priests would help people become pure again after a skin disease, how they could re-enter the camp. That had to do with mayyim hayyim, living water, pure water. As you may remember I worked at Mayyim Hayyim, the community based mikveh with the same name as this phrase. Water has the ability to clean, to sustain, to heal, to inspire.
I have begun taking a class from Institute for Jewish Spirituality, taught by Rabbi Toba Spitzer. She wrote a book called God is Here. She examines other ways to look at G-d besides all powerful, all knowing, all good. The first week we are looking at G-d as water. She gave us seven verses.
“God created humankind in Its image, in the image of God It created it, male and female did God create them. (Genesis 1:26) Up to 60% of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70% water, and the lungs are nearly 90% water.(U.S. Geological Survey)”
Since we are mostly water, and we are created in the image of the Divine, b’tzelem elohim, every time we look on the face of another, we are seeing G-d!
Her fifth and seventh Biblical example seem related to me: “As the deer longs for water streams, so does my soul long for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my bread day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul…O my God, my soul is cast down within me, therefore I think of You in this land of Jordan and Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the noise of Your cataracts; all Your waves and Your billows have swept over me.(Psalm 42-2-8)
You care for the earth and water it; You greatly enrich it with the river of God, which is fullof water…You water her furrows abundantly; You settle her ridges; You make it soft withshowers; You bless its growth. You crown the year with your goodness; and Your paths drop fatness. The pastures of the wilderness drip; and the hills rejoice on every side. (Psalm 65:8-13)
We long for water, we long for G-d to quench our thirst. And as G-d cares for the earth, we have an obligation also to care for the earth, for water, for G-d.
Passover, too has its references to water. The salt water with the parsley, reminiscent of the tears. Crossing the Sea of Reeds to freedom, out of the narrow places and yes, the newer tradition of Miriam’s Cup. Finding pure water to drink in the desert is hard to do. Moses struck a rock twice and was punished for it. Miriam, whose very name means bitter waters, had a knack for finding water. Many families now add a cup of pure, spring water to their tables to reflect Miriam’s well.
Lastly, it is during Passover, that we add the prayer for dew. On the first morning of Passover, we recite a special prayer, Tefilat Tal, the prayer for dew. Beginning next Shabbat in our community, it is reflected in our Amidah prayer. No longer do we add “mashive haruach u’morid ha geshem” Some add in their private meditation, “morid hatal, who brings down the dew”
The prayer is one of two times in the year when Jews recite special prayers for precipitation. The other is in the fall, at the end of the holiday of Sukkot, when a prayer for rain, Tefillat Geshem, is recited.
This prayer always reminds me of Honi the Circle Drawer. We usually think of Honi as the one who find the old man planting a carob tree. Why plant it if you will not benefit from it. The answer, for our children and grandchildren. But Honi gets his name because he prays to G-d for rain. He draws a circle and tells G-d he will not move until it rained. It began to drizzle. He told G-d he wasn’t satisfied. Then it began to pour. Still he was not satisfied. He wanted a calm rain. It then began to rain gently. (Ta’anit 19a and 23b)
In our pasha today, mayyim hayyim, living waters, were used by the priest to purify, to cleanse, to heal and to forgive. Our tradition is not the ohly one who sees water as a source of repentance and healing. In the Buddhist tradition, the Water Repentance liturgy was written during the Tang Dynasty and used by the imperial Dhama Master Wu Da to heal a growth on his knee that was shaped like a human face. Participants in this ceremony repent following this sutra. It is also apparently considered a beneficial act to share the merits of the ritual with the deceased. Sound familiar?
One of my favorite books for preparation for Yom Kippur, Repentance by Dr. Louis Newman contains this quote:
“Like water, teshuvah is both destructive and creative. It dissolves the person you were but simultaneously provides the moisture you need to grow anew. It erodes the hard edges of your willfulness but also refreshens your spirit. It can turn the tallest barriers of moral blindness into rubble while it also gently nourishes the hidden seeds of hope buried deep in your soul. Teshuvah, like water, has the power both to wash away past sin and to shower you with the blessing of a new future, if only you trust it and allow yourself to be carried along in its current.”
Water. It’s important.
When you pass through water,
I will be with you;
Through streams,
They shall not overwhelm you.
When you walk through fire,
You shall not be scorched;
Through flame,
It shall not burn you.
For I the ETERNAL am your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as a ransom for you,
Cush and Saba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious to Me,
And honored, and I love you,
I give people in exchange for you
And nations in your stead.
Fear not, for I am with you:
I will bring your folk from the East,
Will gather you out of the West;
Isaiah 43
On this Shabbat, this brings me hope. Next year in Jerusalem. Next year all the world redeemed.