Water represents the initial stage of every creative process
Why did Hashem specifically choose to destroy the world with a flood, as opposed to any other form of destruction? What’s the significance of water?
The Maharal explains that the fundamental nature of water is that it’s formless — it takes on the shape of its container. The ocean has no pathways or markers within it, unlike dry land.
As such, water represents the initial stage of every creative process. Before something is expressed and acquires shape, it resides in a formless and amorphous state. Only afterward does a physical shape emerge. That’s why, during the original creation of the world, there was initially only water. (Rav Shmuel Reichman)
Genes are funny things. Mix and match and the results are an adorable boy with his grandfather’s eyes and his mother’s nose. Mix some more and you’ve got a daughter who looks just like her first cousin, except said cousin looks just like her first cousin on the other side who isn’t related to your daughter at all. My girls and I love discussing new babies’ faces: his mother’s chin, my great-grandfather’s eyebrows.
Create a free account to keep reading.
