Like Water for Torah

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About the Title

When I first saw the movie “Like Water for Chocolate,” I wasn’t sure what the phrase meant. In my mind, being like “water for chocolate” means that you want chocolate so badly that you want it as if it were a necessity like water. It is something akin to a thirst or desire. So when I thought of the phrase “Like Water for Torah,” it evoked in me the feeling of passion for Torah learning. According to my research recently, the phrase is actually based on a Spanish saying. The saying can be interpreted in two ways. One way refers to a person being like boiling water which is ready to receive cocoa to make hot chocolate. This explanation is similar to my original interpretation because it is suggestive of being ready in an excited way to receive richness (of chocolate, or in this case, Torah). Another use of this phrase in Spanish speaking countries is to describe someone who is angry. Whether the teachings of our tradition make me feel love for the Torah-- or sometimes make me angry-- the teachings always leaving me wanting to learn more. It is my hope to pass on this passion to you.

Like Water for Torah

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From darkness to light

Parashat Chukat: There's nothing more whole than a broken heart

Parashat Korach: Know before whom you stand

Fighting the good fight- Parashat Shelach L'cha

Since when do the sages use bathroom humor?

Shavuot and the Power of Silence

Have a sense of humor for God's sake!

"There but for the grace of God go I"

Did God create Adam intersex?

The laws of counting the omer must have been written by men!

"Rabbi, you look like a doctor!"

Covering a multitude of sins

Where dreams come true (and I don't mean at the Disney parks!)