Avos 1:8: Bad Waters

 

 Atalyon said: Sages, be careful with your words lest you deserve to be exiled and are exiled to a place of bad waters. The students who come after you will drink of these waters and die, and G-d's Name will be desecrated.

We noted in the last lesson that every saying from Avtalyon that had been preserved deals with "water". Today we will attempt to resolve this fascinating conundrum. We will show that "bad waters" is linked to death and "exile".

We start with Kings II ;2:-18-19.

יט  וַיֹּאמְרוּ אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר, אֶל-אֱלִישָׁע, הִנֵּה-נָא מוֹשַׁב הָעִיר טוֹב, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲדֹנִי רֹאֶה; וְהַמַּיִם רָעִים, וְהָאָרֶץ מְשַׁכָּלֶת.	19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha: 'Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; but the water is bad, and the land miscarrieth.
tכ  וַיֹּאמֶר, קְחוּ-לִי צְלֹחִית חֲדָשָׁה, וְשִׂימוּ שָׁם, מֶלַח; וַיִּקְחוּ, אֵלָיו.	20 And he said: 'Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein.' And they brought it to him.
כא  וַיֵּצֵא אֶל-מוֹצָא הַמַּיִם, וַיַּשְׁלֶךְ-שָׁם מֶלַח; וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה, רִפִּאתִי לַמַּיִם הָאֵלֶּה--לֹא-יִהְיֶה מִשָּׁם עוֹד, מָוֶת וּמְשַׁכָּלֶת.	21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said: 'Thus saith the LORD: I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or miscarrying.'

So bad waters cause the earth to miscarry and its inhabitants to die and require a healing. This enigmatic acccount is the only place in Tanach in which the exact expression "Mayim Rayim" that is used in our mishna is also used (Numbers Ch.5 uses the expression "waters of bitter things", see also Shemos 15:23). Significantly the healing of bad waters reported in this passage is also the first miracle that Elisha performs after he takes over the prophetic mantle from Eliyahu. Why are the waters "bad"?  "Waters are bad because in them are mixed in particulates that are foreign, salty, not drinkable, such as (for example is the case of) seawater, and its healing is if they become purified and the salt is removed from them (Malbim). "  In other words, what makes the waters "bad" is admixtures of foreign materials within them. As in our mishna, in this Biblical passage drinking these "bad" waters leads to death.

The symbolism of "water" as representing Torah is well known.

The words of Torah are likened to water, as it is written,

O all who thirst, come for water, (Is. 55:1)

Just as water goes from one end of the earth to the other, so does Torah go from one end of the earth to the other;

Just as water is a life source, so is Torah a source of life;

Just as water is free to all, so is Torah a free commodity;

Just as water comes from heaven, so too is the Torah's origin in heaven;

Just as water makes many sounds, so is the Torah heard in many voices;

Just as water quenches one's thirst, so does Torah satisfy the soul;

Just as water cleanses the body from impurity, so does Torah cleanse the soul;

Just as water originates in tiny drops and accumulates into mighty streams and rivers, so the Torah is acquired word by word today, verse by verse tomorrow;

Just as water descends from a high altitude, so does Torah depart from haughty individuals and remain in individuals who are humble and modest;

Just as water is not kept in silver or gold vessels, but the simplest [clay], so Torah is retained by those who are simple;

Just as a scholar is not embarrassed to ask a student, 'pass me some water,' a scholar is not embarrassed to learn from a student a chapter, a verse, a word, or even a letter;

Just as someone who does not know how to swim is drowned in water, so is Torah - if one doesn't know how to 'swim' one can drown in it. (Shir HaShirim Rabbah I:19)

See also Bava Kama 82a, Taanis 7a etc.

It appears then that "bitter waters" can symbolize Torah which has another element mixed into it, an element that makes it bitter.( I am assuming now that "bad water" and "biter water" carry the same inner meaning.)

"The holy book Degel Machane Efraim writes in parshas Masai that he heard from the Besht...that in our Holy Torah there is "sweet waters" and "bitter waters".  See, all the Tannaim and Amoraim and tsaddikim from the time of Moshe Rabbeinu and that will yet be until Moshaich comes, all learn from the Torah in the way upon which light dwells. On the other hand, heretics.. bring proof from the Torah itself for the opposite (of what it really means)....so this is how Torah contains also "bitter waters".(AL Hageula v'al Hatemurah, 55)

Torah which is not purified from its admixtures, to take out the bad within it and to remain with only good within it, is said to be in exile. Tanya explains that in our time Torah is in exile in the sense that any question or concept contains within it different possibilites. Let's for example consider a halachic question of whether an item is permitted to be eaten or not. At first the correct conclusion and the potentially mistaken conclusion are mixed together. Until it is resolved and the two are separated and a clear conclusion is reached , Torah is a prisoner within kelippah of Nogah, in which good and bad is intermixed. Only after a halachic conclusion is accomplished, can we say that the "forbidden" has been separated from the "permitted" and this piece of Torah has been redeemed.

To summarize, Avtalyon warns the teachers, the wise ones, to be careful in how they transmit their knowledge. They must be careful to explain everything, lest inaccurate wording will lead their students to leave sections of the Torah unclarified and allow incorrect conclusions, a state of internal exile, that leads to death.

 Atalyon said: Sages, be careful with your words lest you deserve to be exiled and are exiled to a place of bad waters. The students who come after you will drink of these waters and die, and G-d's Name will be desecrated.

We noted in the last lesson that every saying from Avtalyon that had been preserved deals with "water". Today we will attempt to resolve this fascinating conundrum. We will show that "bad waters" is linked to death and "exile".

We start with Kings II ;2:-18-19.

יט  וַיֹּאמְרוּ אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר, אֶל-אֱלִישָׁע, הִנֵּה-נָא מוֹשַׁב הָעִיר טוֹב, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲדֹנִי רֹאֶה; וְהַמַּיִם רָעִים, וְהָאָרֶץ מְשַׁכָּלֶת.	19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha: 'Behold, we pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth; but the water is bad, and the land miscarrieth.
tכ  וַיֹּאמֶר, קְחוּ-לִי צְלֹחִית חֲדָשָׁה, וְשִׂימוּ שָׁם, מֶלַח; וַיִּקְחוּ, אֵלָיו.	20 And he said: 'Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein.' And they brought it to him.
כא  וַיֵּצֵא אֶל-מוֹצָא הַמַּיִם, וַיַּשְׁלֶךְ-שָׁם מֶלַח; וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה-אָמַר יְהוָה, רִפִּאתִי לַמַּיִם הָאֵלֶּה--לֹא-יִהְיֶה מִשָּׁם עוֹד, מָוֶת וּמְשַׁכָּלֶת.	21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt therein, and said: 'Thus saith the LORD: I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or miscarrying.'

So bad waters cause the earth to miscarry and its inhabitants to die and require a healing. This enigmatic acccount is the only place in Tanach in which the exact expression "Mayim Rayim" that is used in our mishna is also used (Numbers Ch.5 uses the expression "waters of bitter things", see also Shemos 15:23). Significantly the healing of bad waters reported in this passage is also the first miracle that Elisha performs after he takes over the prophetic mantle from Eliyahu. Why are the waters "bad"?  "Waters are bad because in them are mixed in particulates that are foreign, salty, not drinkable, such as (for example is the case of) seawater, and its healing is if they become purified and the salt is removed from them (Malbim). "  In other words, what makes the waters "bad" is admixtures of foreign materials within them. As in our mishna, in this Biblical passage drinking these "bad" waters leads to death.

The symbolism of "water" as representing Torah is well known.

The words of Torah are likened to water, as it is written,

O all who thirst, come for water, (Is. 55:1)

Just as water goes from one end of the earth to the other, so does Torah go from one end of the earth to the other;

Just as water is a life source, so is Torah a source of life;

Just as water is free to all, so is Torah a free commodity;

Just as water comes from heaven, so too is the Torah's origin in heaven;

Just as water makes many sounds, so is the Torah heard in many voices;

Just as water quenches one's thirst, so does Torah satisfy the soul;

Just as water cleanses the body from impurity, so does Torah cleanse the soul;

Just as water originates in tiny drops and accumulates into mighty streams and rivers, so the Torah is acquired word by word today, verse by verse tomorrow;

Just as water descends from a high altitude, so does Torah depart from haughty individuals and remain in individuals who are humble and modest;

Just as water is not kept in silver or gold vessels, but the simplest [clay], so Torah is retained by those who are simple;

Just as a scholar is not embarrassed to ask a student, 'pass me some water,' a scholar is not embarrassed to learn from a student a chapter, a verse, a word, or even a letter;

Just as someone who does not know how to swim is drowned in water, so is Torah - if one doesn't know how to 'swim' one can drown in it. (Shir HaShirim Rabbah I:19)

See also Bava Kama 82a, Taanis 7a etc.

It appears then that "bitter waters" can symbolize Torah which has another element mixed into it, an element that makes it bitter.( I am assuming now that "bad water" and "biter water" carry the same inner meaning.)

"The holy book Degel Machane Efraim writes in parshas Masai that he heard from the Besht...that in our Holy Torah there is "sweet waters" and "bitter waters".  See, all the Tannaim and Amoraim and tsaddikim from the time of Moshe Rabbeinu and that will yet be until Moshaich comes, all learn from the Torah in the way upon which light dwells. On the other hand, heretics.. bring proof from the Torah itself for the opposite (of what it really means)....so this is how Torah contains also "bitter waters".(AL Hageula v'al Hatemurah, 55)

Torah which is not purified from its admixtures, to take out the bad within it and to remain with only good within it, is said to be in exile. Tanya explains that in our time Torah is in exile in the sense that any question or concept contains within it different possibilites. Let's for example consider a halachic question of whether an item is permitted to be eaten or not. At first the correct conclusion and the potentially mistaken conclusion are mixed together. Until it is resolved and the two are separated and a clear conclusion is reached , Torah is a prisoner within kelippah of Nogah, in which good and bad is intermixed. Only after a halachic conclusion is accomplished, can we say that the "forbidden" has been separated from the "permitted" and this piece of Torah has been redeemed.

To summarize, Avtalyon warns the teachers, the wise ones, to be careful in how they transmit their knowledge. They must be careful to explain everything, lest inaccurate wording will lead their students to leave sections of the Torah unclarified and allow incorrect conclusions, a state of internal exile, that leads to death.