Poem on Parashat Vaera: In Your Element
The Zohar on this parasha explains how the human being reflects HaShem and shows that Moses is its ideal example, which is why a Divine Name unknown to the Patriarchs is revealed to him. In this context, it teaches that we are made of four elements, “the source and root of all things,” interwoven with “the four winds of the world.” It adds that it is air that unites fire and water, allowing the earth (from which the first human was shaped) to draw from each of them (23b).
In ancient medicine, these were seen as four fundamental types of elements within us, helping us remain in balance. For example: earth (depression/meditation), water (desire/imagination), fire (anger/passion), and air (speech/expression). The last unites all the others, for each element manifests in our life through what we reveal. Air (also representing the soul), as mentioned, is the consciousness that rules over the other elements.
“The source and root of all things.”
Carried by the earth from which we were formed,
Every emanation of us is pure and unified.
From the dark, yet malleable earth, water springs,
Imagination trickles and ripples
According to the design of who we are.
A vein of light weds earth and sky in an instant of potentiality,
Awakening the moorland of inspiration,
Taking life in convergent shifting flames.
Fire and water rise from our depths in a waltz,
Accompanied by a wind more powerful than the earth.
Emotions, a pleasant warmth, flow into our steady heart.
Life breath energizes our entire being.
Past, present, and future united in a single Name.
Enlivened by soul, we let the wind pass through us.
