I am a CASA, a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate for Youth in Dependency (as are six additional members of Temple Beth Sholom). We were appointed officers of the Orange County Juvenile Court after an extensive period of study, training, background, security, and safety checks. Each of us is matched with one youth in the dependency system (a youth usually under the guardianship of the court in foster care, in the delinquency system, or under protection in a family member’s home). Our role is to advocate for, mentor, and support our youth as the one constant in their lives, through bi-weekly outings, working with their “wraparound” care teams (educational, psycho-social, medical, legal, etc). Studies have shown that youth who have been paired with a CASA have a higher rate of graduating from high school and becoming successful with a sustaining life-plan. There are currently 200 youth waiting to be matched with a CASA (learn more about CASA and how you can volunteer here: CASA of Orange County)
My youth is a young teen boy, J, and is about to enter 8th grade. He has experienced great trauma in his short life: a lifetime of poverty, neglect, great emotional abuse, and parents who reject him over and over. This is his second time in foster care.
He could have turned to a life of despondency and depression, drugs, gangs, and crime. (His birth family lives in a community with many gangs). Yet J is one of the nicest, kindest, most polite teens I know. He is filled with gratitude for everything he has, for all he receives, for everything that others do with him and for him. He greets me each time I see him with a smile that goes from ear to ear and lights up his entire face. My heart explodes as I experience his joy in the smallest things: eating a burger, exploring somewhere he’s never visited before, sharing about his twice-weekly visits with his mother (the highlight of his week).
I admire many of J’s character traits: his resiliency, tenacity, positive outlook on life, ability to make friends wherever he is. One of his traits that inspires me is his love of books and learning. He has great passion for reading, especially about history. It gives him an opportunity to explore beyond the small confines of his world, expand his mind, understand that great potential does exist – even when challenges present themselves.
Why am I sharing this with you today, other than trying to encourage some of you to apply to become CASAs as well? For two reasons: yesterday, I was present at a meeting where J was offered some “rewards” by a social worker for achieving an accomplishment. He could have asked for anything: an electronic device, a bicycle, something fun. He chose: books, and then clothes (sadly, his foster family does not use their funds they receive for him to provide him with clothes). My heart was full of emotion hearing this.
Second, in our Torah portion this week, Chukat, “water” is mentioned 22 times. “Water?!” you may think. “What does this have to do with books and CASA?!” (Tomorrow morning at our 9:15 am Torah study, I am teaching specifically about women and water as a life-giving force). In Chukat, Miriam dies and the Torah tells us that immediately following her death, “there was no water” (Numbers 20: 1-2). The rabbis of old teach us that there was a well of water that followed Miriam when she was alive. It physically nourished the Israelites. It is also symbolic: Miriam spiritually nurtured and sustained the Israelites with her knowledge. Just as our bodies crave water to thrive, so too do our minds and spirits thirst for knowledge to grow and flourish. So water becomes a powerful symbolic image for Torah, learning, and growth. People cannot survive without water. The Jewish people cannot survive without Torah.
The Torah is often likened to water. For example, in Isaiah 55:1, we read, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” This invitation is universal, extending to all who seek wisdom and understanding. Just as water seeks to fill every crevice and nourish every root, so too should our efforts in education reach every child, especially those most in need.
We have so many analogies of learning being equated with water in our Jewish tradition. The Book of Proverbs teaches 18:4: "The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook." Here, wisdom is likened to a flowing stream, constantly moving and renewing itself, offering life and clarity to all who seek it.
For the Jewish people, Torah is as vital as water to humans. They are both indispensable sources of life. Without Torah, Jewish life would face extinction. That is why when the Romans waged war on Israel, R. Akiva defied the Roman prohibition to teach Torah after the defeat of the Bar Kochba rebellion. Jews would perish like fish out of water. Even after his arrest, he continued to teach his students from prison. His martyrdom served as an indelible tribute to the primacy of Torah and learning (B. Talmud, Berachot 61b). The image of water as a metaphor for Torah became a staple of rabbinic literature.
Torah also became synonymous with “books” in general and learning. Books are also portable: Jews could be exiled from the land of Israel, or from wherever we were living, yet we could always take our sacred books and texts with us where ever we went. We are “the people of the Book.”
So when I reflect on the symbolism of water and Torah from parshat Chukat this week, along with J’s love of books and learning, I am reminded that both J and the Jewish people share a great deal in common: our thirst for knowledge is akin to a traveler in the desert, yearning for the life-giving waters that sometimes seem out of reach when we are faced with difficult circumstances. Yet, our desire to learn and grow remains undiminished, embodying a profound truth about the human spirit's resilience and capacity for hope.
We learn the value of persistence and the unyielding pursuit of wisdom. Our journeys reminds us that the quest for knowledge is not just about the accumulation of facts, but about seeking understanding, nurturing curiosity, and fostering a spirit of inquiry – for the purpose of growth. It challenges us to reflect on our own relationship with knowledge and how we can better support those who strive for it against all odds.
In this light, our role as a community becomes clear. We must be the vessels that carry and distribute this life-giving water, ensuring that it reaches those in need. Whether through mentorship and advocacy– for youth in dependency like J, or through whatever means possible to help make our world a better place (like the good and important work of our Kulanu Task force). We can help quench the thirst for knowledge and illuminate the path to a brighter future.
As we move forward, may we, too, become streams of living water, ever-flowing and ever-giving, nurturing the minds and spirits of all who thirst for wisdom.
