Mississippi Kite : Rooted in Air

This is a Mississippi Kite. This magnificent beast is a sublime combination of strength and agility. Kites are so named for their ability to maintain an unmoving position in the air. They don’t soar; they don’t flap their wings to hover. They poise their powerful wings to catch the buffeting updrafts, simultaneously making imperceptible tweaks to let “excess” wind pass them by. Their success in constancy depends on instinctive judgment honed over time.

Two beautiful metaphors illuminate facets of Torah. We are taught that Torah is a Tree of Life. Those who hold fast to it will be happy - rooted, given strength, and securely anchored in an often tumultuous world. So too, we are taught to see Torah as water. Is there a poetic image more evocative than Moses praying, “May my teaching drip as the rain, My words flow as the dew….”? Water’s gentle flow, essential to all life, universal, picks its route to the inevitably suitable place. These two visions are as different as they are perfectly apt.

Even beyond the explicit mitzvot, Torah is a guide to living. To sustain our place in life requires both the strength of the tree and the malleability of the water. We must exercise our resolve and determination, coupled with our flexibility and discernment of the battles not worth fighting. Paradoxically, we realize that the stronger the winds in our faces, the more uplift we have. To find the balance, we turn to Torah. Our judgment, no less than the Kite’s, informs us what we should steadfastly oppose and what to let unconcernedly flow by.