YOSSI: Yoeli! I heard the most incredible thing!
YOELI: Did you hear that there is a sale on fruit?
YOSSI: No, although I think there may be, but that’s not the point!
YOELI: So what did you hear?
YOSSI: The Alshich and the other Tzadikim at that time taught us about the four heiligeh cities in Eretz Yisrael – Yerushalayim, Chevron, Tzfas, and Teveria. They all match up with one of the four basic elements of the world; Yerushalayim is FIRE, (the place of korbanos) Chevron is EARTH, (where the Avos are buried in the earth) Tzfas is AIR, (where the Arizal and others taught Kabbala) and Teveria is water… because of the Kinneret!
YOELI: That’s cool, Yos, but what’s so special about the Kinneret?
YOSSI: The Kinneret is actually a very heiligeh lake. The Arizal once took Rav Chaim Vital into the middle of the Kinneret and gave him a drink of the water, because the Arizal explained, the Medrash says the Be’er Shel Miriam is actually inside the Kinneret! Its water gave Rav Chaim Vital the energy to learn Torah in a deeper way.
YOELI: WOW! That’s no regular lake!
YOSSI: Care for a sip?
YOELI: I’m thinking something else! You know how we said Teveria is a city of Torah? Chazal say, “Ein Mayim Elah Torah.” Torah is compared to water! So as a city of “water,” Teveria has quite a lot of interesting water features!
YOSSI: Exactly, how amazing is that? So… about that drink, would you like some ice?
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 28.