These are the famous words written about 200 years ago by poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. These words, so often quoted (with a slight modification), were once again brought to mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastating result in New Orleans and surrounding areas. What a tragic sight it was to see innocent people, surrounded by the water of hurricane and flood, and yet suffering (and dying) from thirst.

Even though it is impossible to live without water, too often water alone will not save us. Water which is contaminated (in the case of the flood) or from the ocean (in the poem) is undrinkable, and therefore potentially worse than no water at all.

Our love/hate relationship with water is as old as time itself. God’s creation of the world involves "moving aside" the water in order to allow a space for human beings to live. In Noah’s generation, water is the cause of death to nearly all of humanity. Moses’ life is especially associated with water. He floats, rather than drowns, in the Nile. He leads the people through the "dry" Sea of Reeds, only to witness the Egyptians’ subsequent drowning. When Moses strikes the rock to produce water, he saves the lives of the Israelites, only to bring about his own punishment from God.

In the 2nd paragraph of the Shema, recited twice daily, we are told that our reward for observing the mitzvot is rain in its appropriate time. Rain is a blessing when falling in the right amount at the right time. Too much or too little, or rain in the wrong season, and water is a curse not a blessing.

In our day, the two-sided nature of water continues, as we spend our summers engaged in fun and sport at the beach, but also cope with too frequent tragic accidents at the hands of that same water which is our joy.

Similar to water is fire, which is so vital to our lives (just think of Tom Hanks in Castaway) and yet also a source of great danger. Water and fire, depending on the circumstances, either enhance and sustain, or threaten our lives.

How significant, therefore, that the combination of fire and water, as if the two elements can truly exist together, is the midrashic explanation of where God lives. The Hebrew word, shamayim, translated as heaven, but more appropriately a name for God, is explained as a combination of aish (fire) and mayim (water). Just as water and fire, individually, can be a source of life or death, the combination of fire and water is a fitting symbol for God, the ultimate source of life and death.

Water is especially on our minds in this month of Tishre. In ancient Israel Sukkot was the occasion of a festive water offering, and also a time of anxiety for farmers hoping for a fruitful rainy season ahead.