The Layer That Protects

Almost every substance in the universe contracts and becomes heavier as it cools down. Water is the big exception. When it freezes, it actually expands and ice floats. A small and strange property, without which there [music] would be no life on Earth. Think about a lake in winter. If ice were to sink, the lake would freeze from the bottom up and all the fish would freeze to death. But because ice floats, it stays on top and forms a layer. And here's the wonder. The frozen layer of ice acts as an insulating blanket. It blocks the deadly cold of the air and protects the living water beneath it. It is precisely the hard, frozen layer on top that protects the delicate life below. Listen closely. The cold first hits the upper layer. It absorbs the blow, freezes, hardens, and thus prevents the cold from penetrating further inside. What appears to be freezing hardness, like a cold barrier, is actually a protective layer. The upper layer sacrifices itself, freezing first so that the life beneath can remain soft and warm. Friends, sometimes we feel that something cold stands between us and the world. Difficulty barriers, a hard layer, or we feel exposed and vulnerable without any protection, convinced that the cold and hardness are only enemies, only something that harms us. But the Torah teaches us the law of floating ice. In the song of Ha'azinu, in the book of Deuteronomy, the creator's love for his people is described through the metaphor of the eagle. Like an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads its wings, takes them, carries them on its pinions. Listen to this incredible precision. Rashi explains, "All other birds carry their young between their legs because they are afraid of birds of prey above them. But the eagle carries its young specifically on its back because it fears nothing from above. It is higher than all the others. It is only afraid of the arrow that might come from below. So, it places its body above them and says, "Better the arrow should strike me than my children." It turns itself into a shield, absorbing the blow in their place, just like the layer of ice. It freezes first, absorbing the cold so that the delicate one beneath it can live. The barriers and difficulties that surround us are not always an enemy. Sometimes, they are exactly the layer that protects us, the shield that takes the blow in our place. And above us, there is always an eagle spreading its wings and saying, "Better the arrow should strike me than my children." We are not exposed and alone. So, the next time we feel cold, face a barrier, or experience frightening vulnerability, let's [music] pause. Let's remember the ice that protects life. Let's remember the eagle that spreads its wings. Let's not see the cold only as an enemy, because sometimes the frozen layer above is exactly what keeps us alive.