Fire and water are two powerful entities. They both have a positive side to them and a negative side. We are all aware of the many positive functions of each of these elements. To mention just a few, fire provides heat and energy; water is used for drinking, bathing, irrigation and more.
As we are all well aware, they both have a destructive characteristic, when left uncontrolled, as well. Which of the two is easier to overcome and control? Fire or water? The Ben Ish Hai, quoting "Ya'arrath Debash", writes that while fire can be put out with water, earth and other elements, water, in its destructive form , cannot be controlled. Water can destroy cities, change the geographic appearance of nature and has an awesome power which is greater than that of fire.
The reason, he explains, is that the natural inclination of fire is to go upward. Water, on the other hand,always goes to the lowest possible level.The intrinsic quality of each one of these two elements, has a fundamental implication on its "destiny", so to speak. Because fire tends to go upward, it will eventually fall. Water, on the other hand, draws its strength from its natural tendency to go downward. A powerful lesson that we can extrapolate from the tendencies of these two entities, fire and water, is that the quality we should all strive to acquire and develop is humility. It is the foundation for all the good qualities we may wish to master. It may well go against popular ideas and common philosophy, however, the more humble a person is, the stronger and more powerful he will become.
Hakham Yoseph Hayyim 'a"h expounds on this point saying that the evil inclination is likened to fire too. it constantly steps outside its boundaries, going into higher and holier territories. The best and most effective strategy to fight against it is adopting the quality of water: contrition and humility.
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