Once upon a time, King Agnias had a queen named Yaniah. Now, Yaniah wasn’t just any queen; she was from the land of Kittim, a place far, far away from Africa, where Agnias ruled. She fell terribly ill. The royal physicians, scratching their heads, blamed the African climate, especially the water. You see, Yaniah was used to the water of the river Forma back in Kittim. Her ancestors had even built a whole system to bring that specific water right to her house!
Imagine the king's concern. He loved his wife and would do anything to make her well. So, Agnias sent messengers all the way back to Kittim to fetch her some of that precious Forma water.
And guess what? When Yaniah drank the water from her homeland, she felt a little better. The king, seeing this, had an audacious idea. He noticed the Forma water was lighter, maybe purer, than the local water. He wouldn't just settle for small deliveries. Oh no. He decided to build a massive canal stretching all the way from Kittim to Africa!
Can you picture the scale of this project? A canal spanning continents, all for the sake of his wife's health and comfort.
But he didn’t stop there. Agnias also brought earth and stones from Kittim to Africa. He built Yaniah a palace, brick by brick, using materials from her homeland, a little piece of Kittim transported to Africa.
And, wouldn't you know it, surrounded by the familiar, drinking her accustomed water, Yaniah recovered.
Now, this story from Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) seems simple enough, but it speaks volumes, doesn't it? About love, obviously, but also about the lengths to which people will go to maintain a connection to their roots, to the familiar comforts of home. What are the "waters of Forma" in your life – the things, the places, the people – that you would go to extraordinary lengths to keep close?