A watched pot, says conventional wisdom, never boils. Now this is not a scientific fact, because whether you visually inspect your pot while it’s cooking or not, the temperatures should stay the same, even if you’re giving it a cold stare.
The idea, I understand, is that when you’re waiting for something, like when you want to make pasta and you have to wait for the water to boil, it seems to take forever. You keep watching for the bubbles but they don’t come. They actually will, but in your perspective it seems like an eternity. But let me warn you, if you turn your back, you just might have a big mess to clean up.
For some reason, when I’m making pasta, if I leave the lid on the pot even partially opened, often the boiling water rises toward infinity, and thick white foam bubbles over the edges of the pot, creating a telltale hiss and sizzle as it hits the burner that can frighten all but the most-seasoned of chefs.
Therefore, I’ve learned to leave the pot lid off as it boils and cooks to avoid the mess. However, I also tend to experiment with the lid and the size of the flame. Perhaps if I lower the flame, thus being energy conscious and conserving the gas, I can maintain the level of boiling with the addition of the lid, which creates more pressure and a lower boiling point; thus, the same boil at a lower temp.
This all sounds very scientific until you realize that pressure actually RAISES the boiling point of water (known as Gay-Lussac’s law, after a scientist who explained his ideas in clear, scientific language, making it way over my head,) and my idea is out the window. But it isn’t really, because the cover doesn’t raise the water pressure that much, and the water will still boil at about 212 degrees.
What covering the pot DOES do, though, is prevent the heat energy that was used to turn water into steam from escaping and focus it back on to the boiling the water in the pot. That’s why when it’s covered, I end up with the explosion of foam unless I lower the heat.
By the way, now we also understand why a watched pot may seem to never boil. Every time you lift the lid to see if there are bubbles there, you’re letting that heat escape, thus slowing down your cooking process. Hold onto that idea, as it will be useful later.
What I learned from this experience, besides that when you want to wipe up the water that spilled on the stove you should probably wait until it cools down, is that there is a way to work smarter, not harder.
Whatever you’re trying to accomplish in life, if you can recycle the energy and prevent the heat from being lost, you will get there more quickly. Lifting that pot cover lets the cool air in and the hot steam out, thus requiring more time and energy. Remember when Rabbi Akiva’s wife told a neighbor she would be fine if he were to stay away learning for an additional 12 years? He was just outside and heard the conversation.
Instead of coming in to say hi and grab a cup of coffee with his devoted wife, he turned around and went straight back to Beit Midrash, because two times 12 years would not be the same as 24 years straight. He would lose the momentum and built-up heat of the first 12 years. It would seem that learning for an hour uninterruptedly would be more powerful than two half-hour sessions, assuming, of course, that you had the energy going the whole time.
When trying to raise children, you will do better with consistent passion for Torah and mitzvot than with occasional sprints of hyper-ruchniyus interspersed with times of dispassionate performance. By keeping their love for Hashem burning and not letting it cool, you will reinvest that energy in their growth.
And here’s where the watched pot lesson comes in handy. Don’t focus on checking your kids’ levels of Torah and Yiras Shomayim if your critical eye will throw cold water on their enthusiasm. Just as you know the pot on the flame will boil at a certain point and you’ll be able to see the steam rising when it does, if you keep doing what you need to without constantly taking the temperature of your child or student or friend, you won’t need to keep checking because you’ll know when you’ve succeeded and besides, it’s counterproductive. Indeed, the more pressure you put on them, the further your goal will become as Dr. Gay-Lussac aptly points out.
Instead, make sure that you serve Hashem with warmth and love and treat other people the same way. You will reach your goals without having to second guess yourself and I believe that in the end, everything will pan out just fine.
Jonathan Gewirtz is an inspirational writer and speaker. He also operates JewishSpeechWriter.com, where you can order a custom-made speech for your next special occasion. Sign up for the Migdal Ohr, his weekly PDF dvar Torah in English. Email Subscribe to [email protected].
