Besides use in names and Buddhist terms, you may find it easier to remember 阿 is read as あ from the word 阿呆 (あほ), although it’s commonly written in kana as well.
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ことわざ of the week 
This week’s ことわざ is :
飛んで火に入る夏の虫
とんでひにいるなつのむし
Translation:
Summer insects that fly into fire.
Meaning:
To throw oneself into trouble
Context:
When summer comes, one of the things you will start to see are insects flying around lamps or street lights. This ことわざ originates from a book called Book of Liang, which was written during the Northern and Southern dynasty period. During this period, fire was used to create light and people noticed that there were moths that were attracted to the light and flew into it.
Originally, the ことわざ 飛蛾の火に赴くがごとくwas used with a positive nuance. It was a phrase that was used to urge people to study with all they got. Then in the 13th century, a different book used this phrase with a negative nuance to refer to foolish people acting on instincts.
Later in history, during the Edo period, the wording was changed to 飛んで火に入る夏の虫, with the nuance from the book from the 13th century.
When is it used?
Since this is a phrase that describes people throwing themselves into a dangerous situation that could have a negative result, people often use it to tell people that what they are about to do is reckless and that they should reconsider.
Example:
お前は泳げないのに一人でサーフィンに挑戦するなんて危険すぎる。飛んで火に入る夏の虫だよ。
It’s way too dangerous for you to try surfing on your own when you can’t even swim. You’ll be like a moth flying into a flame.
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Have you done this idiom that I was taught the other day yet?
猫の手も借りたい
仕事は最近、猫の手も借りたいほど忙しい
Recently I’m so busy at work that I’d even take help from a cat
Just wondered what the origin is. Such a fun mental image.
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四字熟語 of the week
五里霧中
ごりむちゅう
Meaning:
To be unable to make a decision and to feel unsure of what to do.
Context:
This 四字熟語 comes from a book called the Book of the Later Han. In this book there is a story about a Confucius scholar who used Taoist magic to create a thick fog across 5 里 (里 is a traditional Chinese unit of distance which is about 500 meters) to fend off people who kept visiting to recruit him as a government official.
When this magic was casted, it confused the people who came to visit him because the fog was so dense, which made them lose their sense of direction.
When is it used?
This 四字熟語 is used to describe that you have no idea what is going on and/or that you have no idea what you should do in the current situation that you are in.
Example:
マニュアルに書かれていないことが発生し、先輩も忙しかったので五里霧中のまま電話対応をした。
Something happened that wasn’t covered in the manual, and since my senpai was busy, I had to handle the phone call while completely in the dark.
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