After Abraham passed away the Torah states in the portion of Toldot that the Philistines stuffed up all the wells he had dug (Genesis 26:15). The Talmud teaches that anywhere it mentions water in the Torah it is an allusion to Torah itself. Just as water causes vegetation to grow and without it nothing could live, so too Torah gives us life and the means to grow. Therefore we understand the wells of Abraham as being not just wells of physical water, but they represent the new teachings of God and the nature of reality he introduced into the world.
The act of digging wells symbolizes going below the surface and seeing reality in more than a superficial manner. It alludes to revealing new sources of understanding and inspiration by willing to dig deeper than the surface. Just as digging a well is hard physical work, so too, spiritual advancement does not come without assertiveness and toil. The revolutionary teachings of Abraham are symbolized by his digging wells and revealing water.
Isaac, the son of Abraham, then came and began to re-dig these wells. This symbolizes his determination to continue his father’s teachings and ensure their firm establishment in the world. For without Isaac Judaism would have ended before it really began. The Philistines stuffing up the wells represents the inevitable opposition to holiness in the world.
This story in the Torah contains great wisdom for each individual. Each person has certain “wells” given to them by their parents, by their genes, by their society, what we call nature and nurture. These factors all influence us in various ways. Beyond these inherited factors and the behaviorist influences of our peers and our society each person has the ability to dig his own wells, to discover new and un-chartered sources of water, like Abraham.
We also have the option to cover over and forget these wells, ignoring the treasures given us. Or alternatively, it is sometimes best to stuff up certain wells, actually leaving behind those influences that hold us back from spiritual advancement, as in the case of Abraham who was told to leave his land, his birthplace and his father’s house and go to a new land, a new level of consciousness.
Sometimes in our youth we dig new wells only to abandon them or give up our rights to them due to laziness, boredom or doubt. Knowing which wells are worth preserving and which wells are better to abandon are among the most important decisions in life.
The Amidah, the cardinal prayer in Judaism, begins with the words: “Blessed are you God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob…” The question is asked as to why it has to repeat “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,” when it could have simply said “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” One answer given is that although Abraham taught Isaac all he knew it was not sufficient for Isaac to just accept his fathers God as his own, rather he had to delve and contemplate and come to terms with God as “his” God. And so forth throughout all the generations.
Isaac could have dug new wells altogether instead of re-digging his fathers wells. Rather, he re-dug Abraham’s wells, but in the process made them his own. We too must struggle with how much to accept from our nature and nurture and how much to strike out on our own. Isaac was able to combine both in one act. In this lies the secret of the survival of Torah and the Jewish people.
