Toldot
What is the `stopped-up well` in our life?
Reflection by Avigail Beeri - Harel, Or Halev Teacher
“In this week's Torah portion, Parashat Toldot, we encounter a remarkable action taken by Yitzchak Avinu:
`And Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Avraham Avinu; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Avraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.` (Bereishit 26:18)
Yitzchak redigs the very same wells that his father Avraham had previously dug. Why?
This powerful act is transformed by the Ma'or V'Shemesh into a profound teaching about spiritual life. Our ancestors, he explains, already dug and found the Mayim Chaim (Living Waters) of D'vekut (cleaving to the Divine) through the paths of prayer and conduct.
However, later generations tended to `grasp only the outer garment, and not pay attention to the P'nimiyut (inwardness)` (Ma'or V'Shemesh, Sukkot 2, 7). This means they upheld the actions but allowed their spiritual content to fade. Thus, the wells became stopped up, and the Living Waters were covered by the dust of habit and autopilot.
Yitzchak's act teaches us that it is not enough to merely maintain tradition; we are called actively to return and rediscover the spiritual vitality within In Yitzchak's redigging, there is a return to the wells of his past, but also a movement forward to a new spring of Mayim Chaim.
Yitzchak shows that tradition is a rich source for hitorerut (spiritual awakening). In our contemporary spiritual landscape there is a tendency to seek the newest practice or teacher. The wisdom offered by Yitzchak suggests that the return to the old wells also enables a renewed flow of life.
Even in `stopped-up` times, when the spiritual experience is weak, we can hold the knowledge that the well exists—it is only temporarily hidden, until we find a renewed way to access it and open our hearts.As the ancient Jewish meditative instruction from Sefer Yetzirah says: `And if your heart runs ahead—return to the place.` (Sefer Yetzirah 1:8).
Meditation is an act of return. In our practice, we return again and again to the body, to the breath, to the inner anchor. We return from distraction. With each return we sharpen our kavanah (intention), our capacity for choice, and our presence. Slowly, this repeated return opens an internal space of clarity, freedom, and depth.
Jewish meditation allows us to return and redig the wells of our tradition. For example, choose a 'stopped-up well' in your Jewish life — perhaps something you do regularly but somewhat on autopilot, perhaps something you don’t do regularly but would like to try out. It could be a regular prayer you say, or a ritual such as lighting Shabbat candles, or engaging with words of Torah such as these, or anything else.
Return to it with attentive awareness, as if this is the very first time you are encountering it. Allow yourself to slow down. Let your breath come and go. Allow yourself to notice the emotions that arise. Perhaps new things you don't yet recognize surface. Allow yourself to be moved by them. Rest differently. If there are words involved, speak them by their names — the same names, but with a different internal quality.
May we merit digging our wells so that they may be Mayim Chaim (Living Waters).”