From the Rabbi’s Desk
Rabbi Manes Kogan
Toldot
"All the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up, and filled with earth."..."And Isaac dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father and the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death; and he called them by the same names that his father had called them" (Genesis 26:15,18).
"Isaac dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father" :What can we learn from that? The Holy Scriptures, and then the Talmudic and Midrashic Literature, compare water with the Torah and with the life presence of God, as we read in the book of Prophet Jeremiah: "For My people has perpetrated two evils: Me have they forsaken, the Source of living waters; to dig for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13).
From this verse and from other biblical verses and talmudic passages, we learn that water is a metaphor for God's living presence and His ways.
And now we can give a new interpretation to the words of our verse. We learn from "Isaac dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father" that each person must start the search for water for himself. Abraham's hard spiritual voyage doesn't release Isaac from starting his own search. Isaac must dig anew the wells of water as each generation must start anew its own search of the transcendent. Faith is not something you can inherit automatically from parents to children. Parents can inherit traditions, love for the Torah and for the people of Israel, but cannot walk their children's way.
"Isaac dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father". Isaac started his own work, his own search. However he doesn't search in any place. First of all he searched where others dug before. From here we learn that when a person starts his or her spiritual trip, when we search for our own way, it will be a good to look in our own place, in the tradition that in any case belongs to us.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslav brings a story which can illustrates this point:
A man once dreamed that there was a great treasure under a bridge in Vienna. He traveled to Vienna and stood near the bridge, trying to figure out what to do. He did not dare search for the treasure by day, because of the many people who where there. An officer passed by and asked, "What are you doing, standing here and contemplating?" The man decided that it would be best to tell the whole story and ask for help, hoping that the officer would share the treasure with him. He told the officer the entire story. The officer replied, "A Jew is concerned only with dreams! I also had a dream, and I also saw a treasure. It was in a small house, under the cellar." In relating his dream, the officer accurately described the man’s city and house. He rushed home, dug under his cellar, and found the treasure.
Isaac could dig in any other place. Maybe he could find water there also. Maybe the water would be sweeter or saltier, more abundant or less abundant. Nevertheless, Isaac chose to dig anew where his father dug and found water before him. It isn't bad to search in a new place. Great and bright Jewish Rabbis brought many important new ideas to the Jewish tradition and to the Jewish Philosophy: Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai, Maimonides, Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Israel Salanter, among others, brought fresh air to the Jewish life.
However, I believe we need to start to search within our own tradition.
Isaac decided to call the wells with the same names that his father called them before. Isaac could find new names for the old wells. Any name that would remind the future generations of his or Rebecca's name, like "Isaac's well" or "Rebecca's well". However, Isaac recognized his father's merit. Abraham dug the wells before; he was the first, the precursor. He was the first to hear God's voice; he was the first who left all his past and followed God's commandment.
As Rabenu Bachya, a great Torah commentator, points out: In doing so, Isaac was motivated by respect for his father. Thus the Torah teaches that one should not deviate unnecessarily from his father's way.
Isaac knows that there is no bigger merit than being Abraham's successor. For him, that is the biggest merit! What a great lesson for our days, when people try to innovate constantly, when if people are not creative their work loses meaning and value for them.
Finally we have the Philistines. The Philistines had stopped up the wells after Abraham's death. Why? Didn't they also need the wells? Probably yes. What happened is that they began to envy Isaac and his prosperity. As we read in the Torah:
"The man became great and kept becoming greater until he was very great. He had acquired flocks and herds and many enterprises; and the Philistines envied him." (Genesis 26:13).
The Philistines preferred losing the wells rather than sharing them with Isaac. They don't enjoy and don't let others enjoy. Like the evil woman in King Solomon's famous trial: "It shall be neither yours nor mine" (I Kings 3:26).
The Philistines had, in our story, the same attitude that many people in our society have. Selfishness and envy make it impossible for them to enjoy the success of others. If they see other people who are more wealthy, more wise, happier, instead of sharing their joy or their success, they become upset, find faults, criticize them and try to make their life bitter, like the Philistines tried to make bitter our forefather's life.
The eternal character of our Torah makes out that Abraham, Isaac and the Philistines could be each one of us.