Toledot 5764
In Sefer Bereshit, Perek 27, Pasuk 16, the Pasuk writes about the wells that Avraham Aveenu had dug out during his life. That after he died, the Pelishtim filled them up with dirt. Avraham Aveenu spent a lot of his time during his life devoted to digging wells, and the Pasuk comes to tell us that the Pelishtim came and had undone Avraham’s accomplishment by filling the wells with dirt.
Now we have to understand why the Torah is writing this Pasuk. What is the significance of the wells that Avraham dug, and what is the significance of the fact that the Pelishtim filled them up with dirt? For us it seems as a non-issue. Why is written in the Torah, and why does the Torah make such a big deal out of it?
So the Chachamim bring down that the wells that Avraham Aveenu dug were part of Avraham Aveenu’s master plan of bringing people to Teshuva. We learnt how Avraham opened a chain of hotels in order to bring people to give them free food and board, so he could teach them about Bore Olam. The wells that he dug served the same purpose and was just another venue. Avraham was able to gather the people, for he offered to them free water. Now of course water was a very important commodity. In the olden days they didn’t have pipes running through their homes, and if one wanted to drink they would have to go to their local well. So Avraham’s outreach program was ingenious. The plan was to dig wells, and open up free water supply so that everybody would gather at the well. Once he got the customer to the well, then Avraham Aveenu was able to preach to them and teach them the seven Mitzvot of Bine Noach. So these were not regular wells. We might call them Yeshivas. These wells were part of the master plan of Avraham Aveenu, to bring the world to the awareness of G-d.
When Avraham was alive, the Pelishtim did not have the guts to fill those wells up, even though they were much against Avraham’s preaching, his teachings, and bringing an awareness of G-d. Avraham was well respected. Avraham was considered a prince in his time. He was considered a nobleman. And therefore, nobody would attempt to fill up those wells while he was alive. But the Torah says that once he died, in a classic case of anti-Semitism, the Pelishtim came and they filled up the wells with dirt. This is analogous to the modern day episode when the Germans burned down the Yeshivas in Germany, or when they burned down the synagogues. When the Pelishtim closed those wells up, they were closing up the venues that Avraham Aveenu used in order to teach the people about Hashem.
But like anti-Semitism today, it was disguised. When the non-Jew does something against the Jew, many times he can’t come straight out and divulge his true motives. And therefore, he has to disguise it in politics or other means even though we know the sinister motives.
Rashi brings down that the Pelishtim explained their reason for filling up the wells was based on their fear of its lucrative lure to potential invading armies. They felt compelled to close the wells for the purpose of security. That was the excuse that they gave verbally. But the Torah is telling us that they filled it up because they wanted to destroy the workings of Avraham Aveenu.
The goods news in the Parasha is that Yitzchak Aveenu came along right after that and un-dug those wells. Now, this again seems as an insignificant Pasuk in the Torah, as why do we need to know what is going on with these wells? So here, the Torah is telling us that Yitzchak reopened the Yeshivas of Avraham. Yitzchak followed in father’s foot steps in order to open those Kosher venues so people can come together, and there Yitzchak would be able to disperse the Torah that he learnt from his father.
So when the Torah says wells, it means Yeshivas. When the Torah says they filled them up, it means anti-Semitism. When it says that Yitzchak un-dug them, it meant that he had great self-sacrifice to follow in his father’s foot steps. From here we learn how you have to study the Torah. The Torah’s words are cryptic. You have to go a little deeper and try to understand even the most innocent Pisukim, even if you don’t on the surface understand what they are teaching us. In this case it’s teaching us about the devotion of Avraham and Yitzchak, about the Torah and the dissemination of it.
