Parshas Toldos 5785, Yiddish - "Vayachpru Avdei Yitzchak Banachal" - Digging Your Own Well

00:00 The well-known chossid and mashpia Reb Mendel Futerfas, a"h, told of something that happened to him while he was imprisoned in Siberia. As is well known, Reb Mendel Futerfas was arrested and sent to Siberia because of his self-sacrifice in Russia. He spent years there; it demanded tremendous self-sacrifice. He said that even in Siberia, he learned from the things he saw around him. He could not study, could not daven, and could not be in an atmosphere of Torah. It was forced labor. Yet he drew a lesson in serving Hashem from everything. As the Baal Shem Tov says, from everything a Jew sees or hears, he must take a lesson, a path in serving Hashem. And that is what he did: he reflected on the things that happened to him and drew lessons from them in serving Hashem. Especially after he returned from Russia, as is well known, Reb Mendel was a wonderful farbrenger, and it was a pleasure to listen to him. His farbrengens were full of [unclear], stories, and questions. Much of that came from what he had gone through there, from which he learned lessons in serving Hashem. One of the things he spoke about was the forced labor they had to do there. While in Siberia, he worked building railway tracks. He built the tracks, the things they lay down so the trains can run. One of the trains, the— as is well known, in Russia the train, the—

01:41 train is one of the biggest things there. It travels for days on end, for weeks, from one side of the country to the other. And the prisoners, the people who had been arrested, worked on this as part of their labor. They dug pits, dug through ice and earth, and prepared the railway tracks: they laid the iron rails and the other materials so that the tracks could then be built for trains to travel throughout Siberia, Russia, and everywhere else. It was truly forced labor, and many even died from it. The work was extremely hard, aside from the fact that they were simply hungry, that there was bitter cold and frost, and that the weather was so harsh that, by the laws of nature, it was hard to withstand. But the work itself was forced labor in its own right. And we can imagine that, by the laws of nature, digging into the ground in Siberia is not merely difficult. The ground is ice, and not just ordinary ice. The ice in Siberia is among the hardest there is. For a long time there is ice, frost, and cold of twenty, thirty, forty, fifty degrees—I do not know how many—below [unclear]. In any case, it is very, very cold there. And over time it becomes even

03:27 harder than stone or anything else. His job was simply to break it. Each person had iron tools; they were given hammers and iron tools and had to strike the ground, split it open, and break up the ice. He said this could take entire days: they would stand from early morning until night with an iron hammer, striking and striking and striking, and nothing would budge. Absolutely nothing. The ice there was so hard that nothing moved. Only after several days of repeated blows would a crack sometimes appear. That was already the greatest joy. From there they worked on another crack, and in this way, little by little, they removed just the first layer, the first part of the ice, then the second layer, the third, and gradually made progress. And the deeper they went, the easier the work became; things began to give a little, and it became easier to move forward. That, perhaps, was how the work went. And as he said, most people could not withstand it. They despaired, became exhausted and weak, and others became [unclear]. People died like flies. That was the work, the forced labor they did then. And as I said, just as a Chassidic Jew takes a path in serving Hashem from everything, he took one from this too. What did he learn from it? How

04:53 one should serve Hashem. Chassidus explains that serving Hashem involves breaking through one’s personal materiality, one’s own physicality, the substance of the body and the animal soul. A person wants to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so he turns to the avodah of davening and to contemplating Chassidus, as Chassidus discusses in connection with the avodah of davening. When he stands up to daven and begins that avodah—studying Chassidus, contemplating Chassidus, trying to absorb it and perhaps to feel some emotion, some sensation, in a word of Chassidus, in a word about G-dliness—he encounters an animal soul that has turned to stone. It is frozen; it is ice; it is petrified. And you try, you try to devote yourself to it, to study and daven and think, and nothing moves. You feel no movement in the [unclear] of the animal soul. You feel no movement, no taste, no emotion, no sensation. From this he learned, from what he had seen firsthand: you have to strike and strike and strike, and not despair. It can take days and weeks. Eventually a crack will open in the ice. And that is only the beginning. You have to keep digging. The more you invest in it, the softer and smoother things become, and sometimes, over time, they begin to flow on their own. Reb Mendel meant that this is how the avodah of davening works. At first, in the initial period, you have to break through the coldness and the frozen state,

06:28 and the ice of our animal soul. And that is the point: you can strike and strike, feel nothing, and see no sign that anything has changed. You must not despair; you keep going until a crack appears. After that, it becomes easier and easier, until things begin to flow. You become accustomed to thinking about a word of Chassidus, sometimes taking in a word of davening, and being drawn toward G-dliness. We find a similar pattern in the story of Yitzchak Avinu and the water wells. We find that Avraham Avinu worked with wells, as told in the parsha about Avraham Avinu. And here the parsha tells us that all the wells Avraham Avinu dug—the Philistines stopped them up. They were blocked. The Philistines went and stopped up all the wells. Then Yitzchak came: “Yitzchak’s servants dug in the valley.” They went and dug, digging more and more, and as the verse tells us, they dug all the wells anew. The wells Avraham had dug and the Philistines had stopped up, Yitzchak and his servants dug again. The Torah then goes on to tell us that they dug one well over which there was a dispute with the shepherds of Gerar, the Philistines, and they called it Esek. Then they dug a second well, and there was a dispute and a quarrel over that one too, so they called it Sitnah. Only

08:02 when they reached the third well—“He moved from there and dug another well”—does the verse say, “They did not quarrel over it.” Then came the good news, and he said, “For now Hashem has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” That is why he called it Rechovos. And here is the question: what is the meaning of this story? How is this an instance of “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children”? After all, it is known that every detail in the stories of the Patriarchs is a sign and a lesson for [unclear] of every Jew in serving Hashem. What is the meaning of this whole story the Torah tells about the wells? We need to understand: Why did the Philistines stop up Avraham Avinu’s wells? Why was Yitzchak able to dig them again, and why did they not stop up Yitzchak’s wells? In what way did Yitzchak succeed more than Avraham? Avraham’s wells were indeed stopped up—and who stopped them up? The Philistines. So why could the Philistines not come back and stop up Yitzchak’s wells? What was superior about Yitzchak’s digging compared with Avraham’s? And further, what is the meaning of all these wells—the first well, the second well, and the third well? There was dispute, quarrel, and enmity over the first two wells, whereas of the third well it says, “For now Hashem has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” The Torah also tells us here that before the third well, the well of Rechovos,

09:28 “He moved from there.” He left his previous place of residence and moved his dwelling to the mountain, and that led to Rechovos. What is hinted at in “He moved from there”? We need to understand all this in terms of spiritual avodah, for “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children.” The Ramban writes about several of these verses, explaining that all the matters discussed here contain “profound matters and great secrets.” The Ramban brings out one point: the entire story of the wells is connected to the Batei Mikdash. Yitzchak established the path of avodah. As is known, the Patriarchs correspond to Torah, avodah, and acts of kindness. Avraham Avinu represents acts of kindness. Yaakov Avinu represents Torah, yeshivah [unclear]. And Yitzchak represents the path of avodah, which is connected to the Beis Hamikdash. Through his work digging the wells, he established the Batei Mikdash. The three wells are the three Batei Mikdash. The first Beis Hamikdash is the idea of Esek. There were all the disputes between the kings of Yehudah and the kings of Yisroel during the First Temple period, and in the end this led to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash—the strife between the kings and kingdoms among the Jewish people. Then came the idea of Sitnah, when the Satan dances

10:51 among us, and baseless hatred. As the Gemara says, the Second Beis Hamikdash is connected with baseless hatred. He then mentions “And he moved from there” and the Third Beis Hamikdash, which will be built without [unclear] all these things, and in which “Hashem has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land” will be fulfilled: there will be expansiveness, Eretz Yisroel will spread throughout all the lands, and all the forms of expansion that [unclear]. All this is connected with the Beis Hamikdash and Jerusalem, and the site of the Beis Hamikdash will be [unclear], culminating in “and we will be fruitful in the land”—all the nations will submit to the Jewish people, and so on, as he explains in the Ramban. All this is from the Ramban’s teachings. But [unclear], every matter also has its own meaning, the way it finds expression in spiritual work, and that is what we will discuss here. As explained, the whole subject of the wells—and this is based on a teaching of the Baal Shem Tov. The author of Meor Einayim, Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl, cites it and discusses the wells at length, explaining how all this applies to our spiritual work. Later, the subject appears in the maamarim of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and particularly in a maamar of the Rebbe Rashab from 5665, “And He Moved from There,” and in a maamar of [unclear], “And Yitzchak Came from the Direction of Be’er Lachai Ro’i,” in which the rest of the [unclear] surrounding the whole subject of the wells—truly remarkable. And in general, if we understand the central idea of a well. What is the central idea

12:21 of the well itself? In the physical sense, a well is a well of living water. And what is the nature of living water? The water that comes from the sea is [unclear] bitter water. When the water is in the sea, you cannot drink it; it is [unclear] salty. Seawater is not fit to drink at all. But when water from the sea passes through all the earth and the channels in the ground, it becomes refined. It seeps and breaks through all the dirt and earth until it reaches the springs beneath the ground. It can remain there for many years—hundreds of years, thousands of years. And when someone comes and digs, removing all the earth and stones, everything obstructing and covering it from above, the well of living water is revealed: “flowing from between the stones,” the “fountain of gardens”—the hidden water, the living water beneath the ground. In other words, this is the best water. It is sweet water, completely different from what it was in the sea; sweet, pleasant water. And according to the Torah, according to halachah, this is living water that purifies from all forms of impurity, as explained in halachah and in the Torah regarding the various laws of living water. And—

13:43 This is also relevant to a person’s inner spiritual work. How do we understand it? When the soul descends below, it passes through all the earth—the earth of the materiality and physicality of this physical world. It becomes invested in a body and an animal soul, which are like stones and earth and all those things. But through spiritual work—just as we say of water that, when seawater seeps through all the channels in the earth, it is refined and becomes sweet, living water—the same is true here: the soul’s descent below is a descent for the sake of an ascent. The soul descends into the body, puts on the body’s garments, its materiality and the animal soul, and struggles with them. It breaks through the earth through effort and toil, through refinement, contemplation, teshuvah, and the bedtime Shema. In this way, one sorts out, refines, and elevates the materiality of the body and the animal soul. This is the work every Jew must do each day: work on their character traits, practice iskafya, break through the materiality of the animal soul, and engage in contemplation until they sense a higher revelation and a taste for G-dliness. This is the idea of a well of living water: the well is hidden in the earth,

15:08 beneath the stones above it, and the living water must be revealed. Every Jew has a well of flowing living water hidden beneath all the stones, and must reveal it through spiritual work. As explained in the teachings of Chassidus and cited in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, this is the meaning of “the Philistines stopped up the wells.” The Philistines wanted the opposite: to stop up the wells. They want to bring in water of kelipah, water of this world, the complete opposite of the water of holiness, the water of G-dliness, the Divine vitality. They want to invest vitality in kelipah, in the sitra achra, in coarseness. This is the meaning of the Philistines. The Torah tells us that Avraham Avinu, whose defining trait was love and kindness, dug the wells. And it is also said that this digging brought refinement to the Jewish people for all generations. This was not merely work he did; every detail of his actions gave strength to all generations. Avraham Avinu, through his traits of kindness and love, dug wells and brought them out from the earth, from the earthiness and materiality of the body and animal soul, so that a Jew could awaken within themselves the truth of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the well of living water, life, vitality, G-dliness, the knowledge of G-dliness—the waters of knowledge. And what happened? The Philistines came. What are they? The kelipah of the Philistines is explained particularly in the maamarim of the Mitteler Rebbe. He took

16:38 as his starting point the words of our Sages: “The Philistines were mockers.” The Mitteler Rebbe explains at length that “Philistines” is related to the expression “an open-ended alleyway.” An open-ended alleyway is a place open from end to end, without partitions. This is the character of the Philistines: “The Philistines were mockers,” as our Sages say. In other words, mockery, idle talk, and frivolous merriment—this is the negative trait of the Philistines. Through frivolity, wildness, and brazenness, through the unrestrained materiality of the body and animal soul, like an alleyway open from end to end, they conceal and stop up the truth that Avraham Avinu revealed. “The Philistines stopped them up.” Something passes from truth and holiness to the opposing version of truth; holy joy becomes frivolous merriment. We see this in practice: sometimes a person begins with holy joy, approaches it with delight and love, or joins a farbrengen in celebration—a celebration for a siyum, the joy of Yom Tov, or some other celebration. Sometimes you really do see pure joy in it, beautiful joy, and the gentle love within it. But when a person does not work on their inner self, their joy—the genuine thing—can be drawn into the realm of kelipos and turn into joy of the opposing side. This is what it means that the Philistines stopped up the wells Avraham Avinu had dug, dug, dug,

18:11 dug. Avraham Avinu dug within every Jew, in every generation, so that they would have love of Hashem. But there is a danger with love of Hashem: the Philistines may come and divert that love toward alien loves, love of the opposing side, desires of the opposing side, and joy of the opposing side. We see it in practice: sometimes a Jew davens with warmth, vitality, and strength, and then goes straight from davening to a meal, investing that same strength and vitality in the meal, in physicality and materiality. That is why Yitzchak’s work was needed. Yitzchak, whose defining trait was awe and kabbolas ol—as we know of Yitzchak, “the Fear of Yitzchak was with me”—brought another kind of love of Hashem. The Philistines cannot overcome that. For awe is love characterized by bittul. A Jew who has yiras Shamayim stands in bittul and kabbolas ol before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So when awe is brought into the matter, the Philistines cannot come and destroy everything, diverting it toward the opposing side, toward evil. This is the spiritual work of digging the well that the verse tells us about. And this work was entrusted to every Jew for all generations: to reveal love, to reveal [unclear], to reveal feeling and vitality in G-dliness. This comes

19:37 through the work and effort of digging wells. As he cites in the maamar, “Into Your hand I entrust my spirit”—the initial letters spell be’er, “well.” When a Jew goes to sleep at night, they take stock of themselves. They see that during the day just past, there were things that were not as they should be, that they did not behave properly or fulfill the purpose [unclear]. And for this [unclear] digging wells: they set about digging and uprooting from within [unclear] the materiality of the body and animal soul, and bringing out and revealing the great love, the abundant waters, the true [unclear]. [unclear]. That one can [unclear]. And to distinguish [unclear] three levels. [unclear] this is work at a time when [unclear] Hakadosh Boruch Hu. [unclear] digs the wells. There is a dispute. There is a yetzer tov and a yetzer hara here, a G-dly soul and an animal soul. And that is the whole [unclear]. That is what the parsha says. [unclear] the animal soul, the G-dly soul, [unclear] body and animal soul. Work in the manner of a battle. And [unclear] in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, [unclear]. And the maamar explains [unclear] that these are levels in spiritual work. [unclear]. The work of “with all your heart,” “with all your soul,” and “with all your might.” The work of “with all your heart” and “with all your soul” corresponds to Esek and Sitnah. And this is work

21:13 According to reason and understanding, service arising from [unclear]. And there one must make use of the strengths [unclear] of this world. But there is a struggle; one must fight and overcome. That is what is said about the first well: “They quarreled over it.” “Esek,” the first well, is the service of “with all your heart.” “Sitnah,” the second well, is the service of “with all your soul.” All this is still within the realm of avodah, but it is not yet the yechidah of the soul. The service of “with all your might”—the “might” that transcends measure and limitation, your “might”—is the service of the yechidah of the soul. When the service associated with the yechidah of the soul is revealed, then “he moved from there.” In our parsha it says “vaya’tek”—he uprooted himself from there. “Vaya’tek” relates to Atik. Atik is a level of the essence of G-dliness [unclear]. When the soul [unclear], that is “vaya’tek.” Detach yourself; uproot yourself from the whole matter [unclear]. One must detach oneself from everything connected with reason and understanding, with measure and limitation, with contractions and boundaries, and stand in a state of “the yechidah, to unite with You,” of “with all your might.” When one stands in a state of “he moved from there,” then “he called it Rechovos.” Then true expansiveness is attained in the service of Hashem: one leaves behind all measure and limitation and stands in a state of holy expansiveness. “With all your might,” without measure or limitation—whether in Torah study, in the service of Hashem, or in the love of Hashem, “with all your might,” without any measure or limitation. “He has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” “We shall be fruitful in the land” means that this affects the entire work of refining the world, the sparks of holiness found in every [unclear].

23:09 The revelation of the yechidah of the soul is “we shall be fruitful in the land”: through the work of refinement, that work is brought to its fullest completion. This is the work in general, and especially in our time, when we are living at a time when [unclear], at the end of exile and the beginning of the Geulah. And [unclear] then the main work is the work of Yitzchak, the work of digging wells: digging and bringing forth from within all the worlds [unclear]. Both within oneself, as an inner avodah, and when looking at another Jew—to see the spark within him, the well of living water, and remove the stones, earth, mud, and all the dirt around it. Deep within his heart, though, is a well of living water. Through this work, when we adopt Yitzchak’s attribute, the attribute of awe, [unclear] the nurture of the external forces from kelipah and the sitra achra, and set about digging and bringing forth from the materiality [unclear] of the body and the animal soul, we awaken thirst, awareness, and attachment to G-dliness.

24:15 A well of living water—both within ourselves and within those around us. This is our work today, to prepare the world for the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. Then we will merit “and they found there”: the revelation of Atik Yomin, the revelation of the inner dimension of Kesser, the revelation of the Essence, which will be revealed through this work. Then it says, “He called it Rechovos”: here the true expansiveness of the time to come will be revealed—true expansiveness in the revelation of G-dliness, expansiveness in understanding and comprehension, expansiveness in the inner dimension of Torah, when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.” “And we shall be fruitful in the land”—that it will “grow and multiply in the land.” [unclear] At this time of Shabbos Mevarchim for the month of Kislev, the eve of Rosh Chodesh Kislev, in the season of Kislev, when it was openly seen that breaking through the concealments brought a well of living water to light. This applies to Chanukah, to 19 Kislev, the Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus, and to 19 Kislev. And likewise, “these days are remembered and reenacted,” “and those days, at this time.” Through our work in the final moments of exile, we must fulfill within ourselves “they dug in the valley.” As he explains, “nachal,” valley, is an acronym for “our soul waits for Hashem.” This is the work of longing and yearning: simply to awaken within ourselves “our soul waits for Hashem,” a thirst for G-dliness. Then “they found water”—the waters will be revealed, the waters of the inner dimension of Torah, the waters of “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters

25:49 cover the sea.” And we will indeed be immersed in the inner dimensions. This will be the revelation of “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea,” immediately, right now.