Spring of Life

One of the main topics in this week's Torah portion is the story of the wells Isaac dug in the Land of Israel. Our sages offer various explanations for why the Torah tells this story, since, as we have mentioned many times, the Torah is a teaching for life, and not (merely) a book of stories. Among the explanations is the following:

Each of us has a well of water, and not just water, but living water. This refers to the neshamah, the soul. We must learn to dig within ourselves to reveal this spring of life and energy.

What does it mean to delve within ourselves? There are two types of souls: the divine and the animal. The divine soul descends from a very high spiritual level to reside within the animal soul and the body, with the aim of refining and elevating both. Life is given to us for this work, as the psalmist says, "seventy or eighty years," a period during which one is in a constant state of advancement, development, and personal improvement. To achieve this elevation, we rely on the power of the divine soul. However, when this soul is "in exile"—that is, hidden and concealed, trapped beneath worldliness and materiality—it becomes impossible for it to affect the person and elevate them, since the divine soul cannot express itself to bring about this improvement.

That is why this week's parashah teaches us that we must dig wells, that is, just as digging a well consists of removing the earth that covers the spring of water, in the same way, we must remove "the dust" from our lives, that is, the surrender to totally vain and unimportant matters (like dust) in order to make room for our inner spring of life, our divine soul, to be revealed.

It is precisely Itzjak, among our patriarchs, who embodies severity and power, who dedicated himself to the work of digging deep, of revealing the holiness and spirituality already existing within each person. For there are moments in life when, to improve spiritually, one must strengthen oneself against all internal and external obstacles, both personal and societal, to allow one's true self to flourish.