Last Chanukah I went through the Medrash Ma’aseh Chanukah (a special Medrash which goes through the Chanukah story) and it says, that the Yevonim made a decree that if any women were caught going to mikveh their husbands would be killed by the sword, and anyone who sees a woman going to mikveh may take her as wife, and the children will be his slaves. Once Klal Yisroel saw this they stopped living with their wives. The Yevonim then heard about this, and they said that if they are no longer living with their wives, we have won over them. When Klal Yisroel heard this, they cried out, “Ribbono Shel Olam, against our will we have to live with our wives before they go to mikveh”, at that point the Ribbono Shel Olam said: Since you are doing it without intention to sin, I will make them tohar. A miracle happened and Hashem made springs open up in all the Jewish houses, and the women immersed in them an became pure.
An unbelievable Medrash, even more unbelievable is that there is a remez in this week’s parsha to this miracle. The pasuk (26:22) says:ויעתק משם ויחפר באר אחרת וכו' ויקרא שמה רחובות ויאמר כי עתה הרחיב ה' לנו ופרינו בארץ – “And he moved from there and dug another well etc. and he called it Rechovos and said ‘because Hashem has expanded for us and made us fruitful in the land’”. The Ba’al HaTurim on this pasuk comments: הרחיב ה' לנו, Divrei Torah for the Shabbos Table
