The pasuk says, “All the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Avraham his father, the Plishtim stopped up, and filled them with earth.” (Bereshis 26:15). The Chumash continues: “And Yitzchak dug anew the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father and the Plishtim had stopped them up after Avraham’s death; and he called them by the same names that his father had called them.” (Bereshis 26:18)
Avraham dug wells and the Plishtim stopped them up. Yitzchak came along and re-dug those same wells. Not only did he re-dig the same wells, he renamed them with the very same names that Avraham had originally called them.
One might ask—although this is a somewhat irreverent way to state it—Who cares? Lech-Lecha, Vayera, and Chayei Sarah relate the life story of Avraham. Vayetzei, Vayishlach, Vayeshev and then Miketz, Vayigash, and Vayechi relate the life stories of Yaakov and Yosef. Yitzchak only gets a single parsha, Parshas Toldos. Is this event so significant? Do we really need the story of the wells in the one short parsha devoted to Yitzchak? Obviously, this must be significant if the Torah, which includes precious few words about Yitzchak, goes through the effort of including all these details.
What is the deeper message here?
The sefer HaKesav v’HaKabalah explains that Avraham’s digging of the wells was a tremendous public service. Society back then was not like it is today. Someone could not go to the faucet in his home, turn on the tap and get water. Having a well was a big deal. When people travelled, there were no rest stops where they could stop to get a Coke or lemonade. There was no indoor plumbing. There were none of these things.
What did Avraham do? He called each of the wells he dug by a specific name. The HaKesav v’HaKabalah writes that the names Avraham gave his wells all had to do with the Name of Hashem. He called Yerushalayim “Hashem Yir-eh” (G-d sees) and he called another city “Beis El” (the House of G-d). Avraham Avinu wanted to put the Name of Hashem into the mouths of people. He was a revolutionary, an iconoclast. His introduction of monotheism into a world of polytheism was a spiritual revolution. The Rambam writes that he was successful in bringing tens of thousands of people under the Wings of Divine Presence. He weaned the masses from idolatry and put the Name of G-d into their vocabulary. He did that through feeding people and being m’karev people. But he also did it by digging wells and giving each of them names that had to do with Hashem.
When a person would ask another traveler, “Where did you get your water?” he would answer, “Oh, I got it at the Well of Hashem, the Be’er Elokim, the Be’er Shakai. That had a tremendous impact on people because they had to think: G-d’s Well! People associated water and public service with the Ribono shel Olam.
When the Plishtim stuffed up the wells, it was not just an act of vandalism. They had to have a motivation for doing this—as obviously they needed the water as well. They stuffed up the wells because they saw what effect those wells had on society. People were now abandoning the pagan gods and believing in the Ribono shel Olam. They stuffed up Avraham’s wells to eradicate the Name of Hashem from the lips of the masses. Their goal was to reduce the mention of the Ribono shel Olam in the mouths of people.
The HaKesav v’HaKabalah writes that Yitzchak wanted to re-implement the original plan of his father. He re-dug those same wells AND—what is more important—he called them the same names that his father called them, to reintroduce the concept of “the Be’er of Hashem,” “the Be’er Shakai,” the “Be’er Tzivakos,” or whatever he called them. These were not just water holes. This was a religious war, a cultural battle to wean people from avodah zarah.
Therefore, this is far from an insignificant act in the life of Yitzchak. It is a very significant and characteristic act on the part of Yitzchak Avinu.
