Shabbos Wellspring Beyond Nature

בענין שירת הבאר עלי באר ענו כי פתיחת הבאר תליא בהתעוררות בנ"י

Regarding the Shirah of the well — "Rise up, O well, sing to it" (Bamidbar 21:17) — for the opening of the well depends upon the awakening of Bnei Yisrael.

The Shirah sung at the well teaches that the well's waters do not simply rise on their own — they are drawn forth by the spiritual awakening and yearning of Bnei Yisrael from below.

דכתי' שתה כו' מבורך כו'

As it is written, "Drink... blessed..." (alluding to the well whose waters flow and are blessed).

The verse's words of drinking and blessing hint that this well is a flowing, blessed source, not mere stored water.

פרשנו כי בור הוא מים מכונסין והרמז להנהגת הטבע שכבר הוכן במעשה בראשית להתנהג כל דבר לפי הטבע

We have explained that a cistern (bor) is gathered, standing water, and the allusion is to the conduct of nature, which was already prepared during the Six Days of Creation so that every thing should conduct itself according to its nature.

A cistern holds still water that was set in place; it symbolizes the fixed natural order that Hashem established at Creation, in which everything simply runs according to its nature.

אבל נוזלים מתוך בארך הוא פתיחת המקור והשורש בחי' מעין והוא בחי' השבת שהוא שורש כל הברכות כדאיתא בזוה"ק דלא אשתכח בי' מנא אבל כולהו ברכאין תליין בי'

But "flowing waters out of your own well" (Mishlei 5:15) refers to the opening of the source and the root — the aspect of a spring (ma'ayan) — and this is the aspect of Shabbos, which is the root of all the blessings, as it is brought in the Zohar HaKadosh that no mahn (manna) was found upon it, yet all the blessings are suspended upon it.

A well, by contrast, has living water flowing from its own source — this is the aspect of Shabbos, which contains no mahn of its own yet is the root from which all blessing flows during the week.

והוא ההפרש בין בור לבאר

And this is the difference between a cistern (bor) and a well (be'er).

The Sfas Emes now states plainly that this is the very distinction he is drawing between a bor and a be'er.

כי מים מכונסין הם במדה

For gathered, standing waters exist within a fixed measure.

Stored water is limited and fixed within a set measure, with no fresh flow.

והוא בחי' הטבע

And this is the aspect of nature.

That fixed, measured quality is precisely the character of nature.

וכן מדת אנשי עוה"ז למלאות תאוותם כפי אשר תמצא ידם

And so too is the way of the people of This World — to fill their desires according to whatever their hand can attain.

People immersed in This World live by this same measured pattern, grabbing to satisfy their cravings with whatever they can reach.

אבל בנ"י החפצים לצאת מן הטבע נגלה להם שורש המעין ולכן פי הבאר נברא בע"ש ביה"ש

But Bnei Yisrael, who yearn to rise above nature, have the root of the spring revealed to them; and therefore the mouth of the well was created on Erev Shabbos at twilight (bein hashemashos).

Bnei Yisrael, who long to transcend nature, merit that the flowing source itself is revealed to them — which is why the well's mouth was created at the threshold moment of bein hashemashos on Erev Shabbos.

הרמז כפי מה שמקבלין את השבת ומבטלין כל המלאכות ומצפין להשפעת קדושה מלמעלה נפתח פי הבאר

The allusion is that according to how Bnei Yisrael receive the Shabbos and nullify all the melachos (forms of labor) and look in hope to the influx of kedushah from Above, so the mouth of the well is opened.

The lesson is that the opening of the well is proportional to our avodah: the more Bnei Yisrael accept Shabbos, set aside all melachah, and await Hashem's kedushah from Above, the more the source opens to them.

ואין עושין מלאכה ולא אשתכח בי' מנא רק פתיחת המעין ולכן מעין מטהר בכל שהוא והוא הברכה מכל בכל כל

And one performs no melachah, and no mahn is found upon it — only the opening of the spring; and therefore a spring purifies with even the smallest amount of water, and this is the blessing of "mikol, bakol, kol" ("of all, with all, everything").

On Shabbos one does no labor and there is no mahn, only the open spring; just as a spring purifies even in the smallest quantity, so Shabbos draws the all-encompassing blessing of mikol bakol kol.

ובכל ש"ק יוצא הארה מהמעין למלאות הבור בששת ימי המעשה כי כל הנהגת הטבע כמו בור קטן כדאיתא בס' חובת הלבבות ע"ש סוף שער ב'

And on every holy Shabbos an illumination goes forth from the spring to fill the cistern for the six days of activity, for all the conduct of nature is like a small cistern, as is brought in Sefer Chovos HaLevavos — see there at the end of the Second Gate.

Each Shabbos sends down an illumination from the spring that fills the cistern of nature for the coming week, since the entire natural order is only like a small cistern drawing from that higher source.

וזה הבאר חפרוה שרים פי' מוז"ל השולטים על יצרם אבות שלא שלט בהם יצה"ר לכן פתחו הבאר שהוא הנהגה למעלה מן הטבע:

And "this well the princes dug" (Bamidbar 21:18) — the explanation is, our Rabbis of blessed memory said: those who rule over their yetzer (inclination) — the Avos, over whom the yetzer hara never held sway; therefore they opened the well, which is a conduct above nature.

The princes who dug the well are the Avos, who mastered their yetzer so completely that the yetzer hara never ruled over them; through that mastery they opened the well of a conduct that stands above nature.

Summary: In this piece the Sfas Emes draws a sharp contrast between a bor, a cistern of still, gathered water held within a fixed measure, and a be'er, a well of living water flowing from its own source. The cistern represents the conduct of nature set in place at Creation, the measured pattern by which the people of This World chase their desires; the well represents the aspect of Shabbos, which holds no mahn of its own yet is the root of all blessing. Because Bnei Yisrael yearn to rise above nature, the mouth of the well — created at twilight of Erev Shabbos — is opened to them in proportion to how they accept Shabbos, set aside all melachah, and await Hashem's kedushah from Above. Just as a spring purifies with even the smallest amount of water, Shabbos draws down the all-encompassing blessing of mikol bakol kol, and each week an illumination flows from that spring to fill the small cistern of nature for the six days of labor. This is why the Avos, who ruled completely over their yetzer hara, were the ones to dig the well — for they lived by a conduct that stands above nature itself.