Becoming Living Wells of Torah

בפסוק אז ישיר כו' על באר ענו לה

On the verse "Then Bnei Yisrael sang this song: Rise up, O well, sing to it" (Bamidbar 21:17) — "sing to it," meaning they called out and responded to it.

The Sfas Emes opens with the song at the well in the midbar, noting that the words "sing to it" describe how Bnei Yisrael called out and responded to the well in song.

בילקוט איתא כשהבן קטן א"י לזמר בפ"ע לכן ישיר משה והם אחריו וכשנתגדלו מ' שנה במדבר שרו בפ"ע השירה ע"ש

In the Yalkut it is brought down that when a son is small he is not able to sing on his own, and therefore Moshe Rabbeinu would sing and they would respond after him; but once they had grown over the forty years in the wilderness, they sang the song on their own — see there.

He cites the Yalkut's image of a small child who cannot yet sing on his own and so echoes his father — at first Moshe Rabbeinu led and Bnei Yisrael answered after him, but after maturing over forty years in the midbar they could sing the song on their own.

כי בחי' שירת הבאר הוא בחי' תורה שבע"פ שאחר מ' שנה זכו בקנין התורה ונעשו מעצמותם בני תורה וז"ש במד' מ"ח פעמים באר כתיב בתורה נגד מ"ח דברים שהתורה נקנית בהם וכתבתי במ"א פי' הענין להות נעשין בעצם בני תורה להוציא מילין מפיהם כמ"ש וחיי עולם נטע בתוכינו

For the aspect of the song of the well is the aspect of Torah She'be'al Peh (the Oral Torah), for after forty years they merited the acquisition of the Torah and became, of their very own essence, bnei Torah; and this is what the Midrash means when it says that forty-eight times the word "be'er" (well) is written in the Torah, corresponding to the forty-eight things through which the Torah is acquired. And I have written elsewhere the explanation of this matter — that they should come to be, in their very essence, bnei Torah, bringing forth words from their own mouths, as it is written, "and He planted eternal life within us."

The song of the well represents Torah She'be'al Peh, which Bnei Yisrael acquired only after forty years, becoming bnei Torah in their very essence; the forty-eight mentions of "be'er" mirror the forty-eight ways the Torah is acquired, so that Torah lives within them and flows out from their own mouths.

דכתי' עלי באר ענו הוא כענין שאמרו חז"ל וידבר אלקים כו' הדברים האלה לאמר שהיו עונין על הן הן כו' כי בעשרת הדיברות שדיבר השי"ת עם בנ"י נטע כח אלקית בלבות בנ"י קבוע בנפשות בנ"י וכפי התיקון שאדם מתקן עצמו מתעורר זה הכח בנפשו

For it is written, "Sing to the well, respond to it," and this is along the lines of what Chazal said regarding "And Elokim spoke all these words, saying" (Shemos 20:1) — that Bnei Yisrael would answer "Yes, yes" — for through the Aseres HaDibros that Hashem Yisbarach spoke with Bnei Yisrael, He planted a Divine power within the hearts of Bnei Yisrael, fixed and embedded within the very nefashos of Bnei Yisrael; and according to the rectification through which a person rectifies himself, this power is awakened within his nefesh.

The "responding" to the well parallels how Bnei Yisrael answered "Yes, yes" at Har Sinai — the Aseres HaDibros planted a Divine power deep in their nefashos, which a person awakens to the degree that he rectifies himself.

כמ"ש אנכי בעלתי בכם פי' אנכי דעשרת הדברות

As it is written, "I am the one who took you in marriage" (Yirmiyahu 3:14) — the meaning being the "Anochi" ("I am") of the Aseres HaDibros.

The pasuk "I took you in marriage" refers to the "Anochi" of the Aseres HaDibros, the very moment Hashem bound Bnei Yisrael to Himself.

רמז לדבר 'באר 'ענו 'לה ר"ת בעל שנתקדשו אליו בעשרת הדברות

A hint to the matter: the initial letters of "Be'er" (well), "Anu" (sing/respond), "Lah" (to it) spell "Ba'al" (master/husband) — for they were sanctified to Him through the Aseres HaDibros.

The first letters of "Be'er Anu Lah" spell "Ba'al," hinting that through the Aseres HaDibros Bnei Yisrael were sanctified and betrothed to Hashem as a wife to her husband.

וזהו העדות של בנ"י כמ"ש ענה בי הוי סהיד עלי

And this is the testimony of Bnei Yisrael, as it is said, "Respond regarding me" — Hashem is a witness concerning me.

This implanted Divine power within Bnei Yisrael is their testimony, in the sense of "respond regarding me" — that Hashem Himself testifies concerning each Jew.

פיהם של בנ"י בתורה הוא העדות

The mouths of Bnei Yisrael engaged in Torah are the testimony.

Concretely, when Bnei Yisrael open their mouths in Torah, that act of speaking Torah is itself the testimony to their bond with Hashem.

וכן איתא בזוה"ק באר הוא עדות כמ"ש תהי' לי לעדה כי חפרתי את הבאר ע"ש בזוה"ק פ' וילך:

And so too it is brought down in the Zohar HaKadosh that the well is testimony, as it is written, "that it may be a witness for me, that I dug this well" (Bereishis 21:30) — see there in the Zohar HaKadosh, Parashas Vayeilech.

The Sfas Emes closes by bringing the Zohar HaKadosh, which likewise identifies the well with testimony, drawing on Avraham's well that served as a witness.

Summary: In this piece the Sfas Emes reads the song of the well as the emergence of Torah She'be'al Peh within Bnei Yisrael and as a sign of their spiritual maturing. At first, like a small child who can only echo his father, Bnei Yisrael merely answered after Moshe Rabbeinu; but after forty years in the midbar they had so internalized the Torah that they became bnei Torah in their very essence, able to bring Torah forth from their own mouths — hinted by the forty-eight mentions of "be'er" matching the forty-eight ways the Torah is acquired. He traces this capacity to the Aseres HaDibros, where Hashem's "Anochi" implanted a fixed Divine power in the nefashos of Bnei Yisrael that each person awakens through his own avodah and self-rectification, a bond captured by the letters of "Be'er Anu Lah" spelling "Ba'al." Because of this implanted power, the very mouths of Bnei Yisrael engaged in Torah become the living testimony to that bond, a theme the Zohar HaKadosh reinforces by identifying the well itself with witness-bearing.