Zohar on the Torah

Zohar Archives

Rabbi Shimon explained the verse - "And from there they went to Be'er; that is the well of which the Lord spoke to Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water" (Numbers 21,16) - "That (masculine) is the well" is read from the Torah as though it was feminine - "He Habe'er" instead of "Hu Habe'er". Why the differences in form which also apply to the word "Well". At first it represents the feminine aspect (Malchut), later the male and female are joined, and that union is called by the masculine aspect, which is used even though the word 'well' is feminine, in order to indicate this unity. The verse goes on to say "Gather the people together, and I will give them water," because the well of Miriam dried up when she died, and it returned in the merit of Moshe. If you ask, "How could 600,000 people draw water from that well?" then you should know that there were 12 streams and the water gushed forth from the well, and filled these streams that then flowed to all sides. Then, when the Israelites camped and wanted water, they would stand on the side of the stream bed and sing a song ""Spring up, O well..." (Numbers 21,17). "Raise up source of waters, so there will be enough water for all Israel and for the herds". Thus they would sing praises to that higher well (Malchut). "The Princes dug the well, the nobles of the people excavated it with their scepter and their staves" (Numbers 21,18). They would say words of truth, and thus it would happen. From here we learn that whoever wishes to awaken and draw down things from above whether by actions or words, will achieve nothing unless the action or words are done in a fitting manner. Everyone goes to the Synagogue to awaken something from above but there are only a few who know how to do so. The Holy One Blessed be He is close to all those who know how to call Him and to arouse response in the proper way. If they don't know how to relate to Him, then He is not close to them as is written: "The Lord is near to all those who call upon him, to all who call upon Him in truth" (Psalms 145,18). What do the words "in truth" mean? They indicate that they know how to awaken a true response, appropriate to the each and every request. So in our text about the spring - Israel would say these words, spoken in truth, in order to awaken a response from the spiritual source of that spring and provide water to Israel. Until Israel spoke the words of the song the spring would not flow.

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