Yitzchak’s servants dug and they found there a well of living waters. The shepherds of Gerar argued with Yitchak’s shepherds saying the water is ours so he named the well “Aisik” argument, because they had argued with him. They dug another well and the shepherds quarreled about it also so he named it “Sitnah” harassment. He moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it so he named it “Rechovos”. He said “For now Hashem has made space for us and we will be fruitful in the land”.
According to the Ramban the three wells dug by Yitzchak alluded to the three Beis Hamikdoshes. The Keli Yakar expounds on this concept as follows. During the period of the first Beis Hamikdash the leaders of the nation were fighting amongst themselves. The shepherds of the nation are its leaders. That is the reason why the passuk mentions by the first well the title of רועי גרר עם רועי יצחק , the shepherds of Gerar and the shepherds of Yitzchak. However, during the second Beis Hamikdash symbolized by the second well, it does not mention again that there was a quarrel between the shepherds their leaders. This is to convey that even the populace plain folk were warring with each other. The Torah calls this second argumentationשנאת חנם , hatred for no reason. The reason being that one can understand why different leaders have varying world opinions and shitos and it is of great significance for the leaders of the nation to be correct Torah correct. But the populace “the nobody’s” when did they become so deeply philosophical and Torah learned? For them it was שנאת חנם , and when that happens it was only the intrusion of the Satan who flamed such a fire of dissent and belligerence against one another. For this reason the second well was called שטנה the letters of שטן . It was because of his “misharein” of Satan that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed.
The Third Beis Hamikdash will be built by Moshiach and that is why we find no mention of quarrels or arguments because then there will reign then only peace and emes. This is why the Third Mikdash is called Rechovos widening and spacious. When there is machlokes even if one has spacious surroundings, the air of machlokes suffocates its dwellers to the point that they feel cramped, claustrophobic and can’t breath. For instance Mr. S Addikt who is having a big machlokes with his relative own a 23d room mansion built on 35 acres which includes up to date. golf, tennis basketball and racquetball courts, a miniature golf course, baseball football and soccer fields, a bowling alley with a huge free arcade, an Indianapolis car race track, an amusement park with a 200 foot water slide with clowns serving refreshments, a movie theater, a 24 hour Sushi station and bar, a Ball Room, a planetarium for the kiddies, an Olympic swimming pool with a 30 foot diving board and a Jacuzzi that can accommodate 71 people at one time, a modest size locker and shower room adjacent to the Jacuzzi, a huge replica of the Titanic and the Statue of Liberty, a large cigar room loaded with fresh Habana’s and an exhaust system, a Night and Day Club, a small lake with many types of fish, and 18 super speed boats including a rowboat and two yachts for extra excitement. At the end of his property he set aside a small portion of land to serve as a graveyard.
To tell the truth, now that I heard the elaborate description of this dwelling place I myself can fully understand why this particular person feels hemmed in, constriction, and finds difficulty in breathing, even if he wasn’t involved at all in a present machlokes with a relative. Too much accessible indulgence of physical pleasures right at your fingertips and one has the constant burning and crucial pressure to choose every ten minutes which pleasure one should do next, can easily cause grave health problems even a sudden cardiac arrest ch”v. This is not to mention concerning the spiritual losses, damages and irrevocable missed opportunities incurred by such an irresponsible lifestyle. Having a replica of the Titanic and Statue of Liberty on the premises sums the situation up for Mr Addikt. Get sober fast and find an alternate meaning to life. It is not about the liberty to acquire a license to indulge freely in every pleasure available. Such a life can only lead to a Titanic and a graveyard.
The Keli Yakar ends with the coming of Moshiach and the Third Beis Hamikdashthat there will be such achdus and shalom that even if it will be crowded, no one will feel cramped at all. When we focus on our bodies they take up physical space. When our focus is on the neshamos of each other and we recognize the Tzelem Elokim in each and every one of us, nehsamos don’t take up space. Just the opposite they expand what is already there. Just as the miracle in the courtyard of the Beis Hamikdash that even when they were crowded as sardines in a can, yet when it came to bowing down everyone had the space of four cubits to do so. At the Future Beis Hamikdash named Rechovos in the time of Moshiach, our passuk saysופרינו בארץ . We will be able to multiply tremendously, yet at the same time we will not at all feel crowded just like the Aron in the Mishkan which miraculously did not take up any physical space.
To reframe a situation is really a mind set, but then again that also depends on upon what kind of mind and דעת one possesses. The Chazal say (Berachos 57b) שלשה דברים מרחיבין דעתו של אדם that three things broaden a person’s דעת:אשה נאה כלים נאים ודירה נאה a pleasant wife, pleasant vessels and furniture, and a pleasant house. When one feels his head is anxious and crunching, it is relaxing and a relief to encounter and see pleasant things and people who relax you and your tension. In this meaning the three things listed are the subject and influencers, and the דעת is the object which receives the reshaping and correctness. However, Rav Pinchos from Koretz interprets this Chazal in the opposite fashion. He says that three things are the objects which receive the reshaping and broadening by the דעת of a person. With the proper דעת outlook and perspective, one can broaden מרחיב situations which would initially seem bad or negative, and reframe them into something pleasant, acceptable and even desirable.
There is a famous parable of a Chassid that approached his Rebbe and complained that he has not enough room in his apartment and he and his family are very cramped to say the least. The Rebbe gave the advice to bring a cat inside the apartment. After listening to the Rebbe, his situation worsened. He returned to the Rebbi and complained again. The Rebbe said my advice to you now is to bring in a dog. A little perplexed he nevertheless followed the Rebbe’s suggestion and brought a dog into the house. Understandably his situation deteriorated and he came back to the Rebbe who just simply said bring in the goat. After doing so the Chossid was almost in tears and he was reaching his breaking point. Complaining to the Rebbe he was then advised to remove the all three. When he did so he was relieved with the new gained space that he acquired and he never complained to the Rebbe again about the lack of space.
When suddenly we become unhappy with our lot we complain and seek what seems be an upgrade. However sometimes it is not possible to make the desired change. The advice then to make the reality more bearable is to think to oneself “if you think you have it bad it could be even worse”. By some people they don’t even have an apartment with two rooms and a backyard. Even their kitchen does not have two sinks. The proper דעת can refrain any situation with an ayin tovah that one can learn to be happy with the little that he has. Rashi in Shmos 31,3 explains דעת to mean רוח הקדש a holy spirit. It is the ability to look at the world through the lens of Kedusha holiness and its connection to Hashem. Through Ruach Hakodesh one realizes that Hashem is in control of everything and what one receives from Him is in his best interest and benefit in order to attain shelaimus. It is a mindset and when you cannot reframe it then you must reset your mind again and again in order to reach that goal.
A good friend of mine once told me that happiness in life comes from the passuk בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת. Although the passuk is referring to Hashem it is also concerning one’s outlook on life. בשמים ממעל when it comes to measuring one’s ruchniyus status always look ממעל to those people who are above you. This will break your feeling that you have climbed as much as you can go and you are now ready for spiritual retirement. By reframing this way you will have excitement and enthusiasm to meet each day with new growth and self fulfillment. בארץ מתחת when it comes to earthly matters and acquisitions, always look מתחת people who are under you who do not possess even what you have. This will make you feel grateful to Hashem and שמח בחלקוfor your lot and portion.
The Third Beis Hamikdash will bring in a period of רחובות a broadening and reframing of our narrow and negative vision. ותחזנה עינינו בשובך לציון ברחמים our eyes will finally see correctly when the Shechina returns to Yerushalyim and the Beis Hamikdash. This reframing will come from ומלאה הארץ דעה את ה’ the earth will be full of knowledge of Hashem which will enable everyone to reframe ג’ דברים מרחיבין דעתו של אדם.
With the above we can answer a question concerning the interpretation of the Keli Yakar. The Torah says that they dug three wells corresponding to the three Beis Hamikdashos. According to the Zohar, the third Beis Hamikdash will descend from the heavens built by Hashem and not by Yisrael? We can answer and say, true that the physical body of the Beis Hamikdash will come from Hashem but the דעת that will emanate from there will be our doing. As the gemarah says Berachos 33
אמר רבי אלעזר גדול מקדש שנתן בין שתי אותיות שנאמר פעלת ה’ מקדש ה’ ואמר רבי אלעזר כל אדם שיש בו דעה כאילו נבנה בית המקדש בימיו דעה נתנה בין שתי אותיות “אל דעות ה’” מקדש נתן בין שתי אותיות
Whoever possesses דעת it is as if he built the Beis Hamikdash. This conveys that every time one makes himself refrain a situation for the better with his daas he is creating the neshama of the Third Beis Hamikdash which will transform that which looks as a loss to a plus, and a negative to a positive. This is our input which corresponds to the digging the well of רחובות .
On Shabbos לכה דודי we say רב לך שבת בעמק הבכא. Shabbos is a day when we must refrain from complaining and whining about our seemingly compromised situations. On Shabbos we receive דעת as the passuk says לדעת כי אני ה’ מקדישכם. With דעת I can see the positive in בית כלים אשה which are the acronym of בכא. It is time to stop crying and start reframing and thereby welcome the Third Beis Hamikdash in our days על יד בן ישי בית הלחמי קרבה אל נפשי גאלה.
Rav Brazil
Gut Shabbos Guten Chodesh
