"Avimelech said to Isaac, 'Go away from us. You have become much more powerful than we are.' Isaac left the area and camped in the Gerar Valley, intending to settle there?. Isaac's servants then dug in the valley, and found a new well, brimming over with fresh water. The shepherds of Gerar disputed with Isaac's shepherds, claiming that the water was theirs. Isaac named the well Esek [Contention], because they had challenged him. They dug another well, and it was also disputed. Isaac named it Sitna [Hatred]. He then moved away from there and dug another well. This time it was not disputed, so he named it Rechovot [Wide Spaces]. 'Now G-d will grant us wide open spaces,' he said. 'We can be fruitful in the Land.'" (Genesis 26:16-22)
After Avimelech tells Isaac, "Go away from us!" Isaac chooses to camp in the Gerar Valley. Ohr HaChaim explains that he did not wish to uproot himself from the Philistine lands because he had already been commanded by G-d, "Remain an immigrant in this land. I will be with you and bless you, since it will be to you and your offspring that I will give all these lands. I will thus keep the oath that I made to your father Abraham?. I will grant your descendants all these lands. All the nations on earth shall be blessed through your descendants." (26:3-4)
G-d, to strengthen Isaac's spirit, says to him, "Fear not, for I am with you." (26:24) Because Isaac had been humiliated by the Philistine king, who told him, "Go away from us!" he feared that G-d had abandoned him. G-d therefore said, "Fear not! I haven't abandoned you. I am with you." (Ohr HaChaim, ibid.)
The quarrel between Isaac's and Avimelech's shepherds over the wells offers a strong allusion to the future. As Ramban teaches:
"The three wells allude to the three Temples, and to the relationship between Israel and the nations. The First Temple corresponds to the first well, which was called 'Esek' [Contention]. The nations contended with us and destroyed our Temple. The Second Temple corresponds to the second well, which was called 'Sitna' [Hatred]. The nations hated us and destroyed the Second Temple, and they continue to hate us to this very day. Yet, the third well was called 'Rechovot' [Wide Spaces]. This corresponds to the Third Temple, which will be built speedily in our day. That Temple will be constructed without strife, and G-d will expand our borders and we shall be fruitful and multiply in the land. Then all the nations will serve G-d as one (see Ramban).
Avimelech, King of the Philistines, treated Isaac the same way that the nations of the world are treating us today with the "Roadmap" and "Disengagement" plans. We are being pressured from within and without, and being told, "Go away from us. You have become much more powerful than we are. Go away! Leave Gaza and Gush Katif. Leave Judea and Samaria. Leave the Golan and Jerusalem, etc." ? it shall never be.
Even when we dig wells to make the desert bloom, physically or spiritually, they stop them up. Some of them continue to quarrel with us and to hate us, like the names of those first wells. Yet, we are believers and the sons of believers. We have faith that the day is not far off when the pressure exerted from within and without, and the Arabs' warfare, will abate. It will occur through our being spiritually, militarily and economically united and strong.
The nations will then understand that Israel's rebirth in their land is for the nations' own good, and not, G-d forbid, to harm them. Israel truly is a light unto the nations. Just as with the Balfour Declaration, the nations will accept the fact that Israel's return to the Biblical borders, alluded to by the third well, will bring a blessing, light and goodness to mankind. Through us will be fulfilled the divine promise, "All the nations on earth shall be blessed through your descendants." (26:24)
After Avimelech tells Isaac, "Go away from us!" Isaac chooses to camp in the Gerar Valley. Ohr HaChaim explains that he did not wish to uproot himself from the Philistine lands because he had already been commanded by G-d, "Remain an immigrant in this land. I will be with you and bless you, since it will be to you and your offspring that I will give all these lands. I will thus keep the oath that I made to your father Abraham?. I will grant your descendants all these lands. All the nations on earth shall be blessed through your descendants." (26:3-4)
G-d, to strengthen Isaac's spirit, says to him, "Fear not, for I am with you." (26:24) Because Isaac had been humiliated by the Philistine king, who told him, "Go away from us!" he feared that G-d had abandoned him. G-d therefore said, "Fear not! I haven't abandoned you. I am with you." (Ohr HaChaim, ibid.)
The quarrel between Isaac's and Avimelech's shepherds over the wells offers a strong allusion to the future. As Ramban teaches:
"The three wells allude to the three Temples, and to the relationship between Israel and the nations. The First Temple corresponds to the first well, which was called 'Esek' [Contention]. The nations contended with us and destroyed our Temple. The Second Temple corresponds to the second well, which was called 'Sitna' [Hatred]. The nations hated us and destroyed the Second Temple, and they continue to hate us to this very day. Yet, the third well was called 'Rechovot' [Wide Spaces]. This corresponds to the Third Temple, which will be built speedily in our day. That Temple will be constructed without strife, and G-d will expand our borders and we shall be fruitful and multiply in the land. Then all the nations will serve G-d as one (see Ramban).
Avimelech, King of the Philistines, treated Isaac the same way that the nations of the world are treating us today with the "Roadmap" and "Disengagement" plans. We are being pressured from within and without, and being told, "Go away from us. You have become much more powerful than we are. Go away! Leave Gaza and Gush Katif. Leave Judea and Samaria. Leave the Golan and Jerusalem, etc." ? it shall never be.
Even when we dig wells to make the desert bloom, physically or spiritually, they stop them up. Some of them continue to quarrel with us and to hate us, like the names of those first wells. Yet, we are believers and the sons of believers. We have faith that the day is not far off when the pressure exerted from within and without, and the Arabs' warfare, will abate. It will occur through our being spiritually, militarily and economically united and strong.
The nations will then understand that Israel's rebirth in their land is for the nations' own good, and not, G-d forbid, to harm them. Israel truly is a light unto the nations. Just as with the Balfour Declaration, the nations will accept the fact that Israel's return to the Biblical borders, alluded to by the third well, will bring a blessing, light and goodness to mankind. Through us will be fulfilled the divine promise, "All the nations on earth shall be blessed through your descendants." (26:24)