The Wells We Keep Open

Toldot by Ben Russell

This week’s Torah portion, Toldot, brings us into the quieter world of Isaac. The Torah simply says, “Vayeishev Yitzchak — and Isaac settled” (Gen. 26:6). Isaac doesn’t journey far or seek dramatic encounters. He digs wells, reopens old ones, and tends what he has inherited. It’s ordinary work on the surface, but Torah hints that there is something holy in this kind of steadiness — the quiet courage of showing up, maintaining, and caring for what gives life. 

What speaks to me in this Torah portion is that Isaac loves God without the certainty Abraham or Jacob seem to have. His spiritual life unfolds in a gentler landscape — fewer visions, fewer voices, more silence. And yet he stays rooted. He keeps doing the patient work of uncovering water. Isaac becomes a companion for anyone whose relationship with God is shaped by wonder, or doubt, or shifting metaphors. His life reminds us that there isn’t just one way to reach toward the Holy.

The wells Isaac tends offer a beautiful image: each of us draws meaning in our own way. For some, God is an all-powerful Being watching over creation; for others, God is the unfolding universe; for others still, God is the spark of goodness that moves us toward compassion. All of these belong. All of these can be pathways of love. The well is deep enough for all of us.

As we move into Shabbat, may we hold Isaac’s gentleness — his patience, his openness, his quiet devotion. May we, too, be well-diggers: steady in our seeking, honest in our questions, and willing to find holiness in the ordinary places where our hearts open.

,שבת שלום

Ben