What do the 4 wells in parsha Toldot have to do with Isaac being 60 and with the fountain of life?
The Torah begins with the word for “well” permuted in its verse first 3 letters (BRE to BER), and actually it repeat it as the second word in the Torah (BRE to BER). Why?
And together they add to 406, the value of the spelled-out letter tav (TB). Why is the end in the beginning?
Let’s jump ahead to Toldot, the 6th portion of the Torah, where we learn about Isaac digging wells, and as the Arizal points out “the well (H’Be’er) has the same numerical value of Isaac (Yitzchak).
There are four wells mentioned, but the Arizal in his commentary on this portion, really goes deeper into the first two and then concentrates on the phrase from the portion (Bereshit 26:19) “a well of fresh spring water” (be’er mayim chayim), living waters.
The names of the 4 wells are Eisek, Sitnah, Rechovot, and Sheba, and while the Ari equates Eisek with the aspect of the Tetragrammaton known as Av (Chocma), and Sitnah with that of Sag (Binah), he skips the other two and connects “a well of fresh spring water” (be’er mayim chayim) with Mah (Zeir Anpin). That said, the names Eisek, (AShK) meaning contention, and Sitnah, (ShTtNH) meaning harassment, are both found in the second line of the 42-Letter Name of G-d, (the Ana B’koach): Eisek = KRAShTtN and Sitnah = HRYShTtN and the only letter not utilized in teh line is the resh (R), as in Rechovot (RChBVT) meaning “open spaces.”
As for Sheba (ShBA), the shin and ayin as included in this second line so the collective letters not utilized in the 4 wells are H, Ch,B,V,T and B) and these 6 letters sum to 423 and is we add 1 for the kolel, we get 424, the value for Mashiach Ben David, the Messiah.
Now, while the word Rechovot from which most of the extraneous letters come from has the word value 616, the same as that of H’Torah, “The Torah,” the final letters of Eisek, Sitnah and Rechovot (K,H,T) have the numerical value of 505, Sarah, from which the Mashiach connection stems, as we’ve discussed in numerous posts.
As an aside, please note, that the difference from H’Torah to Sarah is 616 – 505 = 111, the value of Alef, as in the Alef of Abraham, who also had dug wells before Isaac did, and is also the other half of the Mashiach equation.
So what is the spiritual significance of digging wells?
The 4th well, was dug at Beer Sheva, meaning satisfy/content and also seven (7) when G-d blessed Isaac and told him he’s multiply his seed for Abraham’s sake. It has the numerical value of 372. And when we consider the aspect of the Tetragrammaton known as Mah (Zeir Anpin) (YVD HE VEV HE) and use the spelled-out value of the 3 alefs (333) in it and add them to the value of the rest of the letters (42), subtract ing the kolel for the 3 alefs we get 333 + 42- 3 = 372.
Now considering that a well or cistern is a vessel, usually associated with the level of malchut (our world) and that zeir anpin is the 6 dimensions (sefirot) that channel the light (flow of energy/life) into our world, we find that the 7 in total are functioning properly at Beer Sheva to transmit the flow of energy necessary for G-d’s blessing to carry on through Isaac and to the future generations.
And since we know that the 42-Letter Name (the Ana B’koach) is directly associated with these 7 sefirot and that it acts as our channel to the upper worlds, we see why the early wells were tied in to it. Moreover, they were tied into the 2nd line of the Name, the line that is directly associated with Isaac’s energy. Using this analogy, the 4th well must be connected to the 4th line of the Name, and thus the point of the flowing blessings as well.

From the phrase “a well of fresh spring water” (be’er mayim chayim), we see that the first letters of the first 2 words spell out mem-bet as in the Shem mem-bet, the 42-Letter Name of G-d, and that the first letters of all 3 words add up to 50, representing Binah. And the full 3 words add up to 360. Moreover, if we add the 3 for the kolel for the 3 words we get 360 + 3 + 363, the numerical value of H’Mashiach.
And when we add those first letters of the living waters B,M,Ch, totaling 50 to the first letters of the first 3 named wells (A,Sh,R), totaling 570, or 10 times zan, sustenance, we get 50 + 570 = 620, the numerical value of Keter, the highest sefira/dimension.
There are 22 letters in the named wells and the phrase about the living waters in them, a not-so-subtle hint about a connection to the 22 letters of the alef-bet. So when we add the 3 named wells plus the 22 letters that comprise them we get 470 + 364 + 616 + 360 + 22 = 1832 and if we add 1 for the kolel, we get 1833.
Now, as is explained in depth in The Genesis Prayer, the central two letter pair, sitting at the center of the 4th (middle) line of the 42-Letter Name add up to 290, the value of Miriam, Moses’ sister, whose wells provided endless water and life for the Israelites throughout their 42 journeys on the way to the promised land
As also explained in depth in The Genesis Prayer, this central pair, Resh-Zaddi (RZ) also control a meditative gateway to fulfill that blessing and to help with conception and pregnancy, as well as with finding soul mates, as Rivka and Rachel and Moses did with their wells.
There is definite mid-point in the 42 letter Name, the place where the two drops from heaven, the two Ehyeh (EHYH), each of value 21, meet, 21 letters from the beginning and 21 letters from the end, a place where if the Name was split in two and the first letter was multiplied by the last and so forth and the 21 square roots taken, they’d add up to 358, the value of Mashiach. At this very place on the 4th line, the total numerical value up to that point is 1833, like the waters flowing through the 4th well. Is there a better place to find Keter?
And the ordinal value of the two letters at this special point, resh (R) and zaddi(Z) are 20 and 18, as in 2018 HC, the year of the Covenant of Abraham, also known as the Covenant of Halves, when G-d first promised to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars, etc. It’s also as in the year 2018 CE, the year prophesied for the arrival of the Messiah, at the end of the 4th exile.
And since these wells connected to the 22 letters, it’s important to note that there are 1833 letter Samech’s (S) in the Torah, adn teh value of Samech (S) is 60, as in the 60 years of Isaac’s age when he re-dug the wells of Abraham and stood in beer Sheba and G-d renewed (for no apparent reason) his blessing with Abraham, telling Isaac that he will multiply his seed. For no apparent reason other than making this gift of the Resh-zaddi gateway obvious to us and our generation.
And when we add the value of samech (60) to the value of the resh (200) and zaddi (90) we get 350 and if we then add the kolel of the 10 letters in “a well of fresh spring water” (be’er mayim chayim) we get “a well of fresh spring water” (be’er mayim chayim) = 360 – 10 = 350 = the RSZ well of flowing abundance and chesed (loving-kindness).
We also know from chazal that as the mid-way point in our journey so to speak this well (R-Z) protects us from the obstacles in our paths if we persevere and continue our journey until the end, seeing the illusions for what they are and reaching the promised land.
If we add the value of samech (60) to the full value of the 42 letters (3701) we get 3761 as in the year 1, or the 1st year on our new journey or 2018 years toward 2018 CE. Our first journey of 2018 years got us as far as the blessing in 2018 HC. There are 3760 years between the two events, 10 times the value of Shalom (peace, 376), or 10 times the value of Esau (376), about whom the Torah immediately tells after G-d extended his Covenant through Isaac, that Esau took a wife from the Hittites a source of grief for Isaac and Rivka.
And where do these wells flow from?
The Airzal tells us they flow from Gan Eden, the garden of Eden.
The Ark that contains the Torah is called H’CLY and we know from chazal that CLI stands for Cohen, Levi, and Yehudi, and that it has the value of 60, so when we open the Ark, we can metaphorically open the resh and the zaddi curtains (RZ) and connect to that flow from Gan Eden. We can also do that every time we do the Ana B’koach.
And note that it is in the 4th line (BTtRZTG) of the 42-letter name that we find word Brit, (BRYT) Covenant, slightly concealed. Since the Zaddi can be split into its two component parts, the Nun (N) and a backwards resh that in the time of Mashiach will be turned around, we have spelled out sequentially (B R Y T) Brit in the center of the line. So whose Brit and whose Covenant are gifted to us in that middle line of G-d’s Name?
This a special gateway available to all.  And to those that understand, the Samech (S) between the Resh-Zaddi (RZ) is the samech of Sulam (ladder) and of Sinai, both with the numerical value 130, which is why in Jacob’s famous dream in Vayetze Bereshit 28:12, the ladder was set up on the earth (ERZH).  It is the place of “running and returning.”
Use the gift, share the gift, and open the flowing waters in your life. Use the gift, share the gift, and help someone in need be fruit, righteous, and to multiply. Use the gift, share the gift and in the 8 final years to 5778 (2018) help fulfill the Covenant and be there for the Brit of Mashiach.