Chasidut su Genesi 26:18

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai was the unique figure who attained the knowledge of all the mysteries of the Torah. He was on such a level that Eliyahu HaNavi visited him during his years of hiding in the cave, and revealed to him the secret knowledge. This is recorded in the Zohar Hadash (Ki Tavo, 65a) and the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar. The Zohar (Ahari Mot, 61a) says that he merited the level of Moshe Rabeynu, of whom it is written, “I will speak to him mouth to mouth, I appear to him in clear prophecy and not in puzzling visions.” Anyone who ascends to the level of knowing the secrets of the Torah does so only through the secrets revealed by Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai. As it is written in the Zohar (ibid.): Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai governs in the realm of wisdom over all mankind. Anyone who goes up to his level does so only to reconcile with his knowledge. This passage in the Zohar concludes (Ahari Mot, 61a): From the day the world was created, Rabbi Shimon was standing ready before the Holy One, Blessed be He. God would call him by name. The nature of the revelation of Torah that was revealed to Rabbi Shimon was on the level of Torah SheBichtav (The Written Torah). And there is nothing in the world that exists outside of the Torah, for all comes from the Torah. This is as it is said in the Zohar (Ha’azinu, 187a): Rabbi Yehuda said, the Holy One, Blessed be He, is called, “Shamayim” (Heaven). Since He is called “Shamayim,” when all of the firmaments that are included in this name join together as one, they are called “Shamayim” and are called the name of God. What are these firmaments that we speak of? We are taught that there are seven kinds, such as vilon (veil), rakiya (firmament), Shehakim (skies), etc.⁷²The names of the seven firmaments are וילון, רקיע, שחקים, זבול, מעון, מכון, וערבות. We learned this in the aggatada of Rabbi Hamnuna Saba. The teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna are numerous in this manner.⁷³The Baal HaSulam notes that they speak of physical things as allusions to higher realities, such as the seven firmaments, which allude to the seven divine spheres of Zeir Anpin and Malkhut. Rabbi Shimon said that these teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna contain the following. Over against the seventy crowns (Sefirot) of the king, we find the seven firmaments and the seven planets that run and go forth.⁷⁴Or, that orbit. Even though they are all hidden in the firmament, still they are called by the name of the physical planets.⁷⁵That is, the names of the physical planets teach about the spiritual planes. The seven planets are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. These (seven Sefirot) are used to receive the names of these seven planets, and this is in order to cover the matter (of the spiritual planes). This is as it is written (Yeshayahu, 47:13), “let them stand up and save you, O astrologers and star diviners.” These names are only an external covering. We use these names even though they are not in the way of Torah. Yet the path we take is the path of the Torah. This is as it is written (Bereshit, 26), “He called them in the names that his father had called them.” We proceed according to the way God speaks. We go with Him, as it is written (Devarim, 28:9), “You shall go in His ways.” Rabbi Yehuda called God, Shamayim, or Heavens, because the entirety of the firmaments is called Shamayim. This is a name of God, may He be blessed. Then Rabbi Yitzhak mentioned the teachings of Rabbi Hamnuna which say that entire expanse of the cosmos, the hosts of galaxies and the like, all contain seventy crowns (Sefirot), seven firmaments, the constellations, and all their servants.

But after Abraham’s death, these springs of wisdom were stopped up, because they were stopped by the Philistines (Gen. 26:18) who are the aspect of evil which is set in a person, who had overpowered the world; and the element of Earth had overpowered [the others] and in proportion the spiritual and intellectual powers weakened. But when Isaac, his son, came and held to his father’s path, he taught this awareness to the people of his generation as well – to return and dig to the aspect of a well of living water through many types of intelligences and great and concealed counsels – until Isaac dug again the wells of water (Gen. 26:18). All this comes by way of faith, which is the precursor to this: that one believes with complete faith that Blessed God, the whole earth is filled with [God’s] Glory (Isaiah 6:3) and no place is void of [God], there is no other besides [God] (Deut. 4:35). And then, by way of this faith, he yearns for [God] and desires to hold to and attach himself to Blessed God, who has the aspect of valley [nahal] (Gen. 26:19), which is an acronym for Our soul waits for the LORD [nafsheynu hiktah la-ADONAI] (Psalm 33:20), which [means] by way of faith. And then, through this, he comes to his root, which is the spring of the well of living waters that we have described. And that is [the meaning of] when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (Gen. 26:19) – the aspect of valley as we have stated – and found there a well of living water (Gen. 26:19), etc., The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled … so he called the name of the well Esek etc. (Gen. 26:20), Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (Gen. 26:21), And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now [the LORD has made room for us]” etc. (Gen. 26:22).