Water from Miriam’s Well on Motzaei Shabbat

Water from Miriam’s Well on Motzaei Shabbat

In Parashat Chukat, we read about the passing from this world of Miriam ha-Neviah and Aharon ha-Kohen. Miriam’s Well During the Jewish people’s 40-year journey through the wilderness, they were provided with water by a miraculous well that appeared in the merit of the righteous Miriam, the sister of Moshe Rabbeinu. Miriam’s miraculous Well possessed many remarkable properties. Like the manna, the water from this well was completely absorbed by the body and also healed a person fully from any ailment. In addition, whoever drank from Miriam’s Well never forgot anything. The holy books state that this well is currently located in the area of Lake Kinneret. However, only a person endowed with Ruach ha-Kodesh (a special degree of spiritual insight) is able to see it. Once, the Arizal (the great tzadik and Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak ben Shlomo Luria) took his students, among them Chaim Vital, and went with them from Tzfat to Tiberias to pray at the graves of tzadikim. When they approached Lake Kinneret, the Arizal told Chaim Vital to follow him. Upon reaching a certain place, he drew water into a vessel and said to him: “Say a blessing and drink.” Rabbi Chaim asked: “Why?” The Arizal repeated: “Drink, and you will remember everything.” After Rabbi Chaim Vital drank the water, the Arizal revealed that Miriam’s Well was located in that place. Since he did not have much time left in this world, yet still had a great deal of information to pass on to his student, Rabbi Chaim had to remember everything the Arizal said flawlessly and forever. That is why he told him: “Drink, and you will remember everything.” The Arizal taught his student Chaim Vital for only one year and eight months, but the information he remembered was sufficient for Rabbi Chaim to write 20 books, word for word, from his teacher’s teachings. For many hundreds of years, a tradition existed among the Jewish people: immediately after Havdalah, Jewish women would hurry to the well to draw water. The holy books state that at the time when the Jewish people perform Havdalah, Miriam’s Well passes through all the world’s water sources. Thus, by drawing water or turning on a tap, one might succeed in drawing precisely that miraculous water from Miriam’s Well. It is told that one rather impatient husband once waited a long time for his wife, who had gone to draw water at the end of Shabbat, because a large line of people wishing to draw water had formed there. When his wife returned home, he pushed her so that all the water spilled out, with only a few drops landing on his hand. This man suffered from a serious skin disease, and the places touched by the drops of water were healed instantly. How much he lost because of his anger: had he drunk the water brought by his wife, he could have been healed completely and acquired a unique memory. Halban  Once, Halban’s students asked where, exactly, “Miriam’s Well” was located in Kinneret and whether it was truly possible to taste water from this source. Halban took them to Tiberias and, once they reached the shore of Lake Kinneret, took out some sort of scarf and began waving it over his head. Immediately, ripples appeared on the water, and the students saw a whirlpool in the distance that began moving toward the shore. When it reached the shore, Halban told his students that they could now draw water from Miriam’s spring. The students were overjoyed and all rushed toward the source. At that moment, a passerby who happened to be walking by also hurried after the students out of curiosity. Halban noticed him and immediately ordered the spring to return to its place. Miriam’s spring possesses a special holiness, and it can harm someone who is unprepared.   Segulah on Motzaei Shabbat, passed down from generation to generation The traditional segulah is to approach a tap, draw water, and say over the glass of water: “Mayim mi-Be’er Miriam be-Motzaei Shabbat — segulah le-refuah sheleimah la-nefesh, la-guf.” Then recite the berachah “Shehakol” and drink the water. Gaon Rabbi Yekutiel Abuhatzeira (the son of Baba Haki) adds the following. One should also recite the following pasuk seven times over the glass of water and then drink the water: וּשְׁאַבְתֶּם־מַיִם בְּשָׂשׂוֹן מִמַּעַיְנֵי הַיְשׁוּעָה “Ushavtem mayim besason mi-ma’ayenei ha-yeshuah” — (And with joy you will draw water from the wellsprings of salvation.) (Isaiah 12:3) This brings salvation and resolution of problems. It is desirable to do this every Motzaei Shabbat, but on Miriam’s yahrzeit, the segulah is many times more powerful.   (Based on a lecture by Gaon Yaniv Assuri at a Tu B’Av meal, and a lecture by Rabbanit Chagit Shira)