The envy felt by the nations throughout history towards the success of Jews in every field seems to find expression in an incident described in this week's Torah portion.

"Yitzchak sowed in the land and in that year reaped a hundredfold... the man became great and kept becoming greater… and the Philistines envied him." (Bereishet 26:12-14)

The envious Philistines stopped up and filled with earth the wells that Yitzchak's father had dug, and when Yitzchak's servants dug two new wells of fresh water the Philistines claimed the water was theirs. Only when a third well was dug there was finally no resistance.

The success of Jews in our own day in turning a barren land into a thriving state has once again stirred the envy of "Philistines". We must be confident that we will someday reach that third uncontested well and enjoy a peaceful Israel forever.

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