Rabbi Meir would say: Whoever studies Torah for Torah's sake alone, merits many things…and he becomes as an ever-increasing wellspring and as an unceasing river. (Pirkei Avot 6:1)
This is the common version. However, there is another version:[1] “and it becomes like a wellspring that does not cease and like a river that grows stronger and continues flowing."
A wellspring and a river represent chochmah (wisdom) and binah (understanding). Chochmah (Mochin d'Abba, the Father Intellect) is the wellspring: it is the point of innovation, the source of intellect, the power of invention and renewal, "Wisdom comes from nothing" – like a wellspring emerging from underground waters, from the hidden nothingness beneath the surface. Binah (Mochin d'Imma, the Mother Intellect) is the river. From the flowing wellspring, the river extends far, deepening and widening, "the broad places of the river." Thus binah develops the point of chochmah in length, width, and depth.
This is "and the secrets of the Torah are revealed to him, and he becomes like a wellspring that strengthens and like a river that does not cease," corresponding to the sefirot Keter-Chochmah-Binah: "Secrets of the Torah" belong to the hidden keter. "A wellspring that strengthens" refers to the innovative power of chochmah. "Strengthens" refers to the "the strengths of Father," as chochmah emerges from the hidden 'Koach Hamaskil (Power of Intellect)' within which there is "Strength of Atik." "A river that does not cease" refers to binah, and when it is properly connected to chochmah, it never ceases. Just as the wellspring continuously flows, the river that extends from it does not cease – a constant flow in the attribute of chesed, "chasadim d'Imma (the loving kindness of Mother)."
Exchange of Places
According to the version "like a wellspring that does not cease and like a river that grows stronger," there is an "exchange of places": in the wellspring, the attribute of the loving kindnesses of Mother included within chochmah is revealed, thus emphasizing that the wellspring does not cease. In the river, the power of strengthening from the strengths of Father is revealed, and thus the river itself grows stronger and continues. This integration and "exchange of places" derive from the higher source beyond chochmah and binah, the keter itself, which is mentioned at the beginning, "and the secrets of the Torah are revealed to him."
Additionally, there is a direct connection between binah and gevurah (strength), as stated, "I am binah, I have gevurah." In Kabbalistic terms, binah enclothes Gevurah of Arich (the external partzuf of keter, corresponding to the super-conscious power of will in the soul) which is the source of binah's strength, "a river that grows stronger." This means that the river "does not cease" due to the revealed connection of the river to the wellspring, the connection of binah to chochmah on a conscious level. However, the river's strengthening comes from its connection to the hidden source in the unconscious, from the underground waters themselves, as the sages say, "A river flows from its source."[2]
Similarly, there is a direct connection between chochmah and chesed (kindness): chesed of Arich is enclothed in chochmah. Chochmah is associated with the essence of creation, something from nothing, and the phrase "a wellspring that does not cease" refers to the continuous creation, from the attribute of chesed, "the world is built on kindness."
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[1] Machzor Vitri et al. See the different versions in the Vilna publication.
[2] Shabbat 65b.
