Q: Many people ask where the well of Miriam is, and whether one can drink from it. Is this reality or a legend?
A: Any spiritual source spreads through all the spiritual worlds and must materialize (appear in our physical world). There is a certain force called the “Bina”, the “superior mother”, and in the physical world it reveals in fountains and springs.
However, it is forbidden to relate anything spiritual to water. One who drinks from a fountain does not get anything spiritual from it. The question is, who give that person the water? Water, like anything else, can be linked with its spiritual origin with the messenger of a spiritual force (a Kabbalist), and thus convey spiritual energy to a person.
My rabbi did that many times. He gave a person a peace of bread, or a sip of wine, and in this way conveyed spiritual energy within that corporeal object. After all, there is no other way to convey it to a person who still doesn’t have spiritual vessels.
The Ari did the same with his disciple, Chaim Vital, when he let him drink from the water, which is a very natural thing for a Kabbalist. If that disciple had gone to the Sea of Galilee and drunk the water, he would not have attained any spiritual power. The water, in this case, was just a means for the conveyance of a spiritual attribute, and it doesn’t really matter from where it was taken.
The force that the Ari gave to his disciple was called ‘The Well of Miriam’, not the water itself. I, too, received from my rabbi all sorts of refreshments. A Kabbalist can convey spiritual strength through a corporeal object, as well.