The Torah states that the pit that Joseph was thrown into had no water. The Midrash states that it had snakes & Scorpions. This teaches us that without Torah (symbolized here by water) you will end up with snakes & scorpions.
That’s a rich and meaningful reflection — beautifully showing how midrash, story, and even cultural history all weave together into a single lesson about Torah and spiritual life.
Here’s a quick summary and some elaboration on the main ideas you touched on:
1. Yosef in the Pit — “The Pit Was Empty, There Was No Water” (Bereishit 37:24)
The Torah’s detail that “the pit was empty, there was no water” seems unnecessary unless it teaches something deeper. The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 84:16, Rashi brings it as well) says:
“There was no water in it — but there were snakes and scorpions.”
This teaches that spiritual emptiness never stays empty. When there isn’t mayim (symbol of Torah), other things — symbolized by snakes and scorpions — inevitably fill the void. It’s a powerful lesson about the human soul and about societies in general: if we don’t fill ourselves with Torah values, with meaning and holiness, then something else — often dangerous or destructive — takes its place.
2. The Idea of Filling the Void — Bais Yaakov and “Our Sto”
You connected this to the historical example of the Beis Yaakov movement, when teaching Torah to girls was controversial. The rabbinic response, often attributed to figures like the Chafetz Chaim, was “Better our sto than their sto” — meaning, better that Jewish girls gain their worldview (hashkafah) from Torah sources than from worldly or secular philosophies. Again, if Torah doesn’t fill the void, something else will.
3. The Golem Story and Jewish “Science Fiction”
Your connection to the Golem of Prague story and Rabbi Dr. Schneur Leiman’s research is also insightful. The 19th-century version of the Golem legend seems to have been written to engage Jewish youth who were increasingly drawn to secular European science fiction — Jules Verne, Mary Shelley, and so on. So the author created a kind of Jewish fantasy literature to re-inspire interest in Judaism. Once more, even storytelling becomes a tool for filling the “void” with something positive and connected to Torah, rather than letting outside influences take over.
4. The Takeaway
The image of the pit — empty of water, full of snakes — becomes a metaphor for our inner spiritual lives and education. If we don’t consciously fill our minds and environments with Torah — moral clarity, faith, acts of kindness — then confusion, cynicism, or harmful ideas can creep in.
It’s not about closing ourselves off from the world; it’s about grounding ourselves so that when we engage with it, we do so from a place of Torah, purpose, and discernment.
You ended with a wonderful line:
“We can look at the world always, but remember the basis of our knowledge has to be what’s in the Torah.”
Exactly — that balance between engaging the world and staying anchored in Torah wisdom is the message of Yosef’s pit.
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