In the time of the great Kabbalist Rav Isaac Luria, there lived an eminent sage and scholar named Rav Yosef Karo. Once, after weeks of meditation on a difficult passage of the Bible, Rav Karo penetrated its deepest meaning. Delighted, he posed the question to a student, expecting that the student would appreciate his master's explanation. To his suprise, the student immediately saw the answer. Rav Karo could not believe that what had taken him weeks of intense study to uncover had taken the student a few minutes.
Despondent, he began questioning himself. Perhaps he had been given too much credit. Perhaps he should give up teaching. He wandered the streets and encountered the eminent Rav Luria, who asked him why he looked so downcast. After listening patiently, Luria spoke.
"There was a village whose water came from a spring at the top of a mountain. Few villagers had the strength to walk up to the top, so it was one man's job to fetch water for the entire village. It took him many hours to fill the huge buckets. When he did, everyone came and filled their little cups from these buckets, which of course took only minutes. Even the weakest of them had no trouble.
"What I'm saying is that your weeks of work opened up a channel of understanding. Once that channel was open, it was simple for your student to also understand."
— Michael Berg, Becoming Like God