VOLUME 103 NUMBER 5
Cheshvan 24, 5783
November 18, 2022
PARSHAS CHAYEI SARA
Candlelighting Time 4:24 PM
Avrohom sent Eliezer to find a wife for Yitzchok. He davens that Hashem should send the appropriate spouse for his master’s son and lo and behold, immediately upon arriving at his destination he meets her and beckons her family to agree to the match. All goes well and as they say, the rest is indeed history. When Eliezer is expressing his gratefulness to Hashem, his articulation is very interesting. He recognizes that Hashem has not abandoned His faithful servant, Avrohom and therefore he merited to find Rivka as soon as he reached Charan, Avrohom’s hometown. Eliezer mentions that Hashem has not forsaken His compassion and truthfulness. Of course, we understand what is meant that Hashem’s kindness guided Eliezer since he found Rivka directly upon his coming. However, what did he mean in regard to Hashem’s truthfulness?
S’fas Emes understands this as an allusion to Yaakov. The three Patriarchs represented the three pillars upon which the world stands, Torah, the service in the Beis Hamikdash and acts of kind-heartedness. Of course, Avrohom instilled in the nation our character of kindness. Yitzchok, with his ultimate sacrifice upon the altar epitomized our strength of service to Hashem through the offerings that were brought in the Beis Hamikdash. And Yaakov exemplified Torah, the definitive search for truth in its pristine fashion. Therefore, Eliezer denoted that the foundation for the nation had now become fundamentally established. Therefore, Eliezer had accomplished an incredible goal, the secure creation of our future with Hashem’s truth, the Torah now firmly ensconced in our midst.
Meshech Chochma takes this new elucidation to another level of perception. Of course, Yaakov was to instill in the nation that strength of Torah, the faculty of incisiveness, the ability to strive for the truth. However, there is an innate connection between the characteristic of strength that is personified by Yitzchok and the trait of veracity and authenticity that Yaakov embodied that are directly related. Avrohom’s forte of kindness meshes with the vigor of potency that Yitzchok exemplified and they are the force behind our pursuit for the unadulterated and absolute truth! In other words, without the preceding qualities of kindness and strength, Yaakov would have been unable to advance that superior level that we know as Torah. And the reason is that loving kindness lacks the rigidity that is necessary for exactitude. As we see by Avrohom, that he was willing to even accommodate the evil people of Sodom and attempt to save them from destruction. And the invincibility of strength that Yitzchok possessed must be tempered by kindness which is the basic foundation of this world which Torah was the blueprint of its creation. Therefore, together they work in tandem and bring us to an awesome mesa of unequivocal and sheer truth and its pursuit.
That was the incredible realization that Eliezer grasped as he witnessed the events unfold which were unfathomable yet occurring. And as we view these historic and remarkable incidents, it fills us with the comprehension of our amazing legacy and provides with a glimpse of our future panorama!
BYTE FOR SHABBOS
The Midrash praises Eliezer remarkable faith in securing a wife for Yitzchok. Although he had a daughter and wanted Avrohom to select her for Yitzchok, he performed his master’s mission with complete loyalty to his duty.
S’FAS EMES
GOOD SHABBOS
