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Hadrash Ve-Haiyun
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Hadrash Ve-Haiyun
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Chayei Sarah
5766
To Dedicate Please Contact: Hadrash Ve-Haiyun
And she said to the slave, “Who is that man waking in the field toward us?” And the slave said, “He is my master.” She then took the veil and covered herself. (Bereishis 24:65)
In this week’s parsha we learn how Eliezer traveled to Charan to find a wife for Yitzchak. The Torah repeats this episode twice. Once as it unfolded and again as Eliezer repeated it to Besual and Lavan. Chazal comment, we learn from here how precious the ordinary talk of our forefather’s servants is to Hashem, more so than the actual laws of the Torah. Whereas this story was repeated twice many laws of the Torah are only know through complex exegeses.
The novelty of this story is not just its repetition but also the long list of differences as to what exactly happened.
The marriage of Yitzhak and Rivkah begot two very different children, Yaakov and Esav. The Torah describes Yaakov as a wholesome man who studied in tents and Esav as a man of the field. We may suggest that the Torah here is revealing the roots of these two children.
Why did Eliezar not tell the story exactly the way it happened? The simple answer may be that Eliezar understood that had he told Besual and Lavan the truth they would not have been willing to give Rivkah in marriage to Yitzchak. It was necessary for Eliezar to lie in order for his plan to succeed. For example, had Besual and Lavan know that Eliezar gave Rivkah the jewelry before he asked her from which family she came, they would dismiss Avraham family as one who is extremely irresponsible. The truth however was that Eliezar acted with great faith in Hashem, a trait that they were far from understanding and appreciating.
It emerges that there were two different approaches to this marriage. One from the perspective of Avraham and Eliezer and the other from the perspective of Besual and Lavan.
Avraham wished to build a new home for his son based on the principles of faith and idealism. This manifested itself in Yaakov. On the other hand Besual and Lavan had different values and goals. Their values were manifested in Esav.
The differences in details between the accounts as recorded in the Torah as it actually unfolded and as Eliezar repeated it to Besual and Lavan are the differences between Yaakov and Esav. The Torah is not just repeating a simple story. Between the lines the Torah is teaching us the differences between Yaakov and Esav.
For example; In the Torah’s first account we learn how Eliezer first gave the jewelry to Rivkah and then asked her from which family she was from. Eliezer had complete faith that Hashem would guide him to a proper girl that would serve as wife for Yitzchak. When Eliezer repeated this part of the story he said that he first asked her family and then gave the jewelry. He knew they were not at this level of faith and would not understand.
This contrast of faith between Eliezer and Besual is echoed by the descendents of Yaakov and Esav many years later. The Gemarah (Shabbos 88a) relates how a heretic mocked the Jewish people for accepting the Torah before knowing what is written in it. He said to Rava you first should have listed to what is written in the Torah before accepted it. Rava replied, we have complete faith in Hashem. We trust that Hashem would not give us a Torah that we would not be able to abide by.
Another difference can be seen where Avraham said to Eliezer, “He (Hashem) will send his angel before you” (Bereishis 24:7). In the second account the posuk says “He will send his angel together with you” (24:40). The first expression connotes a greater degree of faith. The faith of Yaakov. Even when one can not sense Hashem with him he has faith that Hashem is before him. The second expression represents a lower level of faith. The faith of Esav. Only when you sense that Hashem is together with you can you trust in Him, otherwise not.
We may suggest a hint to this idea later in the parsha when the Yitzchak and Rivkah meet for the first time. The posuk says “and she said to the slave who is that man walking in the ‘field’ toward us. The slave said he is my master. She then took the veil and she ‘covered’ herself” (24:65,66). Rivkah mentioned the concept of “field” in her vision of seeing Yitzchak for the first time. This may allude that her family sent her to marry Yitzchak in order to produce an Esav “the man of the field.” After Eliezer clarified who exactly Yitzchak is and what he represents and stands for, she covered herself. This act is symbolic of entering a tent to take shelter. This was symbolic of her realizing that Yitzchak’s approach to marriage was to produce Yaakov “the man who sits in tents.”
The union of Yitzchak and Rivkah was not just an ordinary marriage. It produced Yaakov our forefather. Chazal tell us he was the chosen of the forefathers. The image of Yaakov is etched on Hashem’s throne of glory. Every nuance and seemingly minor event or thought had major ramifications for what would come. It goes without saying that we are not on a spiritual level where such details in our lives have any meaning whatsoever. However, we may still may learn form this a basic principle, we can only expect to get out of something what we put into in.
