From: Yeshivat Har Etzion Office <office@etzion.org.il>
To: yhe-parsha@etzion.org.il
Subject: PARSHA62 -05: Parashat Chayei Sara
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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PARASHAT CHAYEI SARA
The Bride of Yitzchak
By Rav Chanoch Waxman
I
The search for Yitzchak's bride didn't take very
long. Immediately upon arriving at the well in the city
of Nachor (24:10-11), Avraham's servant prays to God and
formulates his test. Before he has finished, Rivka
appears (24:15). That very evening he is whisked to the
house of Betu'el (24:11,23,28,29,32) where the
negotiations are conducted and the deal is sealed without
even a break for a meal (24:33-53). The very next
morning, the servant takes Rivka in hand and returns home
to Yitzchak (24:54,61,66). A sum total of maybe twelve
hours in Aram Naharaim!
In marked contrast to the actual pace of events, the
pace of the text that reports the events is downright
leisurely. The Torah devotes a remarkable sixty-seven
verses to the full story of "The Bride of Yitzchak," the
large majority dedicated to the plans and negotiations of
the character termed "the servant of Avraham" (24:10-61).
The text is lengthy and at times, even repetitive (see
24:35-52).
A quick structural sketch should help elaborate this
point. The story can be broken down as follows:
- Section one (24:1-9)- Avraham's command to his
servant to take a bride for Yitzchak from Avraham's land
and birthplace.
- Section two (24:10-26)- Rivka and the servant at the
well.
- Section three (27-33)- The offer of hospitality at
the house of Betue'l
- Section four (24:34-52)- The negotiations at the
house of Betu'el and the repetition of the story until
this point.
- Section five (24:53-61)- Parting and the journey
home.
- Section six (24:62-67)- The meeting and marriage of
Yitzchak and Rivka.
While the story of "The Bride of Yitzchak" and its core
action of the servant's search in sections two, three,
four and five are certainly important, we may well wonder
why it deserves so much space. Couldn't we have made due
with a little less detail? In other words: Why does the
Torah present us with a near blow-by-blow account of the
servant's story, those few brief hours in Aram Naharaim
(24:10-61)?
II
Let us begin by thinking about section two, Rivka
and the servant at the well. On both the thematic and
linguistic planes the story is about kindness. The test
is primarily a test of kindness. The servant plans to
stand near the well and ask for a drink of water. The
first girl who not only offers the servant water but also
freely offers to provide drink for the camels will be the
one chosen by God (24:13-14).
Likewise, on the linguistic level, the test itself
is bracketed by the term "kindness." The servant prays to
God to show "kindness" to his master Avraham before
stating the test (24:12), and concludes his prayer with
another reference to divine kindness (24:14). In sum,
the servant demands kindness from both God and the girl.
>From God, the servant demands the kindness of divine
assistance in his mission. From the girl, he demands the
kindness of physical assistance, a manifestation of kind
character.
At first glance, the servant's test might seem a bit
trite. After all, simple manners dictate that one should
provide water for a thirsty traveler. Perhaps basic
decency alone indicates that one should also offer water
for the animals.
In fact this is not at all the case. A thirsty
camel after a long journey can drink many gallons of
water (up to twenty-five). The servant has brought along
ten camels. Without going into the possible mathematics
we are talking about a massive amount of water. An
intensely arduous task for a young girl equipped with a
single pitcher. In fact the Torah specifically
emphasizes that Rivka offered to draw water for the
camels "until they have done drinking" (24:19), an offer
not included in the servant's original test (24:14). Not
for naught does the Torah state that the man stood
"wondering" until "the camels finished drinking" (24:21).
Not just the scope of Rivka's kindness, but also the
method of Rivka's kindness seems strikingly unusual.
Despite the abrupt full-speed approach of the servant
(24:17), she replies politely, referring to him as
"master" (24:18). She "hurries" to give him something to
drink. She is once again described as "hurrying" and
even "running" when fulfilling her offer to water the
camels (24:20). In sum she adopts a "servant" position.
She hurries and runs to fulfill the needs of her new
"master" and his animals.
A quick look at the next stage of the story, termed
above section three, hospitality at the house of Betu'el
(24:27-33), should help support this intuition of
"difference."
Rivka, in keeping with her character, runs home
(24:28) to convey the servant's request of a place to
sleep (24:23), her offer of hospitality (24:25) and the
fact that the newfound guest is the servant of a kinsman-
brother (24:27). At this point, a new character emerges.
Like Rivka his sister, Lavan "runs" (24:29) for the
purposes of proffering hospitality. Upon arriving at the
well and finding the man and his camels he formally
invites him in.
Come.Why do you stand outside? I have already
cleaned out the house and there is also place for
camels. (24:31)
Apparently, Lavan is just as kind and hospitable as his
sister.
Or maybe not. In between reporting Lavan's dash to
the well (24:29) and his offer of hospitality (24:31),
the Torah informs us that:
.when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his
sister's hands and when he heard the words of
Rivka.he came to the man. (24:30)
What is the true motivator of Lavan's hospitality? The
tale of Rivka, the story of a thirsty, tired servant of a
kinsman? Or is it the gleaming gold adorning her hands
and face?
Similarly, Lavan's offer is wholly different from
Rivka's in language, tone and content. In pointed
contrast to Rivka's assumption of a "servant" position
vis-a-vis her guest and generous offer of place and
provisions for the camels (24:25), Lavan adopts no such
posture and makes no such offer. Instead, he gruffly
demands to know why the guest is still standing outside
with his camels. After all, Lavan has already gone to
the trouble of making room in the house and stable.
Lavan remains the master.
Finally, once again in pointed contrast to Rivka,
Lavan never runs or hurries to provide the proffered
hospitality and kindness. In fact, the Torah closes the
scene with the statement that "the man came into the
house, and he ungirded the camels, and he gave straw and
food to the camels." (24:32). On the simple
interpretation, Lavan is completely absent. The servant
of Avraham is left to fend for himself.
In sum, Rivka is not only kind and hospitable, she
is also different. The second part of our story, the
story of Rivka and the servant at the well (24:10-26), as
well as the third part of our story, the offer of
hospitality (24:27-33) primarily teach us about the
character of Rivka, the character of kindness and the
character of difference.
III
If Rivka is different from her brother, and by
implication different from the social grouping in which
she dwells, who indeed is she like? The answer is simple.
She is like Avraham. A quick review of the opening of
Parashat Vayera, the well known story describing
Avraham's hospitality (18:1-8), should be enough to
confirm this point.
Upon spying the three men, Avraham immediately
"runs" to greet them (18:2). Ifact he is frenetic
throughout the story. He "hurries" to the tent to
instruct Sarah (18:6), and then again "runs" to the herd
to pick out a choice calf (18:7). As pointed out
previously, these are the exact actions of Rivka, later
on in Chapter Twenty-Four when providing hospitality and
kindness for her guests (24:18,20). Furthermore, and
once again foreshadowing the Rivka story, Avraham
addresses his guests as "master," refers to himself as
their servant and bows down to his guests (18:2-3). In
other words, he adopts a "servant" position and makes
every effort to please his new masters. Once again, this
is the language and attitude of Rivka later on in the
scene at the well. (24:18). Finally, and perhaps most
obviously, the stories are conceptually parallel. In
both cases, sustenance is offered to travelers. In both
cases the hospitality extends way beyond the norm, the
large feast proffered by Avraham (18:6-8) and the
staggering amount of water provided by Rivka (24:19-21).
IV
Having realized that Chapter Twenty Four is
interested in identifying the character of Rivka with the
character of Avraham, let us turn our attention to the
segments of the servant's search not dealt with until
this point.
As mentioned earlier, section four, the negotiations
(24:34-52), seems rather repetitive. The servant
recounts nearly the entire story, the command of Avraham,
their discussion regarding the possibility that the
chosen girl will not be willing to make the journey, his
prayer to God at the well, and the kindness of Rivka. On
some level, this is understandable. It is all a
necessary part of the negotiations. The servant must
explain to Rivka's family what he is doing in their home
and why he has given jewelry to their daughter. But that
is not all he must do. He must also make his case. He
must persuade them to consent to the marriage, to send
their daughter to a foreign land.
Not surprisingly, in making his case, the servant
emphasizes and expands certain details, omits others and
even reworks some of the "facts." For example, it turns
out that Avraham is a magnificently wealthy man.
Previously, in the command section (24:1-9), we were told
nothing more than that God blessed Avraham with
"everything" (24:1). In contrast, the servant begins his
tale with the claim that: "God has blessed my master
greatly; and he has become great: and He has given him
flocks, and herds, and silver and gold, and servants, and
maidservants and camels and donkeys" (24:35). What is
more, the servant remembers to insert a new detail.
Avraham has already given everything he possesses to his
son, the prospective groom (24:36).
Moreover, in the command section (24:1-9), Avraham
focuses on his "land" and "birthplace" as the place to go
for a proper bride (24:4). When the servant raises the
possibility of the woman's refusing to make the journey,
to "go" in the language of the text (24:5), Avraham
promises divine assistance. God who took him from his
"father's house," "land" and "birthplace" and who swore:
"to your seed I will give this land," will assure the
servant's success (24:7). Perhaps more accurately, here
in the very last dialogue of Avraham reported in the
Torah, Avraham waxes nostalgic. Taken collectively,
these phrases constitute a precise echo of Chapter-
Twelve, the beginning of Parashat Lekh Lekha, the story
of God's command to Avraham to "go from your land,
birthplace and father's house" (12:1). The story in
which Avraham goes to another land, regarding which God
promises "to your seed I will give this land" (12:7).
Perhaps even more accurately, it is not just nostalgia.
Here in his last dialogue, Avraham looks to pass the
baton. The wife of Yitzchak must be someone like
Avraham, taken by God from their land, birthplace and
father's house, brought to Cana'an to generate a nation.
Not surprisingly, in the servant's summary later on
in Chapter Twenty-Four, all the references to Chapter
Twelve have disappeared. In his recounting to Rivka's
family, the servant claims that Avraham sent him to fetch
a wife not from Avraham's land and birthplace but from
his "family" and "father's house" (24:38,40,41).
Likewise, it is not the God who took Avraham from his
father's house, land and birthplace, and promised him a
future that assures a successful mission. Rather, it is
God whom Avraham has "walked in front of" (24:40), the
God who has guided, watched and helped Avraham, that
guarantees success. Gone are the references to Avraham
the emigrant, the crazy dreamer convinced of his destiny,
the abandoner of his family and clan.
In sum, in place of the story of a search for
someone like the Avraham of Lekh Lekha, the servant tells
a different story. He tells the story of the rich and
successful kinsman who has been granted great wealth by
God. He tells the story of the rich man's wish that his
son marry within the clan. When he describes the events
at the well in a way so that no one can possibly dispute
the divine selection of Rivka (24:42-50), he artfully
repackages the hidden divine command to follow in the
footsteps of Avraham. The implicit divine imperative and
challenge of "Lekh Lekha" contained within the
providential picking of Rivka has now been wrapped and
buried under the bright paper and ribbons of a marriage
to a divinely guarded and wealthy kinsman.
V
The negotiations end with the family's acquiescence.
They concede (24:50). The servant's efforts have
succeeded. Yet all is not yet sealed. Despite the
servant's spin, the relatives are not completely
convinced. Their agreement already possesses an ominous
modifier, another clause hitched onto their submission.
"And Lavan and Betue'l answered.this thing comes
from God, we cannot speak bad or good." (24:50)
A striking lack of enthusiasm. Or perhaps their words
reflect a darker desire, that they indeed wish they could
speak "bad" of the servant's story and God's will.
This reluctance picks up speed in the next section
of the servant's search, parting and journey (24:53-61).
The servant gets up the next morning and requests his
leave (24:54). At this point a crucial dialogue ensues.
And her brother and her mother said, Let the girl
stay with us days, (yamim) or a period of ten
(asor); after that she shall go. And he said to
them, Don't delay me for God has prospered my way;
Send me away that I may go to my master. And they
said, We will call the girl, and inquire from her
mouth. And they called Rivka, and said to her, Will
you go with this man? And she said I will go.
(24:55-58)
Despite the obvious selection of Rivka by God, the
servant's packaging and the lavish gifts (24:53), Rivka's
relatives wish to delay. They propose a hazy and non-
specific waiting period, days or a period of ten. Based
upon Vayikra 25:29, most commentaries (Targum, Rashi,
Rashbam) translate the term "yamim," as meaning a year.
If so, who knows how long "a period of ten" lasts?
In response to the family's reluctance and the
imminent collapse of all his efforts, the servant
insistently reiterates that God has guided his success
(24:56). It is God's will that Rivka go with him. The
directions granted by divine providence must be followed.
All subterfuge has now been dropped. The masks have
fallen. In a last ditch effort, the family proposes to
ask the girl. Does she wish to "go" or not? Rivka's
simple and resounding response of "I will go" (24:58)
decides the matter. No room is left for delay or
refusal. Rivka parts from her family and "goes" (24:61).
It is of course no accident that the stem "HLKh
meaning "go" appears numerous times throughout the scene
(24:55,56,58,61). Going or not constitutes the
conceptual linchpin of the action. But there is more.
Part of the drama of the section is the reemergence of
the previously submerged. The servant has done his best
to persuade the family, transmuting the challenge of
"Lekh Lekha," of leaving family, land, and birthplace, of
going after God to a future in another land, into a
proposal of clan marriage. God's providential role in
the choice of Rivka is but an additional reason to
consent. God has begood to Avraham. Now, through the
agency of the marriage, the servant and his gifts, he
will be good to Rivka and her family. But here
everything is reduced to the brute heart of the matter.
Just God's will and the word "go." Going after God or not
going after God.
It turns out that section six, "Parting and
Journey," like the sections detailing the events at the
well and the hospitality at the house of Betu'el is
really about the character of Rivka. Just as before it
was about possessing the chesed-character of Avraham,
this time it is about the character of "Lekh Lekha," to
go after God, to part from the known and venture into the
unknown. Furthermore, just as before, it is also about
the character of difference. Rivka is different from her
relatives. She neither delays nor resists. She just
goes.
In sum, we can conclude that much of the detail
of Chapter Twenty-Four, the story of the "Bride of
Yitzchak" is connected to the agenda of the chapter.
This can best be realized by returning to our sketch of
the problematic parts of the chapter's structure and
juxtaposing the sub-text and agenda of each section with
the apparent topic.
- Section one (24:1-9) - Avraham's command to his
servant to take a bride for Yitzchak from Avraham's land
and birthplace. (Agenda: the requirement to find a bride
who will be like Avraham in character and experience)
- Section two (24:10-26) - Rivka and the servant at
the well. (Agenda: Rivka is like Avraham in possessing
the attribute of kindness)
- Section three (27-33) - The offer of hospitality at
the house of Betue'l (Agenda: Rivka is different)
- Section four (24:34-52) - The negotiations at the
house of Betu'el and the repetition of the story until
this point. (Agenda: the presentation and muting of the
imperative of "Lekh Lekha," of being like Avraham)
- Section five (24:53-61) - Parting and the journey
home. (Agenda: the resistance of the family to divine
providence, Rivka is like Avraham in going after God, in
her character of "Lekh Lekha," Rivka is different.)
The Chapter is really not so much the story of the
servant's search but the story of "The Character of
Rivka," the character of going after God, of kindness, of
difference. The character of Avraham.
VI
Before closing, I would like to try to integrate
Chapter Twenty-Four, "The Character of Rivka," into the
larger context of "forefather stories" found in Sefer
Bereishit.
It is no secret that many of the events of the life
of Avraham seem to happen twice. To name but a few of
the event pairs, Avraham twice visits a foreign land and
claims his wife is his sister. He twice stands engaged
with Lot and Sedom, and twice contracts a covenant with
God. These pairs can be split and arranged in a chiastic
structure, with the two covenants serving as the turning
point.
A- Avraham in a foreign land - Egypt (12:10-20)
B- Avraham, Lot and Sdom - parting, war, rescue (13:1-
14:24)
C- The Covenant of the Pieces - children and land (15:1-
21)
C- The Covenant of Circumcision- children and land
(17:1-27)
B- Avraham, Lot and Sedom - Avraham's prayer (18:16-
19:38)
A- Avraham in a foreign land - Avimelekh and Grar (20:1-
18)
While the sketch is rough and leaves out much significant
detail, it should make us realize that there are two
cycles of Avraham stories.
In fact, each group is preceded by a command from
God to Avraham, a command that involves the verb stem
HLKh a command to go. Group One begins with the command
and story of "lekh lekha" (12:1-9). Group Two begins
with the command "hithalekh lefanai," to walk in front of
God and be perfect (tamim)(17:1).
These parallel units delineate fundamentally
different themes and challenges. Even without entering
into an exhaustive analysis, we can easily note that
Group One, all the material up to and including the
Covenant of the Pieces is animated by the themes of
children, land, wealth, loyalty and future. In other
words, Group One is about following after God for the
purposes of future national existence. It foreshadows
and presents the issues of nationhood, famine, economics
war, future, loyalty to land and loyalty to God. It
constitutes the journey for nationhood.
Group Two focuses on altogether different themes.
This can be discerned in the command prefacing the story
cycle. God commands Avraham to walk and journey not as
part of a process of becoming a great nation (12:2), but
rather as part of a divine demand for the status of
"tamim," best translated as "wholeness" or
"perfection"(17:1). But what is the content of
"perfection"?
The term "tamim" appears in only one other place in
Bereishit. Noach is described as "tamim," and as walking
in the ways of God. In the context of Noach, the term,
and its conjunction with "walking with God" stand in
stark opposition to the violent social corruption and
sexual perversion of the generation of the flood (6:11-
13). In other words, "tamim" is a word connoting
righteousness and ethics. These of course are the themes
of the second cycle of Avraham stories. From, the
implicit symbolism of Brit Mila as sexual limitation, to
the hospitality of Avraham, to the prayer for Sedom, to
the teaching of hospitality ethics and the power of
prayer to Avimelekh, all the stories are about a life of
decency, mercy, justice, ethics and prayer. In sum Group
Two is about Avraham as the father of religious ethics, a
very different kind of journey.
The Akeida opens with a third journey command to
Avraham, a marker for a new group of Avraham stories.
But here there is only one story. He is commanded:
.Take your son, your only son, Yitzchak, whom you
love and GO (lekh lekha) to the land of Moriya and
offer him there as a burnt offering. (22:2)
This story represents the negation of all that has come
before. This third journey command, the command to
sacrifice Yitzchak means there will be no future, no
descendants, no land and no nationhood. It negates the
entire first journey. Likewise, the command to sacrifice
Yitzchak is a moral horror. Murder of one's own flesh
and blood for the sake of God. It is the antithesis of
Avraham's second journey, a religion of bloody murder
rather than a religion of mercy, ethics and prayer. This
double negation constitutes the essence of the test. Can
Avraham negate his past, his hopes, his ethics and his
religion? Can he negate the essence of his dual journey
and his very self? Can he replace it all with complete
submission to the will of God?
Avraham passed. On his third journey, the journey
of submission, Avraham proved himself capable of negating
all. But was Avraham the same afterwards? Did he still
think that the journey for future nationhood, its values
and concerns were central to the God-Man relationship?
Could he still believe in the journey of religious
ethics? Was not the lesson of the Akeida that submission
and negation constitute the essence and entirety of the
God-Man relationship?
Let us leave the murky turf of projective
psychology. As readers of the Bible, we may very easily
assume the attitude outlined above. The God-Man relation
is not about the first journey, a triangle of God, Nation
and Land. It is not about the second journey, a triangle
of God-Man-Society bound by ethics and prayer. These
have all been replaced. It is the third journey of self-
negation and private submission to the absolute divine
will that constitutes all in the God-Man relation.
This brings us full circle to Chapter Twenty-Four
and the character of Rivka, the first real story of the
next generation. Rivka is like Avraham. But in which
ways? The answer has already been argued for above.
Rivka is like Avraham in her character of kindness and in
her character of Lekh Lekha, her willingness to leave all
behind, imagine a future and mother a nation. She is
like Avraham in the ways of the first journey, the
journey of future nationhood, and the ways of the second
journey, the journey of religious ethics. No hint is
given in the Torah that she resembles Avraham in his
third journey, the journey of negation and submission.
The story of Rivka is anticipated in the genealogy
of Nachor placed at the end of Akeida (22:20-24) and
excepting the death and burial of Sarah (23:1-20) follows
immediately after the Akeida. This is no accident. We
are meant to realize that the imperatives, themes and
character requirements of the first two journeys live on
even after the Akeida. They are present and necessary in
the next generation. They are even searched for. The
story of Rivka reminds us that the Akeida constitutes but
one leg of a triad, perhaps the crescendo, but not the
total of Avraham's relationship with God, the final
version of his inheritance.
To conclude, the reverse is also true. While Rivka
embodies the first two journeys of Avraham, Yitzchak
embodies the third. Yitzchak and the Akeida are one. He
is not just a participant in the Akeida, but the bearer
of its religious essence and psychological legacy, the
character of negation and submission. All three journeys
are meant to continue on.
YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433
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