FROM THE TORAH
Genesis 23:1-25:18
The overarching theme of Sedra Chaye Sarah is the transition from the first generation, that of Abraham and Sarah, to the generation of Isaac and Rebecca. The extraordinary significance of Isaac’s life, demonstrated through the narrative of the preceding Sedra Vayera, is threaded into a transcendent marital partnership with his intended, Rebecca. Isaac’s mother, Sarah, though deceased, is a silent living presence, as is his living father Abraham, acting through the agency of a trusted servant. Sedra Chaye Sarah also continues the parallel messages of this family as covenantally distinguished from others while also a source of blessing for all.
Isaac and Rebecca, Successors of Abraham and Sarah
DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH
23:1-20
The years of the life of Sarah (Chaye Sarah) were 100 years and 20 years and 7 years. Sarah died at Kiryat Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
When Abraham arises from his dead, he speaks to the children of Heth: I am a resident alien with you; allow me the acquisition of a burial place with you, so that I may remove my dead from before me for burial. The children of Heth, addressing Abraham as “my lord, prince of God,” offer their own burial sites. Abraham rises, then bows low to the people of the land, children of Heth. He requests that they intercede for him with Ephron son of Tsochar to transmit to him for full value the Cave of Machpelah at the border of his land, as the acquisition of a burial site in their midst.
Ephron the Hittite, sitting amidst the children of Heth, responds in their hearing, and publicly to all entering the gate of his city, that he would gladly give the cave, and the field in which it is located, to Abraham, in the sight of his kinsmen, for Abraham to bury his dead. But Abraham, bowing low again before the people of the land, insists in their hearing that he would pay Ephron the price of the land, and then he would bury his dead there. Ephron sets the price with these words in the hearing of the children of Heth: “Listen, my lord, what is a land worth 400 pieces of silver between me and you? Bury your dead!” Hearing this, Abraham pays Ephron his price of 400 pieces of silver through the broker. He thereby acquires the field of Ephron in Machpelah, near Mamre, including the cave and all of the trees within its border, in the sight of the children of Heth, and publicly to all entering the gate of his city. Then Abraham buries Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which he acquired as a possession for burial from the children of Heth.
ABRAHAM ASSIGNS HIS CHIEF SERVANT TO FIND A WIFE FOR HIS SON
24:1-14
Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Eternal blessed Abraham “in everything” (Genesis 24:1). Abraham bids the chief servant of his household, “place your hand under my thigh” (ibid.), and swear by the Eternal, God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose midst I dwell. Rather, go to my native land to take a wife for him. What if the woman does not want to follow him to this land? asks the servant. Abraham exhorts him not, under any circumstances, to “return” his son to his native land. The Eternal, the God of heaven, took me from my father’s house, from my native land, and promised me that He would give this land to my offspring. So He will send His angel before you to take a wife for my son from there. If the woman does not wish to come with you, then you are free from your oath to me. Abraham’s servant duly swears the oath.
The servant takes ten of his master’s camels, along with his master’s “bounty” [tuv, Genesis 24:10], to Aram Naharaim, to the city of Nachor (cf. Genesis 22:20-23). He makes the camels kneel at the well of water outside of the city, in the time of evening when the women come out to draw water. There he petitions the Eternal, God of his master Abraham, for a sign of kindness for his master: that the maiden whom he asks to lower her jar to allow him to drink some water will offer both him and his camels water to drink—may You thereby be indicating her for Your servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that You have provided kindness to my master.
REBECCA EMERGES
24:15-27
Before he completes his petition, Rebecca emerges. She was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nachor, brother of Abraham (cf. Genesis 22:20-23). She was very pleasing of appearance, a young woman whom no man had known. With her jar on her shoulder, she goes down to the well, fills her jar, and comes up. Running towards her, the servant requests a sip of water from her jar. She bids him drink and quickly lowers her jar upon her hand to let him drink. Then she offers to water his camels, whereupon she empties her jar into the trough and returns to the well to draw water for the rest of his camels.
The man wonders silently whether or not the Eternal has granted him success. When the camels finish drinking, he gives her a gold ornament weighing a half-shekel and places upon her arms two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Whose daughter are you? he asks. Is there room for lodging in your father’s house? She discloses her family line back to Nachor and assures the man of straw and fodder, and room to lodge. The man bows low to the Eternal: “Blessed is the Eternal, God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His lovingkindness or His truth from my master, and who has guided me on the path to the home of my master’s kin.”
GUESTS OF REBECCA’S FAMILY
24:28-49
The woman hastens to her mother’s house and reports all of these things. Her brother Laban, seeing the ornaments upon his sister and hearing her report, approaches the man, who is still standing with camels at the well. Come, O blessed of the Eternal, says Laban, why should you remain outside? I have cleared the house and made room for the camels! The man comes in and unloads the camels. The camels are fed. He and the men with him are provided water to wash their feet and food to eat.
But he declines to eat until he delivers the purpose of his mission: I am the servant of Abraham. The Eternal has blessed my master exceedingly with flocks and herds, silver and gold, servants and camels and asses. His wife Sarah gave birth to a son in her old age, and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear: Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of Canaan, in which I dwell, but from my father’s house. When I said to my master that perhaps the woman would not want to come with me, he assured me: The Eternal, whom I have followed, will send his angel with you to assure your success. But if you go to my family and they do not grant your request, you shall be free from your oath to me.
So today I have come to the well. I have said to the Eternal, the God of my master Abraham: If You would fulfill my quest, then let the young woman, who emerges to draw water, and of whom I request a little water from her jar, and who grants my request and offers to draw for the camels, be the one whom the Eternal has promised for the son of my master. Before I finished my prayer, Rebecca emerged with her jar upon her shoulder. She went down to the well and drew. She quickly took down her jar and granted my request for water and offered to water the camels as well. So I drank, as did the camels. When, at my request, she identified her family, I placed this ring upon her nose and these bracelets upon her arms.
I bowed down to the Eternal and blessed the God of my master Abraham for leading me on the right path to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now, please tell me if you will assent in kindness and truth to my master, or, if not, I shall turn back.
LABAN AND BETHUEL AGREE
24:50-61
Both Laban and Bethuel acknowledge that this has been determined by the Eternal, that it is not for them to call it bad or good, that the servant should take Rebecca to become the wife of his master’s son. In response to these words, the servant bows low to the Eternal. He gives gifts of silver and gold and garments to Rebecca, and gifts to her brother and mother. He and the men with him eat and drink and spend the night there. In the morning the servant begs leave, but her brother and mother insist that the young woman remain with them for as many as ten days. The servant objects to any delay. Her family puts the decision to her: Will you go with this man? She responds: I will. So they send off their sister Rebecca, her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men, with these words of blessing:
“Our sister,
may you become
thousands of myriads,
and may your offspring
possess the gate of their enemies.”
(Genesis 24:60)
Rebecca and her maids mount their camels and follow the man. The servant takes Rebecca and leaves.
ISAAC AND REBECCA MEET
24:62-67
As Isaac was settled in the land of the Negev (cf. Genesis 20:1), he was returning from Be’er Lachai Roi (cf. Genesis 16:14). Isaac goes out to walk about in the field at the approach of evening. Raising his eyes, he sees camels approaching. When Rebecca raises her eyes, she sees Isaac and alights from her camel. She asks the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” says the servant. Thereupon she covers herself with her veil. The servant tells Isaac all that has transpired. Then Isaac brings her into the tent of Sarah his mother. He takes Rebecca to be his wife. Isaac loves her and is comforted after his mother.
ABRAHAM REMARRIES
25:1-4
Abraham remarries. He takes a woman named Keturah as his wife. These are their descendants:
2nd Generation: Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbek, and Shuach
3rd Generation: Yokshan begat Sheba and Dedan. The children of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Avidah, and Elda’ah.
4th Generation: The children of Dedan were Asshurites, Letushites and Leummites.
ESTATE OF ABRAHAM
25:5-6
Abraham gives all of his property to Isaac.
Abraham gives gifts to the children of his concubines and sends them away from Isaac his son, eastward, to the Land of the East.
DEATH AND BURIAL OF ABRAHAM
25:7-10
Abraham lives for 175 years. He dies in good old age, old and contented, and is gathered to his kin. Isaac and Ishmael his sons bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Tsochar the Hittite, which faces Mamre. This is the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth (cf. Genesis 23:3-20). Both Abraham and Sarah were buried there.
SETTLEMENT OF ISAAC
25:11
After the death of Abraham, God blesses Isaac his son. Isaac settles near Be’er Lachai Roi.
ISHMAEL AND HIS DESCENDANTS
25:12-18
These are the descendants of Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, handmaiden of Sarah, bore to Abraham: First-born Nevayot, Kedar, Adbe’el, Mivsham, Mishmah, Dumah, Massah, Hadad, Teymah, Yetur, Naphish, and Kedmah—twelve princes of their respective tribes, their names associated with their respective settlements. They dwelled from Havilah as far as Shur, which faces Egypt, as you come to Asshur, lying alongside all of his kinsmen.
Ishmael lives 137 years. He dies and is gathered to his kin.
FROM THE PROPHETS
Haftarah for Shabbat Chaye Sarah
I Kings 1:1-31
Solomon, Successor of David
When King David was old, advanced in years, even many garments could not keep him warm. So, with his permission, his servants find a beautiful young woman, a virgin, Avishag the Shunammite, to be his personal companion, to lie next to him. However, the king was not intimate with her (“did not know her”).
Adoniyah son of Haggith asserts himself to be the next king by parading around with chariots, horsemen, and fifty advance runners. His father had not disciplined him ever, and he was quite handsome. He was born after Avshalom. [He was David’s fourth son (cf. II Samuel 3:4) but apparently the eldest surviving son, after Amnon (cf. II Samuel 13:28-29), Chileav (cf. II Samuel 3:3) or Daniel (cf. I Chronicles 3:1), and Avshalom (cf. II Samuel 18:15).] Adoniyah is in league with Joab son of Tseruyah [David’s general and brother-in-law (cf. I Chronicles 2:16)] and Abiathar the Kohen (cf. I Samuel 22:20). However, other counselors of David—Zadok the Kohen, Benaiah son of Jehoiada [head of David’s bodyguard (cf. II Samuel 8:18 and I Chronicles 18:17)], Nathan the Prophet (cf. II Samuel 12:1ff.), Shimei, Rei, and other warriors of David (cf. II Samuel 23:8-39 and I Chronicles 11:10-47)—do not join with Adoniyah.
Adoniyah slaughters flocks and herds and other sacrificial animals at the Stone of Zochelet, near the Well of Rogel, inviting all of his fellow sons of the king and all of the men of Judah, servants of the king. But he specifically does not invite Nathan the Prophet or Benaiah, nor the warriors, nor Solomon his brother, and David apparently did not know this.
So Nathan urges Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, to tell King David about Adoniyahu’s assertion. “Save your life and the life of your son Solomon!” he says. Tell David: “Did you not promise your handmaid that Solomon your son ‘would rule after me and would sit upon my throne?’” Then I, says Nathan, will enter after you to confirm your words.
Bathsheba enters the chamber of David, where Avishag the Shunammite is caring for the elderly king, bows low, and, with the king’s permission, proceeds to deliver those words to David. “But this, my lord king, you did not know: Adoniyah is sacrificing multitudes and is inviting all of the king’s sons and Abiathar the Kohen and Joab commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited! The eyes of all of Israel are upon you, my lord king, to tell them who will sit upon the throne of my lord king after him. Otherwise, when my lord king lies with his fathers, I and my son Solomon shall be deemed outlaws!”
As she was speaking to the king, Nathan the Prophet is announced and enters. He bows before the king with his face to the ground, and he asks the king straightaway, “Did you say, ‘Adoniyahu shall reign after me and shall sit upon my throne?’” Nathan continues to describe to David the apparent usurpation by Adoniyah which Bathsheba has just recounted to him, adding, “And they are saying, ‘Long live King Adoniyahu!’” Is this event the devising of my lord the king and you did not inform your servant who shall sit upon his throne after him?
Thereupon David sends for Bathsheba, who enters and stands before him. The king proclaims an oath: “As lives the Eternal, who has redeemed my soul from all distress, as I promised you by the Eternal, the God of Israel, that Solomon your son would rule after me, and that he would sit upon my throne after me (cf. I Chronicles 22:5-23:1; 28:1-21), so will I do this day!” Bathsheba bows with her face to the ground, prostrates herself before the king, and says, “May my lord, King David, live for ever!”
FROM TALMUD AND MIDRASH
Genesis Rabbah 58:1
Talmud Rosh Hashanah 11a
The Years of Sarah
“The years of the life of Sarah were 100 years and 20 years and 7 years.”
(Genesis 23:1a)
“The Eternal knows the days of the whole (the righteous),
and such shall be their portion for ever.”
(Psalms 37:18)
Just as the righteous are whole, so are their years viewed as wholes. Sarah’s years were summed up not simply as 127 but divided into whole components of years. This was taught through Moses:
“I am 120 years old today…”
(Deuteronomy 31:2)
What did Moses mean by “today?” He was expressing through the apparently superfluous word “today” that he lived a whole number of years to the day, in order to establish the Talmudic teaching: The Holy One, blessed be He, fills out the years of the righteous from month to month and from day to day, as was said, “I shall fill out (to a whole) the number of your days” (Exodus 23:26).
In addition, why does Scripture depart here from its usual way of disclosing the age of a great person by arranging the components of Sarah’s years in diminishing order (cf. Genesis 5:3-31; 11:12-32)? To teach us that Sarah at the age of 100 was as free of sin as she was at the age of 20, and at the age of 20 was as beautifully pure as she was at the age of 7.
Genesis Rabbah 58:3
Sarah and Esther
“The years of the life of Sarah were 100 years and 20 years and 7 years.”
(Genesis 23:1a)
“Ahasuerus ruled…over 7 and 20 and 100 provinces.”
(Esther 1:1)
Rabbi Akiba was lecturing, and his congregation was dozing off. Seeking to wake them up, he asked: How was Esther [Queen of Ahasuerus, cf. Esther 2:17] worthy of ruling over 7 and 20 and 100 provinces (=127)? She was the descendant of Sarah, who lived for “100 years and 20 years and 7 years (=127)!”
Genesis Rabbah 58:4
Sacred Remembrance
”Sarah dies at Kiryat Arba…”
(Genesis 23:2a)
Kiryat Arba, “City of Four,” because four righteous men, Fathers of the World, were buried there (in Machpelah): Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Alternatively, because Four Matriarchs were buried there: Eve, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. [Rachel died on the way from Paddan to Ephrath and was buried there, in Ramah (cf. Genesis 48:7 and Jeremiah 31:14).]
Genesis Rabbah 58:5
Familial Burden of Abraham
“Abraham comes to mourn for Sarah…”
(Genesis 23:2b)
Whence did he come? Rabbi Levi said: He came from the burial of his father Terach to the burial of his wife Sarah. But Rabbi Yose challenged him: Didn’t the burial of Terach precede the burial of Sarah by two years? Rather, whence did he come? He came from Mount Moriah, where he bound Isaac as a sacrifice, and Sarah died from her shock over it; hence, the notice of Sarah’s death (Genesis 23:1-2) follows immediately upon the Mount Moriah narrative (Genesis 22:1-19).
Genesis Rabbah 58:6
Status of the Mourner
“When Abraham arises from his dead,
he speaks…”
(Genesis 23:3)
Rabbi Yochanan taught: From where do we learn that one whose dead lies before him is exempt from reciting (speaking) the Shema and the Tefillah, from putting on Tefillin, and from all of the (positive) commandments that are in the Torah? From the words “arises from his dead,” which implies the conclusion of burial as necessary for the resumption of speaking the words that constitute those commandments!
Genesis Rabbah 58:9
Lovingkindness: Occupation of God and Abraham
“Abraham was old, advanced in years…”
(Genesis 24:1a)
If Abraham was “advanced in years,”
what need was there to say he was “old?”
Said Rabbi Samuel bar Isaac: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: My occupation is to bestow deeds of lovingkindness. You have adopted the same occupation for yourself. So come and place on yourself My own garb: Now “Abraham was old!”
Genesis Rabbah 59:6
When Old Age is a Blessing
“Abraham was old, advanced in years…”
(Genesis 24:1a)
Said Rabbi Acha: There are those who age before their time, and there are those who live many days but fail to acquire the honor of old age. Abraham’s old age matched his many years, and as that match is a blessing, the verse continues: “…and the Eternal blessed Abraham in everything (in all of his many years)” (Genesis 24:1b)!
Midrash Hagadol Genesis 24
Genesis Rabbah 59:8
Preference of Nativity
“Do not take a wife for my son
from the daughters of the Canaanite,
in whose midst I dwell.
Rather, go to my native land,
and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
(Genesis 24:3-4)
But were not all of them also idolators?! “Joshua said to all of the people: Thus says the Eternal, the God of Israel, ‘Across the river dwelled your ancestors from of old—Terach father of Abraham and father of Nachor—and they served other gods!’” And Abraham our father went out from there! But Abraham reasoned: Since I would have to convert any of them, whether Canaanite or Aramean, I should prefer to convert those who are of my own family, who are members of my father’s house, for they come before all others. In addition, they are the ones most apt to turn from their idolatrous ways.
From this we learn that one must put one’s own at the forefront of one’s thoughts, and that, if you have relatives, you should act for their benefit, as the Prophet taught:
“Share your bread with the hungry,
bring the homeless to your house,
clothe the naked,
and from your own flesh
hide yourself not!”
(Isaiah 58:7)
Said Rabbi Isaac: Sow wheat from your own city, even if it is of low quality.
Genesis Rabbah 60:5
Talmud Bava Kamma 92b
The Incomparable Righteousness of Rebecca
“She was very pleasing of appearance,
a young woman (literally, ‘virgin’), whom no man had known…”
(Genesis 24:16a)
Rabbi Yochanan asked why, since the verse says that she was a “virgin,” does it need to add, “whom no man had known?” He answers: “Whom no man had known” even in his imagination! Thus does he interpret the verse: “The scepter of the wicked [reading rasha, “wicked person,” for resha, “wickedness”] shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous” (Psalms 125:3)!
(No one before Isaac could even have imagined intimacy with Rebecca in her righteousness—amid Aramean idolatry, and Isaac was the first only because of his own incomparable righteousness and the divine plan inaugurated by his father Abraham and carried out in faithfulness by his father’s servant Eliezer. Similarly, in the interpretations of Rabbi Yochanan is reflected the English proverb, “Birds of a feather flock together,” and likewise in the Talmudic teachings below.)
Rava asked Rabbah bar Mari: Whence do we derive the popular maxim, “A bad palm makes its way to a gathering of barren trees?” He answered him: It is written in the Torah, again in the Prophets, yet again in the Writings, and we learn it in the Mishnah, and it is taught in a Baraitha.
It is written in the Torah: “Esau (generally hostile towards Jacob and his values) goes to Ishmael (generally hostile towards Isaac and his values)” (Genesis 28:9).
Again in the Prophets: “Unworthy men gather around Jephthah (rejected by his brothers as unworthy) and go out with him” (Judges 11:3b).
Yet again in the Writings: “Every bird dwells with its kind, and men with theirs” (Apocrypha: Ecclesiasticus 13:15).
And we learn it in the Mishnah: “That which is hooked to an item that is subject to impurity will likewise become impure, while that which is hooked to an item that is not subject to impurity will not become impure” (Kelim 12:2).
And it is taught in a Baraitha: “Rabbi Eliezer says that it is not for nothing that the starling found the raven but because they are of the same kind” (cf. Genesis Rabbah 65:3).
Genesis Rabbah 60:5
Rebecca, Harbinger for Her Children
“Of the well where the Eternal
told Moses to gather the people,
‘and I shall provide them with water’
(cf. water from the rock, Numbers 20:1-13)—
then Israel sang [yashir] this song:
‘Arise, O well; sing [enu] to it [lah]!’”
(Numbers 21:16-17)
Sing not only for the miracle of water that the Eternal supplied Israel from that well during their forty years in the wilderness, but also:
“Rebecca went down to the well,
she filled her jar,
and she came up,
and the servant ran
to meet her.”
(Genesis 24:16b-17a)
We have already been told that all of the women of the city, including Rebecca, go down to the well to draw water (cf. Genesis 24:11,13,15), so what does our verse add? Not that she went down, filled her jar, and came up—as that is already known of all of the women—but that:
“When Rebecca went down to the well,
and she would fill her jar,
then the water came up…to meet her!”
For that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: You, Rebecca, are the harbinger for your children. Just as the water, when it saw you, immediately rose, so will it be for your children—when the well sees them, it will arise. This is how the verse may be understood:
“Then Israel shall sing [yashir] this song:
‘Arise, O well; respond [enu] to her [lah]!’”
(Numbers 21:17)
Genesis Rabbah 59:11; 60:6
Assurances
“The servant runs to meet her…”
(Genesis 24:17)
Knowing that the water of the well rose up spontaneously to meet her, he recognized it as the miraculous sign of a righteous woman. So the servant runs to encounter her righteous deeds!
“When the camels finish drinking,
he gives her a gold ornament weighing a beka (half-shekel, cf. Exodus 38:26)
and places upon her arms two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels.”
(Genesis 24:22)
“Every man who is counted in the census shall give a half-shekel…”
(Exodus 30:12-13)
Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Joseph: The jewel inside the gold ornament weighed a half-shekel, and the two gold bracelets corresponded to the Two Tablets of the Law while their weight of ten shekels corresponded to the Ten Commandments.
“Is there room in your father’s house
to lodge [laleen]—
which can also be understood as:
for the lodging [laleen] (of one!)–?”
(Genesis 24:23)
That is how the servant put the question to her: Is there room in your father’s house for one person to lodge?
Her answer showed generosity:
“We have plenty of straw and fodder for the animals,
also [makom laloon] room to lodge
(without implication of a limit and with implication of plenty).”
(Genesis 24:25)
“The man bows low to the Eternal:
‘Blessed is the Eternal, God of my master Abraham…
who, on the path, has guided me to the home of my master’s kin.’”
(Genesis 24:26-27)
Later, when Laban and Bethuel actually grant Abraham’s request to allow Rebecca to come with his servant in order to marry Isaac, Eliezer bows low to offer thanks to the Eternal for their agreement (cf. Genesis 24:50-52). But here, there is no substantive agreement, not even communication with the principals. So what is the purpose of Eliezer’s worship at this juncture? It is to teach us that we should offer the Eternal our thanks even for good news alone, as here, the prospect of lodging and nothing more.
̶
In addition, the unusual wording of Eliezer’s blessing implied a miracle which provided him with more good news by assuring him that he would be guided to the ancestral home of his master. Instead of saying, “…who has guided me on the path to the home…,” he actually says, “…who, on the path [baderech], has guided me to the home…” (Genesis 24:27), which may also be understood as, “…who, by means of the [ba-] path [-derech], has guided me to the home…” in reference to the miracle of folding up the earth, as Eliezer describes his journey to Rebecca’s family:
“And I came on this day [hayom] to the well…”
(Genesis 24:42)
According to Rabbi Isaac, the phrase “on this day” [hayom] is superfluous in the context of Eliezer’s recounting the journey and can therefore be taken literally, “on the day,” that is, on the same day, as if to say, “Today I left Hebron, and today I arrived at Aram Naharayim,” a journey which would naturally take many days. But a miracle occurred:
“You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it…”
(Psalms 60:4)
You caused an earthquake in the time of Abraham in the War of the Kings,
and You have broken it (caused the land to buckle) in the time of Eliezer,
thereby allowing Eliezer to journey from Hebron to Aram Naharayim on the same day:
“And I came on the same day [hayom] to the well…”
(Genesis 24:42)
“Blessed is the Eternal, God of my master Abraham…
who, by means of the [ba-] buckled path [-derech],
has assured me that I would be guided to the home of my master’s kin.”
(Genesis 24:27)
Genesis Rabbah 60:7
Laban
“Rebecca had a brother,
whose name was Laban…”
(Genesis 24:29a)
Rabbi Isaac interpreted the meaning of his name, “white,” as a compliment, while Rabbi Berechia described him in reference to its application of baking bricks, that is, “refined” or “glazed”—in wickedness!
“…Laban runs out to the man
at the well [ayin].”
(Genesis 24:29b)
Laban eyes [me’ayen] the man, weighing his prospect of deceiving the visitor.
“When Laban sees the jewelry upon his sister
and hears her report,
he approaches the man,
who is still standing with camels at the well [ayin].”
(Genesis 24:30)
Now the man eyes [me’ayen] himself, that is, he wonders if he will have the wisdom to protect himself from the wiles of this cunning character.
“Laban says to the man:
Come, O blessed of the Eternal…
I have cleared the house…”
(Genesis 24:31)
…thinking:
Just for you,
from the usual filth of our idolatry!
Genesis Rabbah 59:9; 60:7
Eliezer
Laban calls Eliezer,
“O blessed of the Eternal…”
(Genesis 24:31)
Why?
He thought him at first to be Abraham, whose appearance he resembled!
Eliezer was actually a descendant of Canaan, who was cursed by his grandfather Noah for the sin of his father Ham (in exposing Noah’s nakedness): “Cursed is Canaan; he shall become a line of servants to his brothers” (Genesis 9:25)!
Abraham’s servant says to him:
“What if the woman does not want to follow me to this land?”
(Genesis 24:5)
This is what the Prophet was referring to when he said:
“In Canaan’s hand are the scales of deceit;
he loves [ahev] to oppress!”
(Hosea 12:8)
Eliezer was actually weighing the prospects of his own daughter: Would she be fitting or not to oppress by deceit God’s beloved [ahev], Isaac? “What if the woman does not want to follow me to this land” (Genesis 24:5), he asked Abraham, and I give him my daughter? Abraham answered: You are cursed, and my son is blessed; the cursed may not be joined to the blessed!
But Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Dosa said: Yes, Eliezer was a descendant of Canaan, but by faithfully serving his righteous master he moved from the category of “cursed” to the category of “blessed.” Thus said Laban to him, “Come, O blessed of the Eternal…” (Genesis 24:31).
Rabbi Jacob reported that Rabbi Yochanan of Beth Guvreen offered the following in appreciation of the hospitality shown to scholars: If Eliezer, by faithfully serving that tzaddik moved from the category of “cursed” to the category of “blessed,” then those of Israel who show kindness to their own greater and lesser with their hands and with their feet, how much the moreso!
Genesis Rabbah 60:12
Rebecca exercises her consent
“The servant objects to any delay.
Her family puts the decision to her.
They call to Rebecca and say to her:
Will you go with this man?
She responds: I will.”
(Genesis 24:56-58)
From this we learn that the marriage of a woman requires her consent.
Rabbi Isaac: The use of two verbs, call and say, and the absence of ask, suggest that her brother and her mother (cf. Genesis 24:55), individually and separately, were not really asking her but were declaring to her, “Would you really go with this man?” rhetorically, that she should not! Rebecca’s terse answer, “I shall go!” one word in Hebrew, not especially polite, implies: I am going, knowing that it is not your wish, and that it is not in your interest!
Yalkut Shimoni Genesis 109
The Blessing of a Bride
“They bless Rebecca
with these words:
‘Our sister,
may you become
thousands of myriads,
and may your offspring
possess the gate of their enemies.’”
(Genesis 24:60)
From this we learn:
A bride who has not received the blessing
is forbidden to her husband,
as a convert
who has not immersed in the mikveh.
Talmud Berachot 26b
Genesis Rabbah 60:14
Isaac Ordains Mincha
“Isaac goes out to walk about in the field
at the approach of evening…”
(Genesis 24:63)
The Hebrew word suach, translated “walk about,” can also mean “talk”. But then, to what mortal was Isaac talking, alone in the field? “A prayer of the afflicted, when he is faint, and to the Eternal he pours out his ‘talk’ [sicho]” (Psalms 102:1). So Isaac initiated the prayer for pouring out our talk at that time of the day, “at the approach of evening,” the Tefillah of Mincha. “Evening, morning and noon, I ‘talk’ [asicha] and I murmur, and He hears my voice” (Psalms 55:18)!
Genesis Rabbah 60:16
Rebecca, Worthy Successor of Sarah
“Isaac took her into the tent
of Sarah his mother…
and Isaac was comforted
after his mother.”
(Genesis 24:67)
All of the days that Sarah lived, the entrance of her tent was protected by a divine cloud and open to all, the dough that she kneaded was blessed, and her home was illuminated from one Sabbath night to the next. When she died, the cloud departed, the openness was gone, the dough lost its blessing, and the light that illuminated her home was extinguished.
When Isaac saw that Rebecca undertook the separation of challah and of all of the dough with the same purity as had his mother, he “took her into the tent of Sarah his mother” (Genesis 24:67a). When Rebecca entered, the divine cloud returned, the openness was resumed, the dough was once again blessed, and a light burned from one Sabbath night to the next. Thereby “…was Isaac comforted by Rebecca’s following after the ways of his mother” (Genesis 24:67b).
Yalkut Shimoni Genesis 109
A Man’s Love
“…Isaac loves Rebecca
and is comforted after his mother.”
(Genesis 24:67b)
Rabbi Yosi taught: Isaac mourned for his mother for three years, then he married Rebecca and forgot his mourning. From this we learn that before a man takes a wife, his love is extended to his parents. But when he takes a wife, his love is directed to her, as was said: “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother…” (Genesis 2:24a)—but certainly not the mitzvah of honoring his parents (cf. Exodus 20:12)—no, the verse applies to his soul’s love, which is then directed to his wife, as the verse concludes, “…and he cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24b)!
Yalkut Shimoni Genesis 109
Derech Eretz
“Only after that,
Abraham takes a wife,
whose name is Keturah.”
(Genesis 25:1)
Said Rabbi Yudan: Here the Torah teaches us correct behavior (derech eretz), that when an unmarried man has adult children, he sees to their marriages first, as did Abraham for Isaac, “Isaac took Rebecca into the tent of Sarah his mother…” (Genesis 24:67a), and then he may remarry, as, “Only after that, Abraham took a wife…” (Genesis 25:1).
Genesis Rabbah 61:6
The Master’s Blessing
“Abraham gives all of his property to Isaac” (Genesis 25:5),
but
“Abraham gave gifts to the children of his concubines…” (Genesis 25:6)!
This may be likened to a king who possessed an orchard, which he entrusted to a tenant. In it were two trees intertwined one with the other. One of the trees produced life-giving fruit, but the other, alas, deadly poison. The tenant was left to consider his dilemma: If I water the tree of life-giving fruit, the tree of deadly poison will benefit from the water alongside it. And if I do not water the tree of deadly poison, how will the tree of life-giving fruit survive? But then he reconsidered: I, a tenant, practice my tenancy; but however the master may choose to dispose of his resources, so will he do!
Such was Abraham’s thinking: It is forbidden to treat one child differently from the other, lest by giving more to one I sow envy and discord among my children. But then in order to provide Isaac with his blessing, I would have to include as well the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah! But if I do not so bless the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah, how will I provide blessing for Isaac? Then he reconsidered: I am but flesh and blood. I am here today and in the grave tomorrow. I have already done what I can do. From this point going forward, whatever the Holy One, blessed be He, wants to do with His world, He will do. And so it was, “After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11).
Genesis Rabbah 62:2
Knowing the Time
“Abraham dies in good old age, old and contented, and is gathered to his kin.”
(Genesis 25:8)
Why is there the emphasis by repetition—
after “Abraham dies in good old age”—
of Abraham’s dying old and contented?
Rabbi Chiya Rabbah and his students—and there are those who say, Rabbi Akiba and his students—and there are those who say, Rabbi Yosi ben Chalafta and his students—They were in the habit of rising early every morning to sit and study under a certain fig tree, while the grower would also rise early every morning to collect his ripened figs from the tree. Teacher and students began to think that the grower suspected them of intending to steal his figs, so they decided to move their study to another location.
The grower went to them and said: Rabbis, the mitzvah for which you allowed me the merit, to host your study under my fig tree, you have canceled. Why? We think you suspected us of intending to steal your figs, they told him, because you hastened to collect the figs early in the mornings that we assembled there for our studies. God forbid, he responded, I hasten to my tree to collect the ripened figs every morning, because if they are left on the tree when the sun shines upon them, they will be ruined by worms.
So, understanding that the grower did not suspect them of stealing, the Rabbis moved their study back to his fig tree. On that morning the grower, for his part, rose early but did not collect the figs. The sun rose upon them and they were ruined by worms. Said the Rabbis: The owner of the fig tree knows when is the time for the figs to be harvested, and duly he harvests them. So does the Holy One, blessed be He, know when it is time for the righteous to be taken from the world, and (only then) duly He takes them. Thus is written:
“My Beloved has gone down to His garden…
to harvest shoshanim.”
(Song of Songs 6:2)
Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah 2:1: Said the Congregation of Israel: “I am likened to a shoshanah among thorns” (Song of Songs 2:2), more beloved to the Holy One, blessed be He, than the other seventy nations…and I blossomed with good deeds like the shoshanah!
Mirkin Commentary: This story might have been told in the context of the Hadrianic persecution, when those caught in the teaching of Torah were arrested and murdered by the Roman rulers. The scholars would have assembled well before the owner of the fig tree arose, very early in the morning, not to avoid the heat of the sun but to take advantage of the camouflage afforded by the dense cover of the fig tree. Perhaps the story was intended to assure them that if their time to die had not arrived, the hand of the enemy would not apprehend them.
SHABBAT SHALOM!
Sedra Summary 