22 November 2024
Week of 17 November 2024 – 23 November 2024
Torah portion : Genesis 23 :1-25 :18 Haftarah: 1 Kings 1 :1-31
Theme: In a world where you can be anything – be kind
The story about Abraham’s servant Eliezer, looking for an adequate wife for Isaak is told very extensively in this week’s parasha and even from two viewpoints. First, the narrator tells the story about Eliezer’s journey and his prayers to HaShem. Eliezer finally meets Rebecca, who acts with extraordinary kindness towards him, by giving water not only to him but also watering his camels. When Eliezer encounters Rebecca’s family, he tells the whole story of his journey again, but with very subtle changes in the narrative. Since the Torah is usually very sparing of words, many commentators have tried to find meaning behind these changes. The following points have been inspired by the commentators of the program “Aleph Beta” (cf. bibliography).
One of these subtle changes in the narrative concerns Abraham’s wish where to look for a wife for Isaak. Whereas Abraham asks Eliezer to go to his land and his kindred (cf. Gen. 24:4), Eliezer later uses different words, saying that he was sent to Abraham’s father’s house and family (cf. Gen 24:38). Eliezer also changes the words of his prayers. In Gen 24:12 he prays to God to show kindness to Abraham. When he tells Rebecca’s family about his prayer in Gen 24:42 he does not mention kindness but instead recounts a prayer for success. Eliezer even changes the order of events. The narrator tells that when Eliezer meets Rebecca, he gives her jewelry and then asks her who she is. But in Eliezer’s version of this encounter in Gen 24:47 he tells Rebecca’s family that he first asked about Rebecca’s identity and then gave her jewelry. In Eliezer’s prayer in Gen 24:27 he thanks God that he showed kindness and truth to Abraham. But when repeating his prayer intention in Gen 24:48 he thanks God for leading him on the path of truth, thus omitting the word kindness (chesed) again.
Eliezer might have made these changes in order to find a common language with Rebecca’s family, whose value system did not exactly match his own. The encounter between Eliezer and Laban may illustrate this further. In Gen 24:31, the text mentions Laban offering hospitality with a great gesture. However, in the next verse (Gen 24:32) we learn that “the man” (ha’ish) does the actual work (providing food and water to the camels etc.). A superficial reading might conclude that this refers to Laban, but a closer look reveals that throughout the whole narrative the Torah refers to Eliezer as “ha’ish” (cf. Gen 24:30). Thus, Laban is portrayed as someone who is interested how things look on the outside, rather than really following up with deeds of kindness.
Eliezer, wanting to convince Rebecca’s kin that Isaak is the perfect match, does so by shifting the focus of priority from kindness to the values of family and wealth, also elaborating on Abraham’s possessions. In the end Eliezer succeeds and Rebecca accompanies him back to Isaak. In Rebecca he has found a strong woman, because her whole demeanor was kindness, which she practiced even in a family environment with other priorities.
For Reflection and Discussion:Â 1. Which values are important to you? 2. How does the environment influence value systems?
Bibliography: Aleph Beta: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WilE4nF4Ko
This week’s Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Barbara Kauffmann, Germany, Bat Kol Alumna: 2010, 2011, 2012
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