In our Parasha, we read of the mission imposed by Avraham on his faithful servant, Eliezer:(24:4-14) ’You shall go to my land and to my birthplace, and you shall take a wife for my son, for Yitzchak.. The Lord, G-d of the heavens, Who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and Who spoke about me, and Who swore to me, saying: ’To your seed will I give this Land’, He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
‘And the servant took ten camels of his master’s camels, and he went, and all the best of his master was in his hand, and he arose, and he went to Aram Naharaim, to the city of Nahor.
‘And he made the camels kneel outside the city, beside the well of water, at eventide, at the time the maidens go out to draw water.
‘And he said: ’O Lord, the G-d of my master, Abraham, please cause to happen to me today, and perform loving kindness with my master, Avraham.
‘Behold, I am standing by the water fountain, and the daughters of the people of the city are coming out to draw water.
‘And it will be, the maiden to whom I shall say: ’Lower your pitcher and I will drink’, and she will say: ’Drink, and I will water your camels’, her have You designated for your servant, for Yitzchak, and through her may I know that You have performed loving kindness with my master’.
Rashi: ’Her you have designated’: She is worthy of him, for she will perform acts of loving kindness, and she is fit to enter the house of Abraham.’
The parsha then relates that Rivkah, the daughter of Betuel, appeared to draw water, and satisfied the conditions of the test that Eliezer set.
The Alter of Novhardrok raises a number of queries on the behavior of Eliezer: Why did he see a need to pray to Hashem that he succeed- why was he not satisfied to rely that the prayers of Avraham, that the mission succeed?
Answers the sage: He needed to do so to overcome his personal ‘interest’ in the matter - he had a daughter whom he wished that Yitzchak would marry - and as he felt that this was hard to overcome, he took several steps to ensure that he faithfully performed his mission, as commanded by Avraham.
To this end, he first prayed that he be given סיעתא דשמיא: help from Above, to overcome his inclination, and so, when he saw that Rivkah was the one intended for Yitzchak, he immediately gave her the jewelry, even before ensuring that she was from the required family - nevertheless, sure that he did not err, and so that she should agree to be married to Yitzchak, he felt compelled to give her the jewelry.
He felt that it was the right thing for him to do, lest his personal interest prevent him from doing so.
His abstention from eating before he said his words - that he was Avraham’s servant - was also for this reaso, lest his personal interest cause him to tarry, and agree to their suggestion, that she delay her departure for (24:55) ‘a year or ten months and then depart’.
He again feared that his personal interest might cause him to agree, and - to overcome this - he vigorously opposed their suggestion, and insisted (24:56) that she be permitted to depart immediately.
The Bet Halevi comments that though the sign that Eliezer set for himself, was by way of ניחוש וסימן: divination, nevertheless it concealed wisdom and guile, by which he sought to test the מידות, the attributes and the intelligence, of the girl by her actions.
First, to test whether she was good-hearted, he asked her for some water to drink, giving her a window to refuse, as he asked that she do so from ‘the water in her jug’, suggesting that there was no vessel to draw water from the well, and that she would therefore have to give him water directly from her jug, into his mouth.
Had she not been good-hearted, she could easily refuse, on the grounds that to do so would make the rest of the water in the jug unfit to drink, from his saliva, which assuredly would result from he drinking directly from the jug.
After the girl passed this test - and acquiesced to his request - Eliezer set her a further test: to see her behavior after he finished his drinking from the jug - if she was to carry the jug with the waters remaining in it, to her home, it would appear unwise: perhaps the man was unhealthy, and these remaining waters would therefore not be fit to be drunk by the people in her house.
If, on the other hand, she were to spill them on the ground - this in his sight - it would appear as insulting to him.
The proper - and honorable - way to resolve her predicament, was to say: ’And I will also give water to your camels’, as she would then not have to spill the remaining water, on the ground, and also could draw fresh water from the well without offending the man.
This was what Eliezer intended, when he set the test, that the girl say - of her own volition - ‘and to your camels, I will also provide water’.
She would thereby show both that she was good-hearted and also had good sense, in taking care not to offend him.
With all of these efforts to test the prospective wife, Eliezar still prayed to Hashem, that the girl who passed these tests, was the right mate for Yitzchak.
In the end, Rivkah exceeded what Eliezer required of her, as she said:’until the camels have finished drinking’, whilst he only said: ’and also give water to the camels’, to denote that her not spilling the water remaining after he had drunk from the jug, was not because she did not want to carry the jug with the remaining water to her home. She was saying that she would draw further waters, to provide the great amount of water that the camels needed to fully meet their capacity for water.
Rav Meir Robman prefaces his commentary by bringing the dictum of Rabbi Elazar (Avot 2:9), on the question: Which is the best path that a person should follow? - his answer: A good heart, as it is what motivates all one’s actions.
Proffers the Rav: It would have sufficed for Eliezer to have tested the prospective bride to see if she was good-hearted, as this encompasses all the other good attributess - however, from one good-hearted deed, one could not conclusively determine the virtue of the girl, as it might be a single reaction to another’s present and obvious need.
Therefore, to determine if Rivkah was truly good-hearted, Eliezer chose the test of the additional provision of water.
It is well known that the body of the desert camel holds a week’s supply of water - therefore, to provide the quantity of water that will fully satiate the water needs of one camel is a laborious task - how much more, ten camels - and this when there were ten seemingly able-bodied men, who were already at the head of the well, and could easily attend to the camels' needs. There was no need to impose on the young girl - a mere three year old, according to our Sages - to engage in this momentous task.
But - as the Sforno comments - she did this joyfully, a sure sign that she was good-hearted, which encompasses - as we have said - all the good attributes, as one who is truly good-hearted, seizes with alacrity and joy any opportunity to assist another, oblivious to outside considerations.
The Kli Yakar expounds that: ’Eliezer only checked the girl as to whether she had עיו טובה: ‘a good eye’ for others, and is good-hearted.
‘He therefore said: ’I will only ask her to give me water to drink - and if she should respond: 'Drink, and I will also give your camels water’, she is surely good-hearted, as she gives more than I asked for - and if so, she has proven to your servant that she is the bride for Yitzchak.
‘In the world of allusions, the word for camels: גמלים, is linguistically close to the word for hospitality: גמילות חסד - therefore, if she added: ’and to your גמלים: camels, I will also give water’, it is a sign that she loves the attribute of גמילות חסדים, so that she loves all whose names allude to that attribute.’
The Ktav Sofer notes that Eliezer first asked the girl for water, and only afterwards asked whose daughter she was, and comments: ’Shouldn’t he have done things in reverse order - first asking who her father was, and then asking for water?
‘It appears that he did so because he first wanted to see if she was good-hearted and worthy to enter the house of Avraham, as there as some who perform acts of chesed so that they will be praised, and their chesed talked about by others.
‘If Eliezer had first asked her, who her father was, and afterwards asked her for water, it might appear that he did so, so as to praise her, saying that Betuel has a kind daughter.
‘Therefore, before he asked her who her father was, he asked her for water - she preceded him with her kind deed, and therefore there was no basis to a suggestion that she did so to earn praise, as he didn’t know whose daughter she was, and therefore could not relate her good heartedness to anyone.
‘Eliezer then knew that Hashem had proven her to be worthy to marry Yitzchak, and to enter the house of Avraham.’
Rav Yitzchak Karo adds another insight into the sensitivity and wisdom of the young girl: ’When Eliezer had finished drinking, she said: ’And to your camels need for water, I will also attend’ - something which she had not said at the outset.
‘Had she said at the outset: ’I will provide water for you and also for your camels’, it would have sounded as if they were equal in her eyes.’
Abarbanel first refutes that any thing occurs במקרה, by chance, and that clearly Eliezer, the faithful servant of Avraham, when he prayed to the G-d of his master, for divine assistance in his mission, imploring that:’הקרה נא לפני היום’: let it occur before me today’, was not referring to pure chance, but to the Divine Providence that guided all of Avraham’s life, and that it also ensure the success of his mission.
‘As Avraham all his life excelled in his hospitality to all, if his son’s daughter would have the same attribute, it would be a great chesed to Avraham, that there not be strife in the conduct of his house.’
The Ohr Hachaim haKadosh comments on the words הוא טרם כלה לדבר והנה רבקה: :’He had only just finished speaking, and behold: there was Rivkah: ’Meaning: In answer to the of the prayer of Eliezer, Hashem caused that Rivkah should emerge at that moment, and not a second earlier - and not someone else, so that Eliezer not be misled, as she was the daughter of Betuel, and the one designated to be the wife of Yitzchak.
‘And the servant - Eliezer - ran towards her, and said: 'Give me please a little water from your jug’: he asked for less than he had set in his test - this because he saw that the waters had miraculously risen towards her, which he took to be a heaven-sent sign that she was blessed, and he was therefore concerned lest she not fulfill all the conditions he had set, and that this would cause him to not fulfill his mission because of a condition he had set.
‘He therefore did not take any chance that he miss out, and was lenient in regard to the conditions he had set.
‘And she said: Drink, master, and she hastened to lower the jug from her shoulder, and she gave him to drink’: although you said גמיעה: a little water, she said: drink as much as you will, and instead of you having to be troubled to take the drink in your vessel, she lowered her jug, and brought the jug close to his mouth, for him to drink from it.’
Rav Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler also notes, that Eliezer tested the girl, by asking for ‘a little water from your jug’, adding: ’He did not even ask her to draw water especially for him, being satisfied with that which was in the jug - and what he sought, was that she should also offer to provide water for the camels.
‘Should she do so, she will have proven to him that she has within her the basis of chesed, which will flourish in the fullness of time.
‘An important further aspect of the matter: In reality, she should not have been called upon to take any action - Eliezer arrived with ten men and the ten camels, and there was seemingly no reason why they could not attend to their own need for water - instead of calling on a young girl to do so.
‘Nevertheless, the kernel of chesed within her, caused her to respond to his request - and also offer to provide water for the camels - and this led Eliezer to determine that she had the attribute of chesed which was the essence of Avraham.
‘Just as Avraham sat at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day, and finally provided hospitality to the three passers-by, who in reality did not need it, so too, Rivkah showed the same aptitude, by providing the water to Eliezer and the camels, when they in reality did not need her help, as the men should have attended to it.
‘The offer: ’And I will also provide water to your camels’ - though this was not asked of her and should have been done by Eliezer’s men - was the determining test in Elazar’s eyes, that she was the one who was worthy to be the mate of Yitzchak, and - with him - to build the house of the nation of Israel.’
A parting gem from Haktav veHakabalah: 'Eliezer was concerned lest Betuel refuse to let Rivkah depart with him, a servant, on a distant journey.
‘To obviate this, he related to him his prayer to Hashem - that He cause his mission to succeed - and that Hashem answered his prayer.
‘As all this came from Hashem, they could not decline.’
לרפואת פצועי צה"ל ולרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה ולרפואת נריה דוב בן חנה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.