The Torah portion of Chayei Sarah opens with a verse that raises a profound question: “Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Was Abraham truly blessed in all things? After all, he had reached one of the most difficult and painful periods of his life.
He had just endured the trial of the Binding of Isaac, his wife Sarah had died, and his only son with Sarah, who was already 37 years old, had yet to marry. Abraham also regretted not having arranged Isaac’s marriage earlier. Perhaps, had he done so, he would already have witnessed the beginnings of the fulfillment of God’s promise: “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great" (Genesis 12:2).
How, then, can a period marked by trials, loss and uncertainty about the future be described with the words, “And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things"?
The answer lies in our forefather Abraham’s understanding of faith. Blessing is not measured solely by favorable circumstances, visible success or the absence of difficulties. Abraham believed wholeheartedly that everything that happened to him came from God, and that even the most difficult trials were intended to elevate him and bring him closer to his Creator. Thus, even when events did not unfold as he would have wished, his trust in God remained unshaken. He understood that every trial could serve as “a banner to be raised aloft" - an opportunity for spiritual growth.
This principle is consistent with the words of the Sages in Pirkei Avot: “Everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, created in His world, He created only for His glory" (6:11), as well as the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made" (43:7). Yet this belief in divine providence raises a fundamental question: If everything comes from God, what role does human action play? Why must a person make an effort, plan and act rather than simply wait for God to lead him to the proper outcome?
Chayei Sarah teaches that trust in God and the obligation to make an effort are not contradictory. Abraham, who had faced the Binding of Isaac with absolute faith, did not now content himself with praying that Isaac would find a wife. He took action. He gave his servant Eliezer a clear mission, placed him under oath, and instructed him to find a suitable wife for his son. Even when a marriage is ordained in heaven, a person is not absolved of the responsibility to do his part.
There is also an interesting distinction between the nation's patriarchs and matriarchs. The patriarchs were chosen directly by God, while the matriarchs entered the nation's ancestral line through human initiative, whether by the patriarchs themselves or their emissaries. Our matriarch Rebecca became part of the Jewish nation's lineage through Eliezer's mission, which combined practical effort, an assessment of character, and prayer for divine assistance.
Had Abraham begun searching for a wife for Isaac earlier, he might have undertaken the task together with Sarah, before reaching the stage of being “old, advanced in years." Yet even at this late point in his life, he did not abandon his responsibility to act. Faith in God's promise does not replace human responsibility for helping bring that promise to fruition.
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe explores this tension at length in his book “Alei Shor." He explains that when the Jewish people live with an awareness of the individual divine providence accompanying them at every step, a practical question emerges: If a person's livelihood is determined by heaven, why must he toil through work and commerce?
To address this question, he cites the words of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar in Tractate Kiddushin (82b): “In all my days, I have never seen a deer drying figs, a lion working as a porter or a fox keeping a shop, yet they sustain themselves without hardship." Animals do not conduct business or engage in the occupations through which human beings earn a living, yet they find their sustenance. Surely, then, a human being, created to serve his Maker, should be able to earn a living without such hardship.
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar answers, “I have acted wickedly and deprived myself of my livelihood," citing the verse: “Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withheld good from you" (Jeremiah 5:25). Following Adam's sin, humanity was sentenced to toil: “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread" (Genesis 3:19).
This creates a tension that accompanies every person throughout life. On the one hand, he must work to earn a living, plan his actions and operate through natural means. On the other, he must remember that success does not depend on his own strength alone, and that it is God who gives him the ability to prosper. The question, therefore, is not whether effort is necessary, but how much effort a person should invest.
Should a person devote all his energy to work, in accordance with the commandment, “By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread," or should he limit his efforts and place his trust in God? After all, the Sages teach in the Mekhilta that “God has many emissaries to provide food for those who revere Him." When Jeremiah rebuked the people of Israel for failing to study Torah, and they asked how they would support themselves if they abandoned their work, he showed them the jar of manna and said, “See the word of the Lord" (Jeremiah 2:31). In other words, look at how God sustained your ancestors in the wilderness.
Rabbeinu Yonah, commenting on the verse “In all your ways acknowledge Him" (Proverbs 3:6), teaches that in every undertaking, a person must remember God, place his trust in Him and hope for success. The outcome is not in human hands, but this does not mean that a person should refrain from acting. On the contrary, he must do his part through natural means while recognizing that success ultimately depends on divine assistance.
This principle extends beyond individual life and carries profound implications for the Jewish nation as a whole. Just as a person cannot sit idle and wait for his livelihood, the Jewish people cannot expect redemption while remaining in exile and doing nothing to return to their land and build it.
Rabbi Yehuda Halevi teaches at the conclusion of the fifth discourse of the Kuzari that Jerusalem will not be rebuilt until the people of Israel yearn for it with the greatest possible longing. Yet longing cannot remain merely an emotion. It must inspire both individuals and the nation to take practical action: improving their conduct, immigrating to the Land of Israel and building it physically and spiritually. Longing is the inner force that gives rise to action.
In the Torah portion of Vayera, our forefather Abraham teaches us, through the Binding of Isaac, a remarkable lesson in absolute trust in God. In Chayei Sarah, he teaches us the complementary dimension of that same faith. The purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs and the dispatch of Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac were distinctly human actions, undertaken with complete trust in the Creator's providence.
Eliezer himself embodies this understanding of faith. Upon reaching the well, he turns to God in prayer: “Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham" (Genesis 24:12). He asks that the young woman who offers him water and volunteers to water his camels as well be the woman destined for Isaac.
The Hebrew word “hakreh," meaning to cause something to happen, does not express a belief in blind chance. On the contrary, it reflects the understanding that even events that appear coincidental are part of divine providence. Unlike Amalek, of whom it is said, “Who happened upon you on the way," expressing a view of chance detached from divine providence, Eliezer asks God to bring the right person before him at the right time.
The Malbim explains that because God watches over Abraham with special individual providence, Eliezer asked that the encounter take place that very day. The authors of “Da'at Zekenim MiBa'alei HaTosafot" compare this providential encounter to the ram that appeared before Abraham during the Binding of Isaac.
The Chatam Sofer adds another dimension to understanding the test Eliezer devised. Abraham had given everything he owned to Isaac and would eventually depend on his son's support. He therefore needed a daughter-in-law of exceptional kindness, someone who would not begrudge her elderly father-in-law the sustenance he required. Eliezer was consequently looking not only for a woman suitable for Isaac, but also for someone whose kindness would extend to Abraham himself. This is the deeper meaning of his prayer: “Through her I shall know that You have shown kindness to my master."
Eliezer's conduct, however, raises another question of Jewish law: Is it permissible to establish a sign in advance and use it as the basis for deciding how to act, or does this fall under the prohibition against divination?
The Torah commands, “You shall not practice divination" (Leviticus 19:26). The Talmud in Tractate Chullin (95b) cites Rav as saying: “Any divination that is not like that of Eliezer, Abraham's servant, or Jonathan, son of Saul, is not divination." Rashi explains the prohibition through examples of someone basing decisions on arbitrary signs, such as bread falling from his mouth or a deer crossing his path. Sforno explains that the divination practiced by the peoples of Canaan involved attempts to discover the future through impure forces rather than turning to prophecy and a spirit of holiness.
Maimonides rules in his Laws of Idolatry that a person may not determine his actions on the basis of arbitrary signs, such as deciding not to embark on a journey because bread fell from his mouth. Nevertheless, he distinguishes between forbidden divination and permissible signs that do not constitute a binding basis for a decision. The Ra'avad disputes some of his definitions and maintains that a sign such as the one used by Eliezer may also be permitted, provided that a person does not rely on it absolutely.
The Torah commentators likewise differ over how to understand Eliezer's conduct. The Tosafists explain that his actions did not constitute forbidden divination because he did not rely on the sign alone, but used it to evaluate the young woman's character. Rashi understands the act as divination but notes that it took place before the Torah was given. The author of “Meshech Chochmah" suggests that Eliezer did not engage in divination at all, but merely presented events in that manner when speaking to Laban and Bethuel, adapting his account to their way of thinking.
The author of “Torah Temimah" explains that Eliezer was not practicing divination, but praying to God to show him a sign indicating that his mission would succeed. Radak similarly explains that a sign intended to strengthen a person's resolve and encourage his spirit does not constitute forbidden divination. He adds that if Eliezer's or Jonathan's conduct had involved a prohibition, God would not have assisted them or granted their requests.
This disagreement is also connected to the Midrash's discussion of Laban and Bethuel's response: “The matter has come from the Lord" (Genesis 24:50). Bereishit Rabbah offers two explanations for how they reached this conclusion. According to Rabbi Yehoshua bar Nehemiah, speaking in the name of Rabbi Chanina bar Yitzchak, “It came from Mount Moriah," since Rebecca's birth had already become known at the time of the Binding of Isaac. According to the Sages, they recognized that the matter had come from God based on Eliezer's account.
The author of “Yefeh To'ar" explains that, according to the first opinion, Laban and Bethuel did not rely exclusively on Eliezer's account, but also recalled the report that had reached them from Mount Moriah. According to the second opinion, the sequence of events described by Eliezer was itself sufficient to convince them that divine providence was guiding what had taken place.
All of this demonstrates that trust in God does not negate human judgment. Eliezer prays, but also examines Rebecca's character. He seeks divine assistance, but does not abandon the responsibility entrusted to him. This is the delicate balance between faith and action, between prayer and a careful assessment of reality.
This principle is passed down from Abraham to his grandson, our forefather Jacob. Before meeting Esau, Jacob prepares in three ways: gifts, prayer and war. He prays for success, but also takes practical measures to confront the danger. As the Sages teach in Tractate Shabbat (32b): “A person should never stand in a place of danger and say that a miracle will be performed for him, lest no miracle be performed for him; and if a miracle is performed for him, it is deducted from his merits."
The late Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook explains in his book “Ein Ayah" that genuine trust in God does not lead to laziness or passivity. On the contrary, it gives a person the strength to act diligently through natural means. Recognizing that God governs the world is not a reason to refrain from action, but rather the foundation that enables a person to fulfill his responsibilities with faith.
The same applies on the national level. The Jewish people, too, have an obligation to make a practical effort. Tractate Sanhedrin (20a) states that the people of Israel were commanded to fulfill three mitzvot upon entering the Land of Israel: appointing a king, eradicating the descendants of Amalek and building the Temple. These are not commandments that can be fulfilled by waiting passively; they require action. Even the appointment of a king is entrusted to the people of Israel themselves, rather than to outside parties.
It is no coincidence that the Torah devotes so much space to Eliezer's mission, even repeating the details in his own account. The Sages teach: “The conversation of the patriarchs' servants is more precious than the Torah of their descendants, for Eliezer's account appears twice in the Torah, while many fundamental laws of the Torah are conveyed only by allusion" (Bereishit Rabbah 60:8).
The conversation of the patriarchs' servants teaches us that serving God is not limited to theoretical study. A servant observes his master, learns his ways and internalizes his conduct in everyday life. He learns not only what is taught in the study hall, but also how to behave when decisions must be made, responsibility must be assumed and action must be taken in the world.
In this context, I recall the words of my late father and teacher, who related that on Saturday nights at Kol Torah Yeshiva, students would gather in the home of the head of the yeshiva, the late Rabbi Baruch Kunstadt, to talk and listen to cantorial selections. The head of the yeshiva would sit with them in casual clothes and slippers, and he would often say that a student should observe his teacher's conduct even when he is “in slippers."
This is the deeper meaning of the Sages' teaching about the importance of the conversations of the patriarchs' servants. The Torah seeks to teach us not only the principles of faith, but also how to translate them into everyday conduct. Eliezer learned from Abraham not only the depth of his trust in God, but also his commitment to acting responsibly and devotedly in order to fulfill his mission.
Our forefather Abraham teaches us that it is possible to believe wholeheartedly that everything comes from God while simultaneously making every effort to fulfill our responsibilities. Eliezer sets out carrying an enormous responsibility for the continuation of the generations of the Jewish people. He does not know in advance how his mission will end, but he acts, prays, and seeks God's assistance.
It is no coincidence that the shalshelet cantillation mark appears above the word “vayomar," meaning “and he said," in Eliezer's prayer. It can be understood as expressing the gravity of the moment and the enormous responsibility resting on his shoulders: finding the right wife for Isaac, through whom the chain of generations of the Jewish nation would continue. It is precisely at this moment that absolute trust in the Creator's providence meets the human effort required to fulfill the mission.