Parshat Chaye Sara

LET THE MAIDEN TO WHOM I SAY, "PLEASE, LOWER YOUR JAR THAT I MAY DRINK," AND WHO REPLIES, "DRINK, AND I WILL ALSO WATER YOUR CAMELS" - LET HER BE THE ONE WHOM YOU HAVE DECREED FOR OUR SERVANT ISAAC. THEREBY SHALL I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE DEALT GRACIOUSLY WITH MY MASTER.

(Bereishit 24:14)

 

The Needs of Man and his Animals, and the Quality of Mercy

Our Sages derived from the passage And I shall give grass in your fields for your animals (Devarim 1:15) that one must feed his animals before he eats. Know that this applies only when there is no danger or suffering, but should there be danger or pain, one should attend to alleviation of his own suffering before feeding his animals. When the man [Abraham's anonymous servant] requested, Please, let me sip a little water the saintly girl sensed that he was thirsty and suffering. Therefore she told him "Drink", and when she estimated that she had given him enough to allay his suffering from thirst, When she had let him drink his fill, she said: "I will also draw for your camels etc." And the Torah says until they finish drinking - meaning "I will not [water them] according to my estimate; I will water them and not stop until I see that I set drink before them and they do not drink - this will be the sign that they have finished."

(Or HaHayyim, Bereishit 24:19)

 

 

Dedicated to the memory of my mother

Upon the 34^th anniversary of her passing.

New Leadership for the People Israel

Devorah Greiniman

Both parashat Hayey Sarah as well as its haftorah deal with an especially timely topic: the passing of generations and the replacement of leadership. How do these occur, and how are they best handled?

The parasha shows us how generational leadership is passed from Sarah to her daughter-in-law Rebecca, and from Abraham to his son Isaac, by means of Eliezer, Abraham's loyal servant. The haftorah unfolds before us the handing over of kingship from David to Solomon, by means of Nathan the Prophet and Solomon's mother, Batsheva.

I shall begin with a question: if Abraham had already been told of Rebecca's birth, and if, as we learn from Nahor's genealogy in the end of parashat Vayeira, she was the only girl in the family whose age and pedigree made her a proper match for Isaac, why did Abraham not mention her name to his servant? Why did Abraham merely tell him to bring a woman from the land of his birth without relating the additional details known to him to his servant? After all, it is clear to us that Eliezer was somewhat apprehensive about his mission - he was not sure he would succeed at it.

Lacking that information, Eliezer had to use his wits and intuition. He had to figure out what Abraham expected from a daughter-in-law and the nature of Isaac's character. What woman could fill Sarah's place as the lady of Abraham's house and be a wife to Isaac? These considerations led him to concoct the "test" which allowed him to discern at first sight the appropriate woman for the job: Let the maiden to whom I say, "Please, lower your jar that I may drink," and who replies, "Drink, and I will also water your camels."

A simple request, but as several commentators noticed, it was a test which uncovered several characteristics that were necessary for the matriarch of the generation. As the Keli Yakar points out, Rebecca's reaction not only revealed the kind of hospitality that was typical of and vital to Abraham's household. It also demonstrated an open approach towards people, be they whomever they are (quoted in Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in the Book of Genesis, Hayey Sarah 3, note 1). After all, she did not have any idea who Eliezer was. In addition, she demonstrated physical strength, diligence, and stamina. Beyond all these, as Isaac Abarbanel mentions, her manner of speech was sensitive and courteous. Finally, her quick reaction and persistence in fulfilling her offer to the weary traveler testify to an additional trait which is emphasized by Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael Steinsaltz (see his Nashim BaMikra, Ministry of Defense, 1983, 4^th edition 1990, chapter 3): all of Rebecca's actions show her decisiveness and her readiness to fully execute her decisions. All of these characteristics are desirable in a potential leader.

I think that this analysis uncovers Abraham's intention in not revealing the details of Rebecca's identity to his servant from the start. It seems that he did not think that Rebecca's pedigree guarantied that she could serve as a proper wife to his son and as the familial matriarch. He relied on Eliezer, his right-hand man, to act as his eyes. He relied upon the wisdom of his trusted servant, and he was not disappointed. This shows us an additional characteristic of the handing over of leadership from generation to generation. In his twilight years, after serving as leader in the best possible way, Abraham recognized his own infirmity and allowed others, people who he had learned to trust for their wisdom and their loyalty to him and to his God, to begin dealing with things in his place. He already foresaw a world in which he would not be active. He did not merely adopt the rule that "no man is indispensable" - he encouraged the development of the future leadership.

Indeed, Eliezer managed to find a bride for Isaac in a natural way, utilizing his understanding and experience. She was fit for Isaac, whose personality was so different from that of Abraham, while she also bore qualities similar to those of Abraham: hospitality, industriousness, openness to the world, decisiveness, endless loyalty, and preparedness to leave her homeland and her mother's house when called forth to do so. Israel had gained a valiant matriarch who influenced her own and future generations.

The story of King David's final days and the transfer of kingship to Batsheva's son, Solomon is quite different from Abraham's story. Nevertheless, David - by accepting the pleas of Batsheva and of the always-candid prophet, Nathan - also demonstrated readiness to rely upon loyal advisors, and avoided demanding that full authority remain in his hands alone.

Something additional may be learned from these two stories: good leaders do not fall from the sky. Of course, it is important for potential leaders to possess the qualities of inner strength, openness, and readiness to work for the general good. However, it is equally important that they be surrounded by people who take note of their talents and who will take the initiative, out of loyalty and concern for the general good, to cultivate, advance, and support those future leaders.

Each one of us is called upon to demonstrate some form of leadership in his or her own life, but there are few people blessed with the requisite talents to lead broader sections of society, and there are many who lack such qualifications. More than once, we have heard grumbling regarding the low quality of the national and state leadership. However, those leaders were in fact chosen by the complaining bystanders themselves, i.e. we ourselves choose the leaders. When their turn comes to exit the political stage, will our leaders find the wisdom to leave aside their status and personal needs and trust in the advice of those who understand the generation's call for a new leadership? Will we be wise enough to recognize appropriately talented candidates and work for their rise to leadership of the state and nation, leaders able to direct the people securely towards the future? Will we find the wisdom to simultaneously support those leaders while speaking truth to those in power? At the end of the day, responsibility for the quality of our leaders rests on the shoulders of each and every one of us.

Devorah Greniman is the managing editor of Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues and Associate Editor in the Publications Department of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She is also a writer and translator.

 

 

His loving-kindness and His truth

What love is in feelings, hessed - loving-kindness - is in deeds, love translated into action. Truth is, to a certain extent, a restricting, or at lease a limiting addition. Hessed v'emet - loving-kindness and truth is an act of love where the love does not run too close to overlooking the truth. Human love is blind. It is inclined to accede to the wishes of the beloved one without considering the true worth of these wishes. God's love is hessed v'emet, it only grants such wishes in which the truth is conserved, which truly do lead to happiness. Thus with Jacob, the care for his burial in general is an act of hessed, the limitation, the observing the condition but not in Egypt, is the emet. So, too, what the spies were to do by Rehab was a hessed v'emet, a conditional act of kindness. Truth is the spice, which guards the loving-kindness, so that he not lose with his own hands the main ingredient: the truth.

So perhaps here too. To see their children married is the dearest wish of parents. If they try to accomplish it at all costs, without consideration of the true essentials (if it is not with a girl with an Abrahamitic disposition, well then we will take one from Aner, Eshkol, or Mamreh, or from Aram) then they are endeavoring to do hessed without emet. But Abraham wanted only hessed together with emet, and both were granted to him by God.

(Rabbi Shimshon R. Hirsch, Commentary on Bereishit 24:27, translated by Isaac Levy)

 

You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt. Do not wrong him with words, and do not oppress him... strangers are beloved, for everywhere He calls them as He calls Israel: the Children of Israel were called servants, as is written For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants and the strangers were called servants, as is written, To love the name of the Lord, to be servants unto Him ...The Children of Israel were called "friends," as is written, And you, Israel, Jacob my servant, etc., the seed of Abraham My friend and the strangers were also termed "friends," as is written, And befriends the stranger ...Abraham called himself an alien, as is written, I am a resident alien among you; David called himself an alien, as is written, I am an alien in the land and For we are sojourners with You, mere transients like our fathers, our day on earth is like a shadow, with nothing in prospect, and it is written For like all my forebears I am an alien, resident with You. Beloved are aliens, for Abraham circumcised [himself] at the age of ninety nine years; had he done so at age twenty or thirty, aliens would have been able to convert only if younger than thirty, therefore the Omnipresent passed [the time] with him until he reached ninety nine years, so as not to lock the door before the coming converts, and in order to reward for the days and years, including reward for doing His bidding, as is written, The Lord was pleased, because of his righteousness, to render the Torah great and glorious.

(Mekhilta, Parashat Mishpatim, Massekhet Nezikin, Parasha 18)

 

Is It Permissible to Criticize the Actions of Tzaddikim?

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Three made improper requests, two were answered properly, and one was answered improperly - Eliezer servant of Abraham, and Shaul ben Kish, and Yiftach HaGiladi. Eliezer, servant of Abraham, as is written (Bereishit 24) May it be that the maiden to whom I say: Pray lower your pitcher etc. Even if she were to be crippled, even blind!? Nonetheless, he was answered properly, and Rebecca appeared.

(Taanit 4a)

 

One may not practice divination as do the idolaters, as is written You are not to practice divination. What is divination? For example, those who say, "Because my bread fell from my mouth or my staff from my hand, I will not go to such and such a place today because if I do go, I will not succeed in my affairs" or "Because a fox passed on my right, I will not leave my house today, for if I go out a scoundrel will harm me." Or those who hear a bird chirp and say: "It will be so and not so," "It will be advantageous to so and bad to do otherwise," and those who say "Slaughter this chicken who crowed at night", "Slaughter this hen who crowed like a rooster," and so one who devises omens for himself, "If such and such will happen to me, I will do so and so, and I will not be harmed," or "I will not do as Eliezer servant of Abraham," and all similar cases, all this is forbidden, and whoever acts in accordance with any of the above, is to be flogged.

(RaMBaM, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idol Worship 11:4)

 

Critique (of above RaMBaM) by RA'aVaD: "...and so one who devises omens for himself, "If such and such will happen to me..." Avraham (RA'aVaD) said: This is a great mistake. This is permissible, yea, permissible. It is possible that he (RaMBaM) was misled by what he read "Every divination which is not like that of Eliezer and Yehonatan is not considered divination," and he construed this as constituting a prohibition, but such is not the case. This is what was meant: One should not depend on this, and how could he attribute this sin to such tzaddikim?! If they were present, they would have conducted a pulsa d'nura (fiery lashes) against him.

 

 

 

 

 

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