Chayei Sarah – Peninim on the Torah

עבד אברהם אנכי

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5775

I am the servant of Avraham. (24:34)

Eliezer was entrusted with a mission of the most crucial importance: finding the next Matriarch, the woman who, together with Yitzchak Avinu, would be charged with forming and maintaining the next link in Klal Yisrael. It was no easy task, and, clearly, without Divine manipulation, the success of this mission would not have been realized. Obviously, the selection of Eliezer to execute this mission is indicative of his virtue and sanctity. Avraham Avinu was acutely aware that nothing is achieved without Divine interplay, and Hashem would not interact with a person of base character. Chazal, however, teach us that there…

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ויהי כאשר ושני כלו הגמלים לשתות ויקח האיש נזם זהב בקע משקלו ושני צמידים על ידיה עשרה זהב משקלם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5775

And it was, when the camels finished drinking, that the man took a nose ring whose weight was a beka, and two bracelets for her hands, whose weight was ten measures. (24:22)

The Torah goes to great lengths in describing Eliezer’s journey to Aram Naharayim in search of a suitable wife for Yitzchak Avinu. When Eliezer saw the outstanding display of chesed, loving kindness, manifested by Rivkah Imeinu, he realized that she had the refined character traits that were necessary for the next Matriarch of the Jewish Nation. Eliezer gave her gifts, a nose ring and two bracelets. The Torah underscores the weight of these pieces of jewelry, due to their allusion to the half-shekel collected from the people for the building of the Mishkan, and the ten measures, which allude to…

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וירץ העבד לקראתה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5775

The servant ran towards her. (24:17)

Rashi explains that Eliezer ran towards Rivkah Imeinu when he saw the water rising towards her. Clearly, this was an outstanding display of the supernatural. Rivkah must have been an impressive young woman to have merited such “reverence.” If this is the case, why did Eliezer feel the need to test her to see how she would react when he asked for water for his camels? What greater indication of her suitability for Yitzchak Avinu did he need than seeing nature altered for her? The well-known explanation, attributed to Horav Yechezkel, zl, m’Kozmir, is that a person is judged according…

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ואברהם זקן בא בימים

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5775

Now Avraham was old, well on in years. (24:1)

Did Avraham Avinu suddenly become old? The Midrash Tanchuma teaches that when Sarah Imeinu died, Avraham began to age. Horav Mordechai Eliyahu, zl, explains that as long as Sarah stood by the Patriarch’s side, he did not sense that he had aged. She encouraged and spurred him to continue his holy work. When his life’s companion, his major source of inspiration, was taken from him, Avraham no longer had by his side that spiritual force that motivated him to maintain his youthful endeavors. The Rishon L’Tzion adds that this unique ability to galvanize the individual to aspire for greater success…

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נתתי כסף השדה קח ממני

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Chayei Sarah, 5775

I give the price of the field, (take) accept it from me . (23:13)

The Talmud Kiddushin 2a questions the source for money, kessef, serving as a means for achieving kiddushin, betrothal, of a woman. The Talmud explains that a woman is actually niknis, acquired; thus, the act of kiddushin is essentially a kinyan, act of acquisition. The Talmud asks, “From where do we know that ‘money’ is a valid method of kiddushin?” “We derive kichah/kichah misdei Efron.” (Through the use of a gezeirah shavah, one of the thirteen hermeneutic principles for expounding the Torah, through which a similar word or phrase occurs in two otherwise unrelated passages in the Torah, they are linked…

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עבד אברהם אנכי

I am the servant of Avraham. (24:34)

ויהי כאשר ושני כלו הגמלים לשתות ויקח האיש נזם זהב בקע משקלו ושני צמידים על ידיה עשרה זהב משקלם

And it was, when the camels finished drinking, that the man took a nose ring whose weight was a beka, and two bracelets for her hands, whose weight was ten measures. (24:22)

וירץ העבד לקראתה

The servant ran towards her. (24:17)

ואברהם זקן בא בימים

Now Avraham was old, well on in years. (24:1)

נתתי כסף השדה קח ממני

I give the price of the field, (take) accept it from me . (23:13)

YEARS

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