This week’s Parasha, Parashat Hayeh Sarah includes one of
the most fundamental and relevant occasions to all Jews’ lives, the process of
finding a spouse and building a Jewish home. Yitzhak and Rivka reach the
ultimate unity in our Parasha and show us how to live a life of a Jew. However,
one of the points in the story of their unification is remarkable and strikes
and underlying meaning behind the idea of what a Jewish home is all about.
In the story of Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, and the
search for Yitzhak’s future wife, or the woman who will be one of the Mothers
of Judaism (Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah) there is one part that seems very
simple in text but when you look deeper its complicated and confusing. In our
Parasha, which includes the 24th chapter in Sefer Bereshit, Lavan
invites Eliezer into his home (before knowing who he was) and our Mepharshim
(commentators) explain to us that Lavan found out Eliezer brought valuable
gifts so he was interested in his money. However, we want to focus on Rivka and
what a Jewish home is all about so let us deep further into the story. On the
Pasuk where Lavan (Rivka’s brother and the future enemy of Yaakov) invites
Eliezer into his home, 24:31, Rashi explains that the words “Piniti HaBayit,” or I have made room in the home, means that
he took away all the idolatry from the home.
Around 20 Pesukim (verses) later into the story, Eliezer
finds out Rivka is a match (she met the checklist that Avraham gave Eliezer)
and wants to bring her to Eretz Cena’an where the wedding will take place to
get things going. Lavan and the mother of the home bicker about whether they
should let Rivka leave so quickly because in those days they had an engagement
and only after 12 months the wedding (Huppa) would take place. Eliezer stresses
the importance of not making his master (Avraham) wait for his son’s bride and
their arrival. Back and forth back and forth and they decide to bring Rivka
into the conversation and ask her directly if she wants to go with Eliezer.
Here is the monster lesson: she simply says yes. But wait! Its what Rashi says
that is shocking (24:58): (Rivka said)
for myself I will leave and even if its not your will for me to leave! The
Midrash teaches us that Rivka was three years old at the time. Not only that,
but why would a mother and older brother even ask her to leave with such a
stranger when she is only three? So what if he showed them the marriage
document and gave her some presents?!
The answer is simple from the previous Pasuk in regards to
Lavan emptying the home from all the idols. Rivka was literally on the level of
Kedusha that probably does not exist in our generation today. She was in a home
of idolatry buried deep in the most impure acts of idol worship. She was
surrounded day and night by her brother and evil father worshipping other gods
and doing all these terrible acts. How did she become one of our Mothers, one
of the imhaot of Judaism? Rivka as a
tzadeket, a true righteous woman who put G-d before everyone and everything.
Sometimes in our life we just need to pick up and leave our
impure state physically. Rivka simply told them: I don’t care if you are my mother and my brother, even if its against
your will I am leaving this place of impurity! This bold move caused her to
put her money where her mouth is. I am sure Rivka used to pray day and night,
because after one comes from the family of Avraham, who publicized Hashem’s
name throughout the entire world, how can they ignore the fact that there is a
single G-d that protects us to the very last detail?! Therefore, when it came
to the act of being with G-d and moving up a level from idolatry to the level
of just traveling to Avraham’s home and her future husband Yitzhak, she did it.
She said: I can leave and Hashem will watch over me and help me. A home with idols is clearly not a Jewish home.
B’H we should want to reach the level of our Avot and Imahot who totally cared about their spiritual potentials before
anything else.
Shabbat Shalom!
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