A Servant’s Conversation

Much of this week’s parsha is devoted to the Torah’s description of Eliezer’s quest to find a wife for Yitzchak. Notably, not only does the Torah recount this episode itself in detail, it also includes Eliezer’s retelling of it in full. Commenting on this phenomenon, the Midrash states:[1]

The conversation of the servants of the patriarchs is more beautiful before the Omnipresent than the Torah of the descendants; for the section dealing with Eliezer is presented twice, while many primary Torah laws are only imparted through allusion.

This itself is a very beautiful statement, but it does require some contemplation on our part. Why is the patriarchs’ servants’ conversation more beautiful than the laws of the Torah itself?

Upon closer inspection, we note that Eliezer’s account of the story is not a verbatim repetition of the Torah’s “own” account, for there are numerous aspects which differ between the two presentations. A couple of notable examples:

1. Avraham tells Eliezer that he must go “to my land and to my birthplace.”[2] When Eliezer tells the story, he quotes Avraham as telling him to go “to my father’s household and to my family.”[3]
2. As soon as Rivkah has given both Eliezer and his camels to drink, he gives her the jewelry and then asks her who she is.[4] When he recounts the story, he first mentions that he asked who she was and only then says that he gave her the jewelry.[5]

Why would Eliezer see it as either necessary or appropriate to depart even slightly from describing the events as they actually happened?

According to numerous commentators, Avraham’s family did not actually feature in his original plan at all in finding a wife for Yitzchak. Rather, Avraham simply felt that, in general, the inhabitants of Charan were the type of people from whom a suitable young girl could be found for Yitzchak. Thus, he stipulates only that she come from “my land and my birthplace,” but makes no mention of his family. What, then, will determine who is the right girl? The answer is simply that anyone who exhibits exemplary character traits and generosity of spirit is, by definition, a good choice for Yitzchak.[6]

It is for this reason that when he arrives at Charan, Eliezer makes his way, not to Besuel’s house, but rather to the well in order to conduct his test and find a wife for Yitzchak. That test will tell him all he needs to know about the prospective bride – whoever she may be! Moreover, for this reason, as soon as the girl Eliezer approaches has passed his test with flying colors, he gives her the jewelry before even asking her name. By passing the test, she has already demonstrated that she is a suitable match for Yitzchak, regardless of who she is. Needless to say, Eliezer needs to ask her name at some stage, but that is only to find out who this anonymous, wonderful girl actually is, and what name to put for “Bride’s Family” on the wedding invitation. In light of this, we can only imagine Eliezer’s utter astonishment upon hearing that the girl who had passed his test was none other than the granddaughter of Nachor, Avraham’s brother!

At this stage, it is clear beyond any doubt that Rivkah is the one for Yitzchak. However, it is equally clear that if Eliezer tells her family the story exactly the way it occurred, he will practically guarantee the failure of his mission. If they hear that they were completely incidental to Avraham’s plan, it will not bring out their most agreeable side as prospective in-laws, to say the least. Therefore, Eliezer realizes that in order for this to work, he will need to retell the entire story – with them as the focus from the beginning! This will require a number of adjustments, the first among them being tailoring Avraham’s original instructions telling him to go “to my land and to my birthplace,” stating instead that he was told to go “to my father’s house and to my family.”

A major piece in Eliezer’s retelling of the story will be the test at the well. After all, if he was only ever meant to come to Avraham’s family, what is the purpose of stopping off at the communal well outside the city to conduct a test that anyone could pass? For this, Eliezer resourcefully weaves this element of the story into his presentation, making it, in fact, even more ambitious than it originally was. In blessed hindsight, he can claim that in order to seek absolute Divine approval for the match, he set up a test whereby the one who passed would be from Avraham’s family – and so she was!

For this reason, in retelling the part where she had passed the test, Eliezer reversed the order of his actions, stating first that he asked her name and only then that he gave her the gifts. According to his version of events, he could not have given her the gifts prior to finding out who she was, after all, what if she was not from Avraham’s family? Wasn’t that what the test was all about? Therefore, he says that first he asked her for her name, and when she turned out to be from his master’s family – representing the success of his test – he then gave her the gifts.

There is an additional element in this story which reveals a whole new dimension to Eliezer’s actions. The Sages inform us that Eliezer had his own ideas for a match for Yitzchak – his daughter! When he communicated this wish to Avraham, the latter rejected his proposal, and instructed him instead to find a girl from Charan.[7] Set against this background, we can fully appreciate that, throughout his mission, Eliezer is working against his own self-interest.

This casts the changes in Eliezer’s story in an entirely new light. No one could have faulted him for telling the episode exactly as it occurred. If that should lead to the match breaking down, that would be regrettable, but it would also bring a glimmer of hope for Eliezer himself. However, his faithfulness to his master overcame such an inclination, and expressed itself not only in carrying out his instructions to the letter, but also in then enlisting his resourcefulness and ingenuity to see that the outcome would be the optimum for his master. Such selflessness and dedication to a higher ideal in the face of one’s own preferred outcome is indeed a very beautiful thing to behold. It is this quality that the Sages have in mind when they refer to “the beauty of the conversation of the patriarchs’ servants.”

In this regard, there is an overarching lesson contained in this story that relates to the Jewish people themselves. Our relationship with Hashem is, likewise, that of servants to a Master, and, in this, our role-model is the quintessential servant of Chumash Bereishis – Eliezer. The particular laws of the Torah can be effectively derived from a mere allusion in a verse, using the principles of halachic exposition. In contrast, the lesson of what it means to be a servant specifically emerges from the Torah recounting in full not only the episode itself, but also in replaying it, this time set to the beautiful melody of a servant’s faithfulness. It is a song presented not only for our appreciation and admiration, but also for our emulation and application in our service of Hashem.

[1] Bereishis Rabbah 60:8, cited in Rashi to verse 42.

[2] Verse 4.

[3] Verse 38.

[4] Verses 22 and 23.

[5] Verse 47.

[6] See e.g. Malbim, Meshech Chochmah.

[7] Bereishis Rabbah 59:9, cited in Rashi to verse 39.