Chayei Sara

We will begin reading the story of how Avraham bought as a burial possession for himself and for our whole people (and for us too) a cave which then and today was called Me'arat Hamachpela (or the Double Cave). It would seem the Torah could simply mention this event as a fact and say: “Here, Avraham went to his neighbor, whose name was Efron Ben-Tzochar, and bought from him for full money, for four hundred shekels (eight kilograms of silver in modern terms), a plot of land with a cave, which became a burial possession, where he buried Sara and where he himself was later buried. There would have been such a short story, which with the conciseness of the Torah could well have fit into one verse. Nevertheless, the Torah gives us the full content of Avraham's negotiations with Efron, which may seem boring to someone, like a contract for the sale of an apartment that perhaps only a lawyer could make sense of. Not being lawyers and knowing little about ancient jurisprudence, we will try to read what the Torah wants to tell us with this story and what conclusion we can draw for ourselves, what we can understand. Let us try to understand and see something relevant for ourselves.

The sons of Chet are the sons of a descendant of Canaan. Canaan, let us recall, is the son of Cham, whom Noach cursed. The country in which Avraham lives is, in fact, called Canaan after the name of their ancestor. The word kena'an means submission, humility. The word chet means fear, terror. A cheerless name for a people to some extent points to a quality that the people works on in itself. When we speak about submission, there are good kinds of submission: submission to the Most High, submission to the commandments. There is negative submission: to fate, to circumstances, submission to idols, to one's own evil qualities, etc. The word chet – that is fear, and also terror, a more negative, heavy quality, but one can say that God brings chet, brings fear upon His enemies, we encounter this in the Tanach. Such is the name of the people. The country itself is also called Canaan. The country that Avraham received as an inheritance was called Canaan, the place of rectifying the quality of submission. So, Avraham speaks with his neighbors. And he begins like this:

An amazing combination of two opposite words. Who else calls whom this way? The whole people of Israel is called so. The Most High calls us so. In the book of Vayikra He says that the land must not be sold forever, because the land belongs to Him, and we are strangers and permanent residents – gerím-vetoshavím, the same expression, only in the plural. imadí – with Me, says the LORD. In a sense we are all aliens, we all belong to another world, the world of the Most High, and are strangers on earth. Or else (it happens this way too, unfortunately), on the contrary, we are permanent residents on earth and strangers with the Most High. Then we, our connection with Him is temporary, while we live here. What did Avraham say to the people of the Hittites? He said: “I am an alien and a resident with you, together with you,” that is, you too can, like me, be aliens, tourists on this earth, being aware of the temporariness of your stay on this earth. And further he says an even stranger thing:

Give me a burial possession among you, And I will bury my dead with me.”

Avraham needs a burial possession. What is that? It is a place where people laid the dead. They did not bury them in the ground – they laid them in a cave. After a year, when the body had decomposed, the bones remained, they were gathered and put into a special stone box, which was called gluskma (or in the Russian language is called ossuary) and was placed on a shelf. Beside them other deceased of this family were gathered to their ancestors, were gathered to their people. In this way a person could acquire a burial possession. For that time, as we know from the laws, the codes of law of the Near East that have come down to us, land as a possession, a burial possession, could only be held by a local resident. In essence, Avraham here asks the Hittites for citizenship, asks them to give him a passport in connection with the purchase of real estate. They say that ultimately we are all strangers on this earth.

Shema'énu is a term which, as we know, is used in Akkadian, Babylonian documents as the beginning of replies in negotiations, explains the beginning of negotiations. Every reply of every participant begins with the verb lishmóa – to hear.

Listen, master, You are our president (minister or prince of God),

You are an alien among us, you are a stranger among us. You have no relation to us. We do not want that part, that second part which you have there with some Elohim. You are our His ambassador here, we ourselves do not want to get involved with Him. But at the same time we are a hospitable people.

In any of our graves bury your close one.

We will not give you our cave, that is, we will not sell you an apartment for your dead, we will rent you a hotel for them.

No one will forbid, no one will take his grave away from you, Bury your dead.”

That is, we will not give you permanent residency here and will not sell you an apartment here, but on sufferance, so to speak, you can live in our graves. It seems we are kind to you, but do not want too much from us. Why do they answer like this? We said that only a citizen can get an apartment, and therefore they will sell it only to a citizen. One can come at it from the other side and say that through acquiring an apartment you get citizenship, this is a question of interpreting the law. The Hittites interpret it in this direction. Which means, yes, indeed, the LORD says that the whole earth belongs to Him, therefore land cannot be sold to anyone at all and every sale will only be the appearance of a sale. Therefore the Most High Himself calls us gerim-vetoshavim – strangers and residents. But the Hittites do not want a bridge, do not want a connection, an interpenetration of the Divine and the earthly world, therefore they interpret the law as they interpret it. Avraham apparently has some connections among the Hittites, because he says in the seventh verse:

Pay attention, from this moment the Hittites are called am-ha'aretz – the people of the land. If Avraham is a stranger, then the Hittites are earthlings.

Here the presentation of requests begins. Yes, we said that in negotiations requests or statements begin with the verb to listen.

Connect me with a man by the name of Efron ben-Tzochar.

A very interesting name. Efron – dust, a diminutive of the word dust – ofar. Tzochar is white, bright, snow-white. The midrashim and especially the book of Zohar tell many interesting things about this man. In particular it is said that Efron is the same Dumá – the Angel who is responsible in Sheol for the graves of people, who has the keys to all the graves. Why does the book of Zohar say this? This, naturally, need not be understood in the literal sense, but it will help us a little to understand the literal sense here. Wanting to obtain a burial possession in the land of Israel, Avraham (and we have often spoken about Avraham being, as it were, a new Adam, he rectifies much of what Adam did) chooses the place where his dead will lie, symbolically the whole people of God until the resurrection. He chooses, makes the earth able to resurrect people, thereby laying the foundation for what Mashiach will later fully realize. And therefore these keys symbolically end up in the hands of Efron ben Tzochar. Also symbolically it is said that there, in the cave, Adam and Chava already lie. Although one can also understand this literally, in any case, even now they tell that Adam is buried there. Chava is a slightly different story, which we will not go into.

That is, I still want to try to speak with the man whose name is Efron ben Tzochar and ask him after all to give me as a burial possession, that is, not a hotel, but a burial apartment I still want to buy from you, from this man whose name is Efron ben Tzochar.

What – no? He does not agree to give a burial possession to Avraham. Here is what he says:

Listen, I have given you the field And the cave that is in it, I have given you, Before the face of all the people I have given it to you, you bury your dead.”

What did Efron answer? Let us retell it once more. He said: “No, not like that! I have given you the field, and in the field there is a cave. Bury your dead in it.” Well, it would seem this is what Avraham asked for. At first glance. Why then does Efron say no when it is yes? In fact, there is a subtle difference. Avraham asked for the cave, and the field along with it. The main part of the possession will be the cave. How does one take possession of a burial possession? A burial possession is acquired by burying the dead in it. How does one take possession of a field? A field is taken possession of in two ways. The first way of acquiring a plot of land in general is to give money for it. And from the moment I have paid for it, it is considered mine. The second way: I have paid, but it is not considered mine until I have begun to cultivate it. In any case the field is considered my property as long as I cultivate it. Avraham says: “Give me the cave, give me the opportunity to sow, to lay the dead, that which will rise again in the world to come. And next to it let there be the field.” Efron says: “No, that won't do. I will give you the field, in which one has to sow what will come up every year. And in addition to it I will give you the cave. And if you do not cultivate the field, then your ownership of the cave too will be in question.” And this situation does not really suit Avraham.

That is, I will buy the field from you, but with the right to use this agricultural land as a cemetery. Avraham proposes another legal loophole.

And we said that a shekel is about 19.2 of silver. So, somewhere around eight kilograms (very roughly rounded).

What is that to us? You bury your dead.”

Here we will translate: The land, which is worth four hundred shekels, between me and you, what is it. And, what is important to see here, this is a kind of wink from Efron to Avraham: “Between me and you, that you have bought the field and that you have paid for it. Four hundred shekels of silver is such a good, full price. No one will object to this deal, and then you, mitcha kaver – through your burying the dead here, you will acquire this land. That is, it is not the cultivation of the field that will be the acquisition of this land, but the fact that you bury Sara here. In this way it will become a burial possession for you.

Thus Avraham, by a hidden agreement, obtained the opportunity to acquire the land precisely as land, as land that keeps the dead for the resurrection, that keeps the Divine. In the eyes of all people, however, this is simply the acquisition of land for money. And further on we read the legal explanation, what was visible to others and what was visible only to the reader.

Pay attention, if earlier the cave was by the field, now the field is by the cave, that is, the field is secondary.

Before the oak grove of Mamre, the field And all the cave that is in it, And every tree that is in the field, That is within all the borders.

That is, everyone understood that he had bought the field, and the cave in it, and everything around the cave, all the trees and all the property. Avraham bought the whole garden, but did not start cultivating it. It was not by cultivating the land that he acquired it. The land of Israel is acquired not by agriculture, although agriculture in Israel is wonderful, it is blessed many times over. But how did Avraham, actually, secure this property? We read about this in the 19th verse:

It would seem that what is written in the 17th verse is repeated, but what is important is precisely how Avraham acquired it. By faith that the land is, in essence, not agricultural land, but a burial possession, in which the resurrection will also take place after burial.

It became a burial possession, It was received from the earthlings.

The strangers won. Not those won who live with the earth and feed from the earth, those won who hope for the resurrection from the dead. Those won who choose by sowing, strange as it may seem, Ma'arat Hamachpela, as a burial cave, as a place where a dead person prepares for his resurrection, in expectation of his resurrection. One may ask: why did Efron the Hittite need this? Apparently, he knew Avraham and acted as a disciple of Avraham. Not for nothing did Avraham know him by name. This is an opportunity for a person from the people to touch the teaching of Avraham through awareness of the principles of life by which Avraham lives.

The midrashim, I will repeat, say very many bad things about Efron. He is a very bad guy, if you believe the midrashim: he both talked too much and jacked up a high price. But the price – the price is fairly ordinary, and he talked, on the whole, in an ordinary way. If you read the pshat of Scripture, then this nastiness of Efron is not visible. But what opens up at the level of pshat, plus a little, is what I tried to retell.iIn the Russian this last sentence is incomplete, literally “but what opens up at the level of pshat, plus a little what I tried to retell.” It is translated as closely as possible.

That is, Avraham's old age came on time, he did not become old before his time. Yaakov will say to Pharaoh (47:9): “I look much older than my age. In fact, I should not be so old, life has battered me.” Avraham looks old in accordance with his age. He is old, but he has, so to speak, lived his share, he has known the fullness of days.

“The LORD blessed in everything” – this means spiritually, materially, in all-all-all layers of life. The midrash asks: “How can one say that the Most High God blessed Avraham in everything, if Avraham had no daughter?” And the midrash itself answers: “He had a daughter, it is just not written about. He had a daughter, and her name was Bakol (in everything).” Well, this is only a midrash. Around this midrash many thoughts are built about Avraham's slave intending to marry his son to Avraham's daughter. Well, and much of that kind. But, as the commentators say, you cannot marry a son from the plain meaning of the Torah to a daughter from the midrash, therefore they could not marry. So, Avraham grew old, he is successful in everything.

When we read the word slave (we have our own ideas about slavery), we picture a slave as a person who goes around with one bare shoulder (rich people had both shoulders covered, a slave – one, in order to spare the master's fabric, so that he carried loads on his own skin, and not on the skin or fabric from which the master sewed clothing), that is, such a person worn out by work. Avraham's slave, of whom we are speaking here, is Avraham's chief of affairs, he is the manager of the property, he is a person at the level of a minister of a small country. It is to him that Avraham turns.

People swear today on the Bible, or on the American Constitution, or on the Constitution of France, but Avraham asks his slave to swear on the circumcision, on the seal of the covenant with the Most High. He does not yet have the Torah, does not have the Tanach, does not have the Bible on which one could put one's hand, therefore he suggests putting the hand on the circumcision.

Here God is called the God of Heaven and Earth, further on we will see another name and try to understand what the difference is.

Avraham understands that he is blessed, that he is successful, and there are probably many neighbor girls, candidates, who dream that Yitzchak could be a good match for them. Or someone might catch his fancy, and if something happens to Avraham, then the slave might go ahead and marry Yitzchak to some Canaanite girl – decide on his own that some Canaanite girl will be a suitable match for him.

Avraham himself in his time set out on the way, having traveled this way from his homeland to the land of Canaan, and he wants the wife whom his son will have to travel this way too. Avraham does not yet know that it will be Rivka, that it will again be the family of Terach – in general, all the wives of the Patriarchs later on will be daughters of Terach, will be from the family of Terach. But Avraham sends the servant and says: “Let the future wife also cover this distance. Many say that, of course, if a person becomes related to someone in Canaan, he will go to some festivals at his father-in-law's and gradually, gradually may take on the customs. But if the father-in-law is far away, then it will also be hard to take on the customs, and a girl will more easily accept the customs of a distant people into whose midst she will be taken. Many commentators say that after Avraham nearly sacrificed his son, there were not very many people wanting to get involved with his son, and Avraham's family was considered such a strange family. Therefore Yitzchak practically remains an unmarried man until the age of forty, that is quite an advanced age.

And the servant asks such a natural question:

That is how it always is when newlyweds decide where they will live: in Jerusalem, or in Bnei Brak, in Ur Kasdim, or in Charan, or maybe they will live in Chevron. Maybe the woman will say: “Fine, let him come and live here.”

But Avraham says that we are called to settle this land, it has been given to us, and we bring people into this land in order to settle it. The goal of our life, the goal of our development is to live in cooperation with this land, therefore under no circumstances take Yitzchak back there.

 And further he explains and says this:

In the third verse we read that the LORD is God of Heaven and Earth. Here we read “the LORD – God of Heaven.” That is, when Avraham adjures Eliezer, he says: “I will adjure you by the name the LORD – God of Heaven and Earth,” here, in verse 7, only God of Heaven. Why is that? Because it is precisely Avraham who, by walking through the land of Israel, embodies the earthly facet of God's divinity. That is, precisely through Avraham, through this covenant, the Most High reveals Himself as God of the Earth. When he revealed himself to Avraham at the very beginning, He was God of Heaven. Clearly He also had absolute power on earth, we are speaking about the carrying out, the realization of the plan.

What does Avraham say here about the angel? It is not meant that literally a few meters ahead of the servant an angel will walk and arrange everything. But the Most High will send His servants and arrange everything so that “you will take a wife for my son from there.” We will come back to this angel.

After all the conditions of the oath have been clarified, the servant takes this oath:

Ten camels… To picture it, the average carrying capacity of a camel is about 400 kilograms. Question: why ten camels? After all, they can carry 4 tons of cargo – did he take food with him, or that much gold and gifts? In fact, the foresighted servant takes with him the transport on which Rivka and her maidservants will later ride – that is, a whole taxi fleet sets out to fetch a bride for Yitzchak.

And here the servant has a difficult dilemma, he has a difficult question: how, actually, will he know which bride to take? He is in a foreign country, the girls will come out now, and it will be “karavai, karavai, choose whoever you want.”

13. Here I will stand by the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople will come out to draw water.

That is, Eliezer asks the Most High for a sign in the form of a certain behavior of the girl: I will say this to the girl, if she answers like this, then let it be so. Can one do this in everyday life, as Eliezer did? There are cases where we see that the Most High responds to this in a good way, as, for example, here or with Gidon. There is the case of Yiftach, who said: “The first thing that comes out of my house I will offer as a burnt offering,” and a great tragedy happened. Therefore, if there is such a revelation inside, then probably one can do this, but one must treat promises of this kind very carefully.

He does not yet know anything about this girl, but if there is a wondrous moment in the world, then the servant understood at once – this is it. Most likely the servant saw something that made him do what he will do later.

That is, the jug had to be lowered down on a rope, into the well, and that can be 35–40 meters, and the jug, by the way, is a 25-liter or 30-liter one.

And here the servant understands that this is her. Right now, it is precisely this girl that he has to approach with a way of getting acquainted that was so original for those times.

That is, she does not even let him hold the jug so that he would drink from it himself, she holds the jug up, and the servant drinks from it.

It is interesting that she does not give the camels the same water that he drank. She pours the water out and draws more for the camels. We spoke about the carrying capacity of camels: in order to water ten camels, one has to take at least 500 liters of water, that is, she will lower and raise her little pitcher of 25 liters 20 times.

And there is one more thing, to stop at this point and say something about Rivka's age. Every time this weekly portion is read, I am asked whether it is true that Rivka was 3 years old. Where does this figure come from at all? We spoke earlier about where it is derived from that Yitzchak was 37 years old at the moment of the sacrifice. Sara dies, she is 127 years old, she gave birth to Yitzchak at 90, and it turns out that he is 37 years old, since Sara's death is connected with the news of the sacrifice. Right after the offering it is written that “and then they learned that Rivka was born.” And further we read that Yitzchak married when he was 40, 3 years later – well, so it comes out that with such tricky mathematics Rivka is 3 years old. Of course, Rivka here is a teenage girl, she is 13–14 years old, and certainly not 3 years old. But why do such midrashim appear? Perhaps in order to show Rivka's character. We see here that she behaves a little like a teenager, such a free girl, but in her there is also the innocence of a three-year-old girl, perhaps the ability to be amazed, to rejoice in little things and so on. That is the remark about Rivka's age.

And in the 21st verse we read that a small change takes place. The servant is no longer called a servant, he is called ha'ish (man), this is some kind of businessman, not the way we pictured a servant. Ish is a man whom one can picture in an expensive jacket, with a tie, cufflinks and so on. He is a man with ten camels, with servants, with golden gifts – in short, a businessman who makes an impression.

Naturally, almost any resident who comes to the well is interested in taking in guests for the night. Every house becomes an inn when needed, because it is a good opportunity to earn money, and also to get to know a person.

He had no such directions, there were no such instructions to come to the brother's house, and he sees that a wonder of wonders, a marvel of marvels has happened. He did not simply end up in a good house in Charan, but ended up in Avraham's house.

And, naturally, Lavan invites the rich guest home. And he does not yet know that this is a relative, but a rich guest has come and apparently has some designs on his sister. One can get acquainted with him, perhaps one can do business with him.

Probably this family knows who Avraham is. Avraham is their brother, not all that much news about him reaches them.

vachamorím

35. And the LORD has blessed my master very greatly. And he has made him great, and has given him small livestock, large livestock, and silver, and gold, and male servants, and female servants, and camels, and she-donkeys.

Such a preparation for the fact that Yitzchak is an excellent match.

One must always pay attention, whenever there is some retelling, to certain inaccuracies. Avraham did not say it that way. He said: “… from the Canaanite daughters, among whom I live.” In other words, look at the surroundings I have to live in, look at whom I am dealing with. Here the servant says “…in whose land I live,” without Avraham's attitude, without any disdain for the Canaanites. This is concealed. What for? So that no unnecessary gossip arises.

This too is something Avraham did not say, strangely enough. Avraham sent him to his native city, but did not send him to his father's house. Here Eliezer again changes the story, retelling it differently from how it was. There are very many different opinions on why he says it this way. And it is most understandable to put it like this. If one does not tell that Avraham sent him to a specific address – “this street, this house,” – and tells it as it is, that Eliezer met Rivka in such a wondrous way, then such a strong description of the manifestation of the Divine will may deprive the family of Lavan, of Rivka, of freedom of choice. If so many miracles happen, then how could one not agree? Instead of “pushing hard” on the miracles and saying: “Look how wonderfully everything turned out, why, God Himself commanded it!”, here Avraham's servant, being a respected man, tells it differently: “That is just how Avraham planned it – to send me to his native home.”

The third change that Eliezer brings into the description of the events is “…will send an angel with you.” In Avraham's speech it was “… before you.” When an angel goes before you, he arranges everything; when with you – well, as in the song, “if you set out on the road with a friend, the road is merrier.” It is clear that with an angel it is easier, that is, everything will work out. But in the first case, as Avraham said, everything will be arranged. Again Eliezer, with his account, does not suppress the free will, the freedom of choice of Betuel, of Rivka, of Lavan, of all those present.

He retells it more or less the way it was.

He is telling, one could say, singing the praises of the daughter to her relatives.

After everything he tells here, he makes an offer that is hard to refuse.

That is: “If you want, after these words here – you can do the right thing, as I understand it, and give Rivka to my master's son, to Yitzchak. And if you do not want to – well then, I understand, everything is in God's hands, and I will go to the right or to the left.”

Impressed by this story (Rivka's house is not so godless after all), they answer him:

Lavan is the older brother, and the father echoes him. Here you can see from the order of the names that Lavan decides everything.

There are different customs regarding how one can let a daughter, a sister go. One can say: “We have made the betrothal here now, and the little wedding will be later, in a year,” as was very often the custom. And therefore, as one option, they offer him:

That is, let her gather her dowry, let her collect her thoughts, let her get ready. This is, in principle, also a normal way for relations to go. But what does it mean? It means – come back in another ten days, two weeks, a month, half a year with the same kind of gifts, and we will give her to you.

Then they use this tactic: “Let us ask the girl!” Before this, pay attention, no one had asked Rivka anything at all. And this is, by and large, the first and probably the only time a woman is asked whether she wants to marry someone.

This is a very unexpected answer, even in its style: “What, you are going to go with this man?! – And I will!”

Again he becomes eved Avraham (Avraham's servant), he is transformed back from an ish, from a man of business, into Avraham's servant.

A very beautiful blessing, it must be said, that they speak to their sister: “May you have many children, and may they be successful.” With such a blessing they let her go. Very often we see in blessings the values “land” and “seed” (how we would bless, I do not know, perhaps we would wish for some other values), this is the main value for those generations.

That is, the girls see that they are following an ish, they imagine that they are traveling with a noble don. But a servant is leading them. And how beautifully this comes together in one verse!

And now at last we see how these people meet. The first Jewish child, a purely Jewish child, the first child whose dad and mom are Jews, finds himself a wife.

This is Hagar's well, and apparently Yitzchak was visiting his brother Yishmael. He himself lives in the Negev, in the area of Be'er-Sheva, he travels between Be'er-Sheva and Yerucham, roughly that corner. There is a great deal of desert there which blooms in spring, a lot of fragrant herbs – rosemary, mustard, mint, lavender – what doesn't grow in it.

It is interesting that ancient translations, in particular the Latin ones, give the word meditation (to meditate), but lasúach – means to ponder for a while, to look deeper for a while, to listen closely for a while, to be with oneself for a while.

It seems that at the sight of this meditating man walking along unhurriedly, who is most likely behaving very strangely – Yitzchak often comes across as a strange person – Rivka falls from the camel.

65. And she said to the servant (now she too addresses him as – servant): “What sort of man is this, such a one (that is how this word is understood – hallazé), who is walking in the field toward us?” And the servant said: “This is my master.” And she took a kind of kerchief, and covered herself (she understood that this was her bridegroom, her future husband).

Apparently Yitzchak may not even have known that anyone at all was looking for a bride for him. Here the servant tells him everything, but Yitzchak has trust in the servant.

Here is such a not-so-simple sentence: Yitzchak first takes her into the tent, and only afterwards, when she had already become his wife, he came to love her. Yitzchak and Rivka build a relationship together in which love is born. It was not love that gave birth to the relationship, but the relationship that gave birth to love. Such is the story.

Chapter 25 is rich in very different events.

1. And Avraham added, and took a wife, her name is Ketura.

The commentators have difficulty with the very first word, And he added. Usually one adds to something that already exists. One can say: “Avraham had two wives, Hagar and Sarai, and he added to them a third wife, and that is Ketura. Some commentators say: “And even before the death of Sarai Avraham had one more wife, and her name is Ketura.” But this is a rather strange explanation. Others say that Avraham simply took again the woman who had already been his wife – Hagar, and now her name is Ketura. Very many commentators, interpreters teach that Ketura and Hagar are one and the same person. Why did it happen this way? Because one of the most popular commentators of the Torah, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, cites precisely this opinion. He says that Ketura is Hagar. Why did she come to be called Ketura? First: the name Ketura can be translated from the word burning of incense, because from her noble behavior such a fragrance went out through the whole world. And second: Ketura can be translated as bound, she kept her attachment, her boundness to Avraham in spite of everything. There is also a midrash that says that Avraham had three wives: Sarai – from the descendants of Shem, Hagar – from the descendants of Cham, and Ketura – from the descendants of Yefet. That is, Ketura, according to this understanding (and most likely this is the most correct understanding), comes from another people, she is not Hagar.

What then does “and Avraham added” mean in this connection? After Yitzchak took a wife for himself, Avraham looked at this and thought: “I am still young, there is still powder in the powder flasks,” and also took a wife. That is, in Avraham's family, in Yitzchak's family, in their big, big family there are two weddings at once. We said that there were perhaps no weddings as parties, as celebrations, but, one way or another, Avraham too took a wife for himself, and her name is Ketura.

Why does he take a wife for himself? Well, first of all he still remembers that he is the Father of many peoples, and if he takes a wife for himself from the descendants of Yefet, then this is quite well understood even in the simple sense.

The eldest son is Zimran. The name Zimran can mean one who celebrates, who sings songs of praise to the Most High, or one who prunes the vine. The grapevine is pruned so that it does not take up much sap. In any case one can say that this is one who labors in God's field.

The name Yakshan – from the root of the word ekésh – one who catches, a fowler.

Madan – the one who judges. Midyan – the one who creates strife, who knows how to disturb the peace. One can say – the one who knows how to be a dissident leader.

The name Yishbak means abandoned, forgotten, the one to whom no attention is paid. Names such as, for example, Chaim (life), or Alter (old man), or Rafael (my God is a healer), or Mushka (fly), or Paul (little) are given to children who were sick, so that the unclean spirits would leave them alone (there was such a belief). Well, what unclean spirit would want to fight with a boy named Old Man or a girl named Fly? Why bother with them?

And the last son of the six – Shuach, the one, who knows how to conduct dialogues, can get his thought across to the listener.

On the whole, if you look, the names that Avraham gives his children from Ketura are connected with service, and one can understand them this way.

Shva – a man made wise, to whom gray hair came together with wisdom, that is, wise like an elder. Dedan – the one who nourishes, who is able to nourish as with the breast, that is, one who takes care of guardianship, a guardian.

The name Chanoch occurs for four different people, a very popular name. Avida – this is and my father knows. Elda'a – this is God-knowledge. We see that the names of Midyan's children are connected with knowledge, with study.

The children who were born from Ketura did not receive, one can say, a material inheritance. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, about whom we have already spoken, tells that Avraham gave gifts to his children from the concubines. These gifts are connected with the mysticism of the East (the Book of Changes, tarot cards and all that sort of thing), with the dark sides of knowledge. In this way he explains, probably, the Jewish origin of all these ideas. Most likely they also received material gifts, but absolutely the entire inheritance Avraham gave to Yitzchak.

That is, one of Avraham's last wishes, one of his last concerns was to protect Yitzchak from these new brothers of his, who could lay claim both to the inheritance and to some kind of spiritual war with him. Therefore, while still alive, Avraham sent them away.

Later in Scripture we encounter almost all their names as fathers of peoples.

Thus Yitzchak lives near Yishmael. Since the Torah mentioned this and since we read about the promise of the Most High that He will bless Yishmael, we read further the genealogy of Yishmael.

On the whole, from these names one can see that the descendants of Yishmael are people mainly engaged in trade, although no trade moves without an army.

Twelve rulers – this is what the Most High promised to bring forth from Yishmael. It is important, probably, to say here, important and interesting: we are used to thinking and so used to saying that the Arabs are considered the descendants of Yishmael. In fact, the sons, the descendants of Yishmael lived around the land of Israel until the Persian period and were driven into exile together with the ten tribes of Israel. Therefore their trace has gone cold, and now it is not possible to determine who really are the descendants of Yishmael. But the tradition developed that merchants, desert nomads were called Yishmaelites. This is, so to speak, an ideological nickname, it stuck to them. And, naturally, when Islam was taking shape and Muhammad needed to back up somehow his claim, on what basis and in what “covenantal” status he attaches himself to this whole tradition, that is when the tradition arose that they are descendants of Yishmael. The Quran does not tell, does not name the son whom Avraham offered as a sacrifice. At-Tabari, a historian of Islam, gives ten arguments in defense of its being Yitzchak, ten arguments in defense of its being Yishmael. The historians of early Islam did not know this, but gradually the tradition became established in Islam that they are descendants of Yishmael. There is no historical basis for this whatsoever.

This is where the small piece ends that was devoted to the history of the sons of Yishmael. We will touch on it a little later, when we read other portions.

We will talk both about the current weekly portion Chayei Sara and about the previous weekly portion Vayera. We will begin with chapter 18 of the book of Bereshit, which tells how the Most High Himself came to visit Avraham and announced to him that soon he and Sara would have a son. In verse 12 we read about Sara's reaction:

Sara laughed inwardly.

Saying: “After the usual womanly thing has stopped for me,

The word blyot in modern Hebrew, and in the Hebrew of that time too, means the cessation of women's monthly periods, or menopause. After menopause has set in for me

Youth has returned to me, a rejuvenation has happened to me

Delight has overtaken me – if one translates literally.

And my husband is old.

Probably everyone knows this verse. Everyone has somehow even pictured a laughing Sara. Some commentators say that at this very moment, before laughing, Sara felt that her body was being rejuvenated or that her monthly periods had begun, and this made her smirk.

We have talked about the fact that there is always the possibility of looking at one or another verse of the Torah that we know well from a different angle. And today I suggest that you read this passage through the eyes of Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin. And he says this: “Here Sara laughs at the fact that what is happening is unexpected, even as a miracle.” Usually we people, even when we wait for a miracle, picture to ourselves that the miracle will happen in a certain way. Of course, Sara knew that the Most High had promised Avraham a child. When Avraham and Sara had grown old, what could one imagine? What will this miracle be like? Maybe they will both suddenly grow younger, become young and conceive a child? Or maybe such a miracle will happen that the old people – Avraham and Sara – will conceive a child? One can imagine it like this, and one can imagine it like this.

All of us, when we imagine a miracle, often picture it in a certain way. “If a wizard flies in,” Gena the crocodile imagined, “then he will certainly fly in in a blue helicopter. Can a wizard fly without a helicopter? And he will show a movie for free.” We see in advance what this miracle will be like. But the decision of the Most High in this case (as Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda understands this text) is an unusual decision. Sara grew younger, but Avraham did not grow younger. And, on the one hand, it turns out that this is a miracle for Sara: her youth returned to her and she will be able to conceive and give birth. And the miracle for Avraham is that he, as an old man, will be able to have a child.

When the Most High repeats these words to Avraham, in verse 13 we read:

We all know how the classical commentators interpret this text, why the Most High did not retell word for word what Sara says. That is not what we are talking about now. We are talking about the fact that our world, our view of the world, our idea of the world follows a template, even when at times we expect a miracle. We expect that this miracle will happen in a certain way. And I have already spoken about the word tzchok (laughter). The word tzchok (laughter) consists, as it were, of two words: tze (go out) and chok (limits) – go beyond the limits of the law, break your template. Sara had a break, a fracture of template thinking, and from this she laughed. Her ideas about the miracle did not reach up to the Omnipotence of the Creator. Therefore the Creator says to her: “Do not program, do not lay down a script for a miracle.” The wondrousness of the Creator is higher than any script.

We have talked and will talk again about the fact that the view of one or another verse of the Torah can be different. But when one or another commentary explains the Torah, it is important that the picture of the interpretation be whole. Therefore it is interesting how Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda interprets the age, the lifespan of Avraham and Sara. Sara, as we know (this is already our weekly portion), lived one hundred twenty-seven years, and Avraham lived one hundred seventy-five years. It is amazing: if one looks at this through the eyes of Rav Naftali Tzvi, one can say: Sara had a “rewind” backward, she grew younger, let's say, to 25 – 30 years (we do not know). She was rejuvenated. And, it would seem, she of all people should have lived much longer than Avraham. Why did Avraham live 175 years, and Sara – 127? And the Rav explains that, since Sara was younger, some of her tasks, some of her work she did faster and with all her tasks, with everything that she was to accomplish in her life, she coped earlier than Avraham. We often see some people who will never be our age, who died before reaching forty, thirty-five, thirty, and managed to do more than we have, because they, maybe, somehow lived too fast. This is found all over the place. The young Sara managed more than the unhurried old Avraham, therefore she completed her service earlier and left this world earlier.

This can be a lesson for us too. When we try to do as much as possible, to get this done, and this too, and this too, that is a good trait, but one also needs to know the measure. And one needs to remember that for every thing under the sun there is its time. And sometimes one needs to know how to stop, not to rush one's life, and to do things with a certain amount of unhurriedness, in order to prolong one's years.

Such is the unconventional view of a verse familiar to all of us that is found in Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin. One does not have to agree with this, and, what is most important, one does not have to disagree right away and search out where he is wrong here, and snatch outiThe Russian uses a verb meaning “to tear out” or “snatch out,” which does not quite fit the sentence; it may be a slip in the transcript for “to blurt out.” It is translated literally.: “But maybe this verse contradicts this, or this verse contradicts this?” Because you may well find that the Rav has an explanation both for that verse and for the other one. What is important is not to find where to argue, and not to turn what we hear into a slogan, but to learn something from what we hear from these unconventional, unusual views of the Torah. That is actually why I share these unconventional approaches.

To begin with, let us briefly recall how the previous weekly portion ended. It ended with Avraham being told that his relative Milka had also given birth. And the word also points to Sara (just as Sara), perhaps in exactly the same manner, and perhaps just the same, at the very same time. In this there is a peculiar hint of the Torah that, when in the foreground we see a description of the life of the fathers, the descendants of Terach, in the background, on the periphery of the Torah, on the periphery of our story, there is a story about the mothers of the nation, who also grow up in the family of Terach. Both Sara and Rivka, and later Rachel and Lea too, will be from the family of Terach, and nothing by chance, no one is born by chance. One could expect that Rivka was born and she is destined (obviously) as a bride for Yitzchak. However, not everything is so simple. And our weekly portion Chayei Sara will be devoted, among other things, to the search for a bride for Yitzchak. It all begins with Avraham sending his servant, Eliezer, to his homeland, so that he would not take a Canaanite wife for his master's son, but would take him a wife from his homeland. And we will not speak about the motives for this today, but will try to look at how things went and why exactly so. Let us start by reading the conversation of Eliezer and Avraham:

3-5. I will take an oath from you by the LORD, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaani, among whom I live. But to my land, to my homeland you will go and take a wife for my son, for Yitzchak.” And the servant said to him: “Perhaps the woman will not want to go after me to this land, shall I return your son to the land from which you came out?”

What is the servant's question? Well, it is clear that the bride will be from the family. The question is where we will live, or where we will go for the Sabbath? To put it the Jewish way, which synagogue will we go to? And Avraham answers: “No, sending Yitzchak there is not an option.”

6. And Avraham said to him: “Beware that you do not return my son there.”

So we will live here, with us.

7. “The LORD, God of heaven, who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my birth, and Who spoke about me, and swore to me thus: ‘To your seed I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.”

What does Avraham say? “God promised me this land. It is to this land that we will bring the bride, otherwise, without the land, why would we need a bride?”

8. “And if the woman does not want to go after you, you are free from this oath to me. only do not return my son there.”

Such was the conversation that took place between Eliezer and Avraham. Although we say Eliezer, it must be noted here that Eliezer's name is not mentioned even once in this whole story. He is all the time called simply the servant of Avraham, he has no proper name of his own. All his service throughout the whole portion is service to Avraham. He is like an embodiment of Avraham, in Avraham's homeland, therefore his name is not mentioned here, he himself personally is not here. Strange as it may seem, the Torah, sparing with words, which usually can describe millennia in a few lines, suddenly, unexpectedly repeats in Eliezer's words the whole story of how things went and how he gave Avraham's oath. And we will see that when Eliezer retells how things went, he makes several changes in the account of the events. We will reread this and try to understand why, for what purpose Eliezer does this, and which conclusions from this are relevant for us. Here is what Eliezer tells in Rivka's house:

37. And my master took an oath from me, saying: “Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaani, in whose land I live.”

We remember that Avraham said: “Among whom I live.” That is, look here, among whom, in the midst of whom one has to live. Do not take from among these. Here, in retelling, Eliezer smooths over a certain disrespect toward Canaan that Avraham has, after all he wants Rivka to go there, he does not want to frighten anyone in advance.

38. “Unless you first go to the house of my father and to my family” – Eliezer recounts.

But that is not how it was. Avraham sent him to my land and to my homeland. It is one thing to get to Avraham's native city, it is another thing to get into Avraham's family. Why does Eliezer change this? If we assume that Avraham sent Eliezer simply to his city, and here there is such an amazing coincidence that Eliezer did not just arrive, but arrived precisely at Rivka's house, then this can fetter the will of the listeners, make them say: “Well, since everything fell into place like this, then she definitely has to marry, we have to give Rivka in marriage. There definitely is a necessity.” And such a formulation can deprive people of freedom of choice.

And further Eliezer goes on telling everything more or less accurately, except for one detail about the Angel, about whom Avraham said: “God will send him before you.” Eliezer says: “God will send him with you.” Why, and for what, and what is the difference? When an Angel goes before someone, he goes ahead, arranging things, solving all the problems, so that a red carpet already stretches out before the person and all he has to do is step, just walk along it. If the Angel goes with a person, then the person himself solves the problems as they come. The Angel who is beside him simply helps him in this. Why is it important to change this? For the very same purpose. If the Angel came ahead, then it is expected that in the family of Betuel, in Rivka's family, everything has already been decided and they must be ready to give Rivka away. Since the Angel went ahead, then… An Angel did not come in to you, you did not see the Angel? It is you who did not see the Angel, you are unworthy, you are unbelievers. And this again fetters the freedom of choice of Betuel's family. And this is not what Eliezer wants. Therefore he changes some details in the description of the events.

For Eliezer it is already clear, he has already said that the Most High hitzliach – gave him success on his way. He has already seen the hand of God in all these events, but he does not want his whole picture, his vision, to deprive Rivka of free will. He does not want Rivka to get married by prophecy, so that it would look as if the LORD appeared in Betuel's house and said: “Thus say I: Rivka must get married and go with this man.” Eliezer retells the circumstances but leaves room to maneuver for the bride's family. He does not say to them: “If you do not agree, you will go against the prophecy, you will go against God's will.” He wants them to see for themselves and to agree for themselves. And that is what happens.

50. And Lavan and Betuel answered and said: “From the LORD this comes forth. We cannot speak to you against it, neither good nor bad.”

They said: “Truly, all this is from God. How can we object?” And nevertheless they did not come to Rivka and did not say to her: “We have received prophecies. The Holy Spirit has revealed it to us. Thus says the LORD: you must get married, go right now with this man, go with him to Canaan.” They ask the girl's mouth, they ask the maiden:

58. “Will you go with this man?” And she answers: “I will go.”

59. And they took their sister Rivka, her nurse, and sent them off with Eliezer.”

Throughout the whole story Eliezer, and the readers, and even at some stage the brothers and parents had the understanding that everything comes from the LORD. There was the understanding that it is this very decision that the Most High expects, but this was hidden until the very last moment, so that Rivka herself could decide whether to follow this prophecy.

This is the very first description of matchmaking, there is none earlier. And from this the Jewish wedding customs are built. First, the bride must be asked whether she wants to get married. A father has no right to marry off his daughter by force. What to do if a girl wants to get married, but the parents are against it? What does tradition say? Tradition says: “Get married.” It is arranged exactly so that all circumstances recede into the background and only your will remains. Tradition says: “It is impossible to compel a person by prophecy to take a wife or to take a husband.” We will later see with Hoshea a certain exception, but that is a special prophecy given to him. God cannot compel a person through His prophecy to enter into some marriage, and the parents cannot either. In this there is complete freedom. And this freedom is ensured even by the fact that Eliezer hides part of reality from his listeners. With regard to marriage the Most High gives complete freedom. We read in several places in Scripture that marriage is from the Most High, and the Most High wants this to be hidden, to be concealed, so that it is not revealed as: “Thus says the LORD. This one is destined for that one.” Although the Talmud tells that in heaven such a voice sounds, and every girl and every young man are born with a destiny. For each there is someone of their own, destined, but freedom of will is given, and only by free will can a person enter into marriage. This sounds to us as a warning against all kinds of marriages by prophecies and against prophecies concerning marriage. We see that even when the circumstances were prophetic, this was hidden from the listeners, so that the choice was made not by prophecy, but by one's own human will. And in this lies the fulfillment of God's will. We see that Rivka marries Yitzchak, to whom she has been destined perhaps from the very birth of Yitzchak. Everything is accomplished by God's Will, but in synergy, in harmony with the free will of man.

This is what we can draw from this story for ourselves, for our children, for peace in our families.

We will read part of the story of how Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, went to fetch a bride for Yitzchak.

Avraham speaks to a man who is his long-standing, old servant, who manages all of Avraham's property. Imagine the level of Avraham's trust in this man.

“Put your hand under my thigh

That is, slip your hand under the thigh and put it on the place where the circumcision is, where the sign of the covenant is, for the oath.

That is, literally to my neighborhood, to my yard.

To take a wife for my son, Yitzchak.”

Not every woman is ready to emigrate for the sake of marriage, even if it is to a man from such a noble family as the family of Avraham.

Perhaps in that case I must return your son to the land from which you came out?”

“I believe that the LORD, who promised to give my descendants this land, He will arrange everything so that my son will not need to leave this land for anywhere in order to take himself a wife.” And indeed, Yitzchak is the only one of the Patriarchs who never left the borders of the land of Israel. Perhaps thanks to this prayer of Avraham. Avraham says: “The LORD will send an Angel before you.” This means that someone will, as it were, go before you and arrange all your affairs and you will take a wife for my son from there.

So, Avraham gives Eliezer a quite specific command to go to a very specific place with a very specific mission.

Whether it took long or short, the servant comes to the city of Nachor. The Torah does not tell how quickly this happened. The midrashim tell that it did not happen very quickly, but that does not matter to us now.

The word yevarech is similar to levarech – to bless. The word bracha is from the same root, it is translated as blessing. Indeed, the root is berech – knee. Just as the knee is what joins the two parts of the leg, so bracha also joins, as a knee joint joins the upper and the lower. He made the camels lie down, the camels lie down, bending their knees.

By the well Before dusk; before they come out to draw water.

And here something unusual happens. The servant begins to pray. This is probably the first story of a prayer for the road.

The word hakre is from the word mikre – chance.

And do kindness to my master, Avraham.

Further on we know that he had not yet managed to finish speaking when Rivka comes, and everything happened just as he asked, and even better. And it even happened that he ended up precisely in the very house to which he was supposed to come, etc. Everything happened as it should.

The question is this. Avraham sent the servant to a completely specific place inside the city. No one told the servant to pray in some way and to set some kind of sign about which woman would come out. And what if a woman had come out who was lame, or crooked, or gray-haired, or bald, or something else, and had said what Eliezer wanted to hear? In the book of Shoftim we read the sad story of a man who promised to offer to the LORD as a burnt offering the first thing that would come out of the house to meet him, and his daughter came out. This is the story of Yiftach. And how can one know that something similar will not happen? The commentators argue and say a lot about this.

Not everyone knows that the text of the Torah consists not only of letters alone, but also contains cantillation marks, a kind of musical notes indicating the intonation with which this or that word must be pronounced. In Hebrew this is called ta'amei hamikra – the tastes of the text. And indeed, this indicates the intonations, for how we pronounce this or that word determines how it can be understood. You can say: “Excuse me,” you can say: “Well, excuse me.” And these will be completely different “excuse me”s. And so it is with many words. And when we read the text of the Torah, it can be read in the old language, speaking with expression, and one can express the cantillation marks that are indicated in the text. Some marks were even conveyed by gestures, and not only by intonation. And here, over the word And he said, which stands at the beginning of the 12th verse, there is an unusual mark that is called silsul (or trill). In the whole book of Bereshit it occurs only three times. Once it occurs in Bereshit (19:16), when we read about Lot. About him it is said: “Lot lingered, tarried.”

The second time it is the same word, but in relation to Yosef. When Yosef runs away from Potifar's wife, there it is the same word, a certain bewilderment, a confusion of Lot, a certain bewilderment, a confusion in Yosef. And the third time this word occurs here, in the 12th verse. With these intonations the Torah conveys confusion, a certain turmoil in the hero's mind.

When I set out on the road, I try to plan everything, everything, everything: where I will get on the bus and which bus I will get on, where I will get off, where I will have a bite to eat, where I will spend the night and everything else, one would like to know. We all want to plan when we set out on the road. We are all used to praying about what we do. And so, this is how the traveler's prayer sounds, the traditional prayer that every Jew prays when setting out on the road:

May it be Your will, God, our Almighty, and the Almighty God of our fathers, to lead us on a peaceful way, to direct our steps on a peaceful path, to lay out for us a safe road and to bring us to the goal of our journey for life, joy and peace; and to return us in peace, and to deliver us from the hands of all enemies and from all who lie in wait for us in ambush, from wild beasts, and from the hands of robbers whom we may meet on the way, and from all the calamities that happen in the world. Send blessing on all the works of our hands. And grant us to find grace, blessing and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of everyone who sees us. And hear the voice of our supplication, for You are God who hearkens to prayers and supplications. Blessed are You, God, who hearkens to prayer.

Every Jew reads this prayer when setting out on the road. What is there in this prayer? Who prays such a prayer? A person who knows nothing at all. Who does not know where he may end up, where he will have to stop and what he may run into. When we have planned everything, planned everything well and sorted it all onto shelves, it happens that in this plan of ours there turns out to be no room for the Most High to show His action in it. We have planned everything, but we have not asked Him what He wants. With our prayer, with our turning to the Most High, we in a way pause our plans and ask, turn our heart to the Most High and try to check our plans against Him, to give Him a place in our plans. As the Rabbi of Kotzk said: “God is where we let Him in.” In this traveler's prayer we let God into our well-planned road, sorted onto shelves.

In this prayer of his, Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, also lets the Most High in, turns to the Most High, although he knows about the Angel who goes before him, and he has a clear schedule, a clear instruction from Avraham. Here it is time to feel oneself in confusion, to feel oneself not the master of the situation, not at all the master of the situation, to turn to the Most High with the question: “What are Your plans regarding my road?”

I have had to travel a great deal, to travel with children. And when something went not the way it should, when I got stuck in a traffic jam, missed a bus or something else happened, amazing things always happened. Precisely in these deviations from the plans, when, having deviated, having forgotten about our plans, the children and I prayed, the Most High sent into our life very unusual, kind people, acquaintance with whom has stayed with me for many years. With many teachers, simply kind people, unusual people, people who helped me, or people who needed my help. The Most High led me at the moment when I got stuck on the road, when my plans got mixed up, when everything happened not the way I wanted. At that moment miracles happened that sometimes turned out to be more important than the road itself, more important than everything that was happening around. The goal of the trip then turned out to be secondary, that happened too.

Mashiach says: “I am the Way.” In Mashiach the Divine and the human are joined. This is a constant synchronization, a constant checking of one's plans against God's plans, a constant dwelling in this inner prayer, which no longer gives turmoil, but confidence. A constant soaring above this world, above the plans and designs of this world. Overcoming the relief of the rugged terrain of this world and even using this relief for one's own purposes. This is one of the possible understandings of what Mashiach says: “I am the Way.” The Way is a planned road, with a planned turning to the Creator every minute, every second. Not a simple matter, but only in this way do we come to that, to that goal where the Most High wants to bring us. To peace, to blessing in the hearts of all those who see us, as the traveler's prayer also says.

This is one of the angles of understanding. Of course, one can also bring dozens of others regarding why Eliezer stops here and prays. This is a school for us – to stop for prayer. Even when we think that God has already told us everything, even where we think that we understand His will, even where we have been given, it would seem, completely clear instructions regarding what to do.

An amazing book, the Torah. Sometimes it is very lengthy. Certain dialogues that could have been set out in a few lines or simply retold, the Torah retells in full detail, unfolding them over whole chapters. In our weekly portion we see Avraham's bargaining for the cave Me'arat haMachpela or, for example, the reasoning of the servant Eliezer when he goes to take a bride for Yitzchak. To many this may seem superfluous and incomprehensible. Why does the Torah describe all this in such full detail? Of course, God forbid, there is not a single superfluous word in the Torah. It also happens the other way round, that the Torah is very laconic. And some plot that Dostoevsky could have made the foundation of a novel, and Hollywood the foundation of a feature film, the Torah sets out in just a few lines, succinctly, vividly, but very briefly.

We will talk about an example of the second kind, we will talk about one verse, or rather, even about just one word, which is very important, which various people have tried to understand for a long time. And, as often happens, this says something not only about the word itself, but also about the people. We will read from the first verse of the 24th chapter of the book of Bereshit.

Let us dwell on the word bakol. Bakol can be translated as in everything, that is, in everything that he had, or with everything – with everything as with an instrument, as with a hammer. There is something that is called everything, and with it God blessed Avraham. It is hard to understand what this is about. Avraham's servant himself, whom we have already mentioned, says that God blessed Avraham with much: “And the LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great, and He has given him sheep, and oxen, and silver, and gold, and slaves, and slave women, and camels, and donkeys.” With much God blessed Avraham. Of course, one can often say: “God has blessed me with much.” And I too have a lot of things, but I would like to be able to say in my old age: “And the LORD has blessed me with everything.” Even better if someone else could say this about me. This could even be written on a gravestone. It would be a good inscription. So what is this about? Why did the Torah not list for us here, as Eliezer listed it, how many camels he had, how many slave women, how many slaves, how much silver and how much gold. Because slave women, silver and gold have some limit. That is not everything.

So what is everything? Many over many generations have tried to understand this. In the Talmud there is a dispute, and different opinions are expressed. One of the sages says: “In everything – this means that he had no daughter. If sons are born to a person – so this sage reasons – then that is a great blessing, and whoever is blessed this way is blessed in everything.” What can I say, as a father of daughters, who sees in his daughters such a great blessing that, besides his own, he has also adopted girls, with God's help? I am very glad of my daughters, and I consider that this is a great blessing, and I cannot agree with this teacher.

Another objects: “On the contrary, Avraham's blessing consisted precisely in the fact that he also had daughters. And he managed to raise the daughters as righteous.” The opinion is beautiful, I like it more, but it is hard to substantiate from the Torah.

A third holds that Avraham had a daughter, her name was Bakol (with everything). This is the daughter's name, and this daughter is such a blessing, such a joy for her dad. Again, I like this, but it is hard to substantiate.

Others say: “Avraham was a great healer, an expert in everything, and people came to him for advice, with questions, with problems, with ideas, and he helped everyone, everyone. The LORD blessed him with the knowledge of everything.” Each person, of course, is free to judge for himself, but in my view, well, it is a so-so blessing when people are constantly around you and constantly asking you something.

Others believe that Avraham had a precious stone on his breast, a sort of cameo, and whoever saw it was immediately healed. After his death the Most High took this cameo away.

There are those who say that the word bakol by gematria means ben (son), and Avraham's blessing is his worthy son, Yitzchak. That too can be understood. But why would the Torah not say: “And the LORD blessed Avraham with a wonderful son Itzik, a good Jewish boy from a good Jewish family?” Also disputable.

The midrash says that bakol means that the Most High gave Avraham control over his evil inclination, whatever happened to Avraham, whatever events took place around him. And who is he at that moment? At that moment he is a widower, a man whose son is not yet married. He was never able, neither by his prayers nor by his righteousness, to cancel the exile of the people of Israel, the exile of his descendants, of which the Most High had spoken. And all his days are very difficult. For a long time he was childless, he hoped for a child. There is also Yishmael, with whom it is also not very clear what is going on. If you look from the outside, then not quite everything is good with Avraham. In general, when we say everything is good, these are rather grandiose words. It never happens that everything is good. It never happens that everything is there, it never happens that I can do everything or know everything. But here it is not we who say it, it is the Torah that testifies about Avraham. And when the sages say that everything is that the Most High made Avraham the master of his own evil inclination, even Avraham's evil inclination served the Most High, the whole spiritual nature of Avraham was blessed, was subject to the Most High.

Another understanding says that bakol has to do with the commandment of love for the Most High. There is a commandment in which this word bachol also sounds: “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart” – bechol levavcha. What does with all your heart mean? Can I love with all my heart in such a way that in my heart there would be no room either for my children, or for my wife, or for my parents, or for my friends, or, in the end, for the “Harley Davidson” motorcycle that my neighbor parks not far from me? Can such a thing be? And here it is said about Avraham that even his love for someone or for something Avraham used for his own instruction, for his own correction, in order to fill his heart with love for the Most High. Even when loving someone or becoming attached to something, Avraham saw in this the blessing of the Most High and turned this love to the Most High. Yetzer hara – his evil inclination, like a sparring partner in sports. Anyone who has done sports will say that a strong partner, a strong opponent – is the one who strengthens, the one who actually makes you an athlete. If all your bouts are with someone weaker than you, you will never grow as an athlete. If all the problems you solve are ones that you can already solve, that are easy for you to solve, you will never grow. The Most High gave Avraham such a blessing that it was not in the outer world. It was not expressed in suits, in expensive perfumes, in donkeys, in slave women or camels, although there were donkeys, slave women and camels. It was expressed in this: everything that happened with Avraham, all of it Avraham could receive with love, all of it he could turn toward learning love for the Maker. This is that very bakol with which the LORD blessed Avraham. With Avraham the overcoming of sin begins, the overcoming of the evil inclination. Concerning Yitzchak, the son of Avraham, it will be said later in Bereshit (chapter 27):

And Yitzchak trembled with a very great trembling and said: “Who then is the one who hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of everything?”

Yitzchak did not have everything – he ate of everything. How can one outline the difference between in everything or with everything and of everything? If for Avraham everything is like a little suitcase, a bag that he constantly carries with him, then Yitzchak does not receive the bag itself, he receives from it. Everything is in the hands of the Most High, from this everything the Most High blesses Yitzchak. Avraham had the whole vessel, while Yitzchak was only fed from this vessel. And finally, Yaakov rises to the highest level. We read in the 33rd chapter of Bereshit (here it is about the meeting of Yaakov with Esav):

And he said: “Why do you have all these troops that I met?” And Yaakov said: “To find favor in the eyes of my master.” And Esav said: “I have much, my brother, let what is yours be yours.”

Again here we see that Esav, like Eliezer when he speaks about Avraham, says: “I have much, and my master has much.”

But Yaakov said: “Oh, no. If I have found favor in your eyes, then accept my gift from my hand, for I have seen your face as the face of an angel. You have shown kindness to me. Accept, then, my gift which has been brought to you, because God has granted me and I have everything.”

If Avraham had this vessel before him, and Yitzchak was fed from this vessel, then Yaakov has this everything already inside himself. And although Yaakov will later say: “Bitter, sad and hard have been my days,” will complain to Pharaoh, these days, this hardship – that is what teaches him, like hard training sessions. Like a person who can say: “I had a hard workout.”

This path begins with Avraham, who received the blessing from the Most High bakol. When we read Birkat hamazon (the blessing after food) as guests, we ask to bless the hosts who shared their food with us, bakol mikol kol: bakol – as Avraham is blessed, mikol – of everything, as Yitzchak is blessed, and kol – as Yaakov is blessed. This is not outward prosperity or, let us say, not only outward prosperity. It is not about possessions at all, not about what happens outside. It is about what happens inside Avraham. Inside Avraham – he is blessed with everything. Because everything that happens to him, all the events of his life, all his joys and all his sorrows are perceived by him as blessings. The midrash says: “Here are three to whom the Most High gave a taste of the world to come already in this world. These three are Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, as it is written: bakol, mikol, kol. Here are three over whom the evil inclination did not rule – these are Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, as it is written about them: bakol, mikol, kol.” That is, it is about inner transformations, about blessings of the inner spiritual makeup of our Patriarchs.

The Hasidic teacher whom we call, after the book he wrote, Sfat Emet, also teaches on this topic, also reflects on what bakol means. Avraham was “connected” to the source that is called kol – everything. When we bless the Most High for the food that He gives us, we say: “Blessed are You, LORD our God, King, Sovereign of the universe, that everything comes to be by His word.” Everything in the world is created by the word of the Most High. The word of the Most High is what gives life to everything. In the very first chapter of the book of Bereshit, at the very beginning of the Torah, we already see that the Most High creates the whole world by His word. The Most High says: “Light – be.” And light came to be. The word of the Most High is what creates everything that is in this world. In the book of Devarim it is written: “Not by bread alone shall man live.” This can be understood, can be translated as “not by bread itself does man live, but by the word coming out of the mouth of God.” That which gives life… It seems that it is bread, it seems that it is something that has taken the form of bread, in reality it is the Word of God, which gave life to the bread and will give life to us. This is what Mashiach answers Satan to the proposal to turn the stones into bread. The first revelation about the word, as about the little bricks of which everything in creation consists, was given to Avraham. To Avraham first it was given to taste, to see that everything happens by the word of God. This is the beginning of a long path of correcting the relationship between God and man, a path at the end of which the word will become flesh. And one can say that Avraham had a touch, a contact with the word of the Most High. Through Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov the revelation of the word of the Most High in humanity began.

And, having cited different opinions and different answers to the question, I would like to give my own answer to the question – what does it mean: the LORD blessed Avraham with everything? It is not possessions, it is not health, it is not something outside Avraham. It means that everything that happens to Avraham, everything is his blessing. Because behind everything that happens to him, he sees the face of the Most High. Whatever happens to him, he knows that kol (everything) – this is the blessing of the Most High. Yaakov already lives and can be the bearer of this blessing, can pass it on to the people of Israel. But everything begins with Avraham. Such a simple word and so many disputes about it.

Today we will read an amazing story that the Torah tells at the very beginning of the 25th chapter of the book of Bereshit. After all the ups and downs of his difficult life, already widowed, having buried and mourned his beloved wife Sara, having married off his beloved son Yitzchak, Avraham Avinu, the Forefather Avraham, suddenly takes a wife again. Everything in this story is amazing. And it is no wonder that every verse, every word of this story provokes disputes among the sages and commentators. Let us read this story together, you and I, and try to understand what stands behind it.

The verb vayosíf (or leosíf) is used when a person does something that has already been done, that he has already done. For example, if a man has two wives and he takes a third, that is and he added, and took himself a third wife.

And he took a wife. This wife's name is Ketura.

The first meaning of the word ketura – the one who burns incense. The second meaning of the word ketura – bound, from the word knot, bound or bound until a certain time.

Of course, the sages argue on every point. What does vayosef – and he added mean? One can only add to wives who already exist, some say. At that moment Avraham has no wives. What does this mean? It means that, as often happens, the Torah does not tell everything in chronological order. Here at the end of the story, at the end of the account of Avraham's biography, the Torah recalls: “But actually Avraham had one more wife. Back when Sara was still alive, he added to her a wife whose name is Ketura, and she too bore him children. Now, when the time has come to divide the inheritance, the Torah recalls those children. That is why it is written vayosef!”

Others explain vayosef differently. Yitzchak got married and Avraham also got married. Vayosef, that is, in Avraham's family there is one more person, Avraham himself entered into marriage. Yitzchak got married, and Avraham went ahead and also got married. And this, in my view, is the more correct understanding.

There is also the opinion that Ketura is the very same Hagar, and then vayosef means that Avraham again took Hagar as his wife. Hagar, who changed her deeds, changed her way of life, and her good deeds became like a good burning of incense, that is why she is called Ketura (either the one who burns incense, or the one burned as incense). There are reasons for such a position, because, as we see, when Yitzchak meets Rivka, he is coming from a place called Be'er Lachai Ro'i, the place where Yishmael lives, it is his place of residence. And many say: “He went there to reconcile Hagar with Avraham.” And the other interpretation of the name Ketura as bound can also refer to Hagar. She bound herself to Avraham, did not marry anyone else, which is what allowed Avraham to take her back.” There is also such an understanding, although I do not agree with it, but why not share it too?

But if we read “Divrei haYamim,” if we read other sources, one can nevertheless understand that the children of Hagar and the children of Ketura are listed separately. There are serious objections to considering this to be one and the same woman. It so happened that the most famous, the most popular commentator – Rashi – cited precisely this commentary. Therefore it is precisely his opinion that became the most widespread. But in fact this is not the only opinion.

In the Talmud there is the opinion of a man who says: “We do not know. This is some other woman.” We know the one whose name is Ketura, and apart from that we know nothing about her.

There is a midrash that says: “Avraham had three wives: Sarai – a descendant of Shem, Hagar the Egyptian – a descendant of Cham, and then Ketura – from the sons of Yefet. Thus the prophecy was fulfilled in Avraham that he would be the father of many peoples. Many peoples both in the family of Cham, and in the family of Yefet, and in the family of Shem. This is a beautiful midrash. So, Avraham takes himself a wife whose name is Ketura.

That is how the meaning of this name is translated. It can also mean the one who celebrates, from the word lizamer – to sing. The one who prunes the vine – this is not just work. This is the one who removes everything superfluous from the vine, who through a complex, painful process makes the vine more viable. Not just work, but hard service.

Fowler

The word yokesh – a trap for birds. A trapper.

Arguer, rebel, the one who starts arguments, fights.

This is not necessarily in a bad sense at all. It can also be service to the Most High, though a hard one. In chapter 15 of the book of Yirmeyahu the prophet laments: “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me a man of strife and contention – riv and madon with the whole earth. I have lent to no one at interest, and no one has lent to me, yet all curse me.” That is, this very madon – dispute, which lies at the basis of the name, can also be service to the Most High, including the service of a prophet.

A man who knows how to organize a court, an experienced organizer, a manager. He also knows how to set prices, etc. (the root is most likely din – court).

The one who will be abandoned.

When we encounter such names, it seems to us: why would one call a person abandoned or forsaken? We also encounter settlements that are called anim – the poor or zanoach – abandoned, neglected. Why do people give such names? So as not to be plundered. It is better to be an inconspicuous, small person. As Joseph Brodsky said: “If you happened to be born in the empire, it is better to live in a remote province by the sea.” So, yishbak can also be translated as the one who lives in a remote province by the sea. The same root is in the word savachvani, as the Russian translations transcribe it. When Yeshua says on the cross: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Shibbaktani in the Aramaic version of the psalm, which is transcribed as savachvani, – the very same root.

And the last of the children:

The one who swims far, able to stay afloat, or fortified, surrounded by a moat, well protected.

These are the names of the six children whom Ketura bore to Avraham.

Why can one call a child old man? In Yiddish, among the Ashkenazi Jews, they called a child alter – old man. Girls were sometimes given the name Mushka, Fly, again in order to make her small, inconspicuous, not attracting attention, including the attention of some unclean forces, but also the attention of the authorities, the attention of enemies. A modest name for modesty.

And the sons of Dedan were Those living in camps, Those living in booths or tents And dividing by villages, by settlements.

That is, the Torah simply tells that the sons of Dedan divided into small tribes and small clans.

5.And Avraham gave all that he had to Yitzchak.

All that he had – this is, of course, landed property, houses, etc., that is, real estate. All the rights to the land and to the inheritance of the holy land – all of this only Yitzchak received.

What does to the sons of the concubines mean, or more precisely, which concubines are being talked about? Some say that Avraham went and sent away all, all, all the concubines who lived in his camp, all the illegitimate children, not his own but other people's, everyone who was there, he sent them away and made his camp clean. A rather strange commentary. Others assert that Avraham was a rich man, a man of substance, and he could afford (for those times this did not violate moral principles) many concubines. Still others say: “In fact, Avraham had two concubines, Hagar and Ketura, and they are the ones being talked about.” But then it is not clear why Yishmael is not sent away, since he will later take part in Avraham's funeral? Yet others say that pilagshim is written, and what is meant is many concubines. But in fact, from the spelling one can understand it as one concubine, and it is about that same Ketura. There is no unambiguous answer, and I lean more toward the opinion that Avraham could quite well have had several concubines and he sends them away. After all, Yaakov too had concubines, much later. So, in sending the concubines away, Avraham does not send them away just like that:

…Avraham gave gifts And sent them away from Yitzchak, his son, While he was still alive or while he is still alive

Who is still alive? If it is about Avraham (we have, of course, come across cases where people take part in voting after they have died, but people sending someone away after they have died – that we have not come across yet), it is clear that Avraham sent them away during his lifetime, so why write down that this was still during his lifetime? During Yitzchak's lifetime? Then it is also unclear. Because if Avraham is alive, then Yitzchak is alive too. Why write down beodenu chai? The point is that Avraham sent all these sons away from Yitzchak while Yitzchak was still alive, so that Yitzchak would not think that this is some kind of heritage, inheritance that he must leave to the following generations. Avraham decided that while Yitzchak was still alive, already before his death, these peoples, these sons would already have gone away.

To the east, to the eastern land.

The gifts and the eastern land came together so beautifully that many commentators say: “All the mysticism of the East, yoga, the Book of Changes, gifts, tricks, everything else. The sons of Avraham did not want to leave him so much, they loved the land of Israel so much, that he had to show them, to give them all kinds of tricks, all kinds of eastern sorcery, so that they would leave this land.” And the Chinese, the Hindus and others, according to such an interpretation, are descendants of those very sons of Ketura whom Avraham, according to this interpretation, taught all kinds of magical, mystical, esoteric and other practices. Having knowledge of magic and sorcery, he supposedly passed such knowledge on to his sons and sent them away to the East. There is such an interpretation. I cannot say that I can agree with it. In the Tanach we meet the Madianites, and the Midyanites, and others from this list as people trading in gold, trading in incense. And, most likely, one can picture it like this: Avraham did indeed send his sons away and gave them gifts, gave them money that would allow them to take up trade and lead a life free of want. That is, he did not let them go empty-handed, but sent them away, and they scattered. Today we cannot say exactly who scattered where, but if we accept the version of the midrash that Avraham married a daughter of Yefet, and the version is quite logical, then, most likely, these peoples later ended up in Europe.

The medieval commentator Abarbanel, who lived at the time of the expulsion from Spain, gives six reasons why, in his view, Avraham took Ketura as a wife. First, as we have already said, because he is the father of many nations. Because the Most High, as He himself says, blesses the work of the hands. One has to make some vessels that will be blessed. Second, so that people would not think that circumcision weakens a person. On the contrary, to affirm the thesis that Yeshayahu will later formulate (chapter 40): “Those who hope in the LORD will renew strength.” Third, so that Yishmael would grasp that Yitzchak will be the only heir. If the sons of the lawful wife and the sons of old age will not inherit, then all the more so Yishmael, who is the son of a slave woman. Fourth (a rather strange reason, but Abarbanel names it), to teach us, his descendants, that in a first marriage it is important to choose and pick a wife for oneself and to look into her lineage, as Avraham does with Sarai and as Avraham commands Eliezer to do with Rivka. He himself is not afraid to take a wife from some wrong peoples, because he is entering a second marriage. Abarbanel says: “This is to show us that a second marriage is not as important as the first” (not all of his ideas need to be agreed with). Fifth, to show Yitzchak special love. After all, we know that children of old age are especially loved. Ben zikunim (son of old age) – usually a spoiled, overloved child, but Avraham sends even the sons of old age away from Yitzchak. In my view, a rather cruel pedagogical action – to beget six children in order to send them away and demonstrate something to Yitzchak. And, sixth, Abarbanel says: “So that Yishmael would not hate Yitzchak so much. If he sends away not only him, it will not be so hurtful for Yishmael.” These are the arguments that Abarbanel gives. And, on the whole, this systematizes, sums up the main arguments that the Judaic tradition gives here.

But let us try to discern in the Jewish tradition some further indications of who the sons of Ketura are, and these will be messianic versions. There is an interesting story in the Talmud. In the tractate Zraim the sages discuss the dimensions of the altar. Rabbi Mani (this is roughly the 3rd century) says that, on the whole, the dimensions of the altar are not that important, the main thing is that they are not smaller than the altar that Moshe built. That is, the dimensions of Moshe's altar are not a dogma, they are some kind of minimum, after all Moshe built the altar in camp conditions. This same Rabbi Mani says: “And this means that it is a cubit in size.” His students immediately begin to laugh at him: “After all, the Torah specifically says in chapter 27 of the book of Shemot: ‘Five cubits by five cubits.’ Did this rav really not read the Torah, that he says: ‘A cubit’?” But Rabbi Yosi butts into the conversation and says: “Probably the teacher meant the pedestal on which the altar stands. It goes around the altar, and it is indeed a cubit.” And he says: “Yes, you have understood my opinion, and those who laugh at me, they are sons of Ketura.” For us the essence of the dispute, what the sages argued about, is not important. For us it is important that Rabbi Mani called the students who did not want to listen to him, who did not want to go into his words, sons of Ketura.

When the Talmud uses some expression that may not be understandable to the students, it gives another example of the use of this expression. In our case the Talmud tells a story about Rabbi Tarfon and his nephews. Once he was sitting and teaching his nephews, and the nephews were blockheads, did not want to listen to him and were inattentive. And then Rabbi Tarfon said to them: “It is written in the book of Bereshit: ‘And Avraham took for himself another wife, and her name is Yochani.’” Instead of saying that her name was Ketura, he told them that her name was Yochani. Yochani is the name of a sort of Babylonian Baba Yaga, a well-known witch. And the students suddenly perked up and shouted: “No, no, no! It was not Yochani he took as a wife, but Ketura.” And he said: “You are non-listeners, those who do not know how to listen, those who do not know how to ask questions, you are sons of Ketura.”

Why are the sons of Ketura these, and why are the sons of Ketura those others? As we said, one of the meanings of the name Ketura is bound, tied up, the one who is bound, whose consciousness is bound, who is not yet able to understand and perceive. The sons of Ketura are those who are not yet ready to receive the teaching, those who are not yet ready for the revealing of the Torah. That is how this can be understood.

In the Jewish tradition there is one more interesting legend that confirms our version that the sons of Ketura are people who are prepared to listen to the Torah, prepared for the hearing of the Torah, but it has not yet been opened to them until the time. Possibly, until the time of the coming of Mashiach. In the tractate Sofrim there is another interesting story about the sons of Ketura. It tells there that Avraham took the sons of Ketura and built them in the west a large city, surrounded by a towering iron wall. So towering that even the sun does not get in there, and that is why they are also sons of Ketura – bound until the time in the iron city. And he left them gifts there: precious stones and other precious things, so that they would use them as light. And at the end of days, in the times of Mashiach, they will come out of this iron city with these gifts. Here one can see a parallel with the magi who came to bow down to Mashiach. Another understanding of this midrash is that, when the sun grows dim, when a change of the luminaries takes place, these sons of Ketura will come out and will bring the world a new light. And this understanding too is in a messianic key.

There is, thus, a certain tradition that the sons of Ketura, the sons of the bound one, are descendants of Avraham hidden among other nations. Descendants who are yet to reveal the seed of Avraham within themselves through faith, through the revelation that they will receive when they are ready. Such is the messianic interpretation, and we did not so much invent it as read it. It is indeed written down in ancient Jewish sources. As with every story in the Torah, this story has many more facets that could be opened up and opened up still further. But we will stop here.

Among other things the weekly portion tells the story of how Avraham called his servant to himself – Eliezer, and took an oath from him that he would go to Aram Naharaim and take from there a bride for Yitzchak, so that the bride for Yitzchak would not be one of the local girls.

No sooner said than done. Eliezer sets out on the journey and, whether it takes long or short, gets to Aram Naharaim, where he stops at a well. Well, getting to the city – that is half the way, half the job, but how do you choose in the city, in an unfamiliar foreign city, a bride for such an amazing person as Yitzchak? How do you recognize a girl who will fit into such a family and become a good wife for Yitzchak? One can choose in a worldly way: by beauty – beautiful, by wealth – rich or poor, and by connections – how noble her origin is. But in our case one can, of course, bring in some miraculous signs. For example, if she says to him in Chuvash: Yr kaç pultăr! – Irakash puldar! – Good evening! – then this is a suitable bride. Or how do you find a way to identify a daughter-in-law for Avraham? The Chuvash language does not really fit. And here is what Eliezer says:

“And he said: ‘LORD, God of my master Avraham, grant me an occasion this day and show kindness to my Master, Avraham. Behold, I stand at the spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of the city come out to draw water. So let the maiden to whom I say, “Tilt your jar, and I will drink,” and she says, “Drink. I will also water your camels,” – her have You appointed for Your servant Yitzchak. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.’”

This is the sign that Eliezer asks of the Most High: “I will ask the maiden: ‘Give me a drink.’ And she will say: ‘Drink! I will also water your camels!’” That is how it looks at first glance.

Let us look at this a little from the outside. A big man, of huge height (as they tell it), but in any case a man, Eliezer, who is at the head of a caravan, who has servants with him and escorts, who is not alone, stands at the very spring and turns to a fragile little girl: “Give me a drink!” And she answers him: “Drink! I will also water your camels!” That is, she does not answer him: “Go to work!” or “What, are your own hands crooked, you can't get yourself a drink?” Without any reproach she helps him, and this in itself is amazing.

We like to help when no one but us can help a person, or when no one else is nearby. Here there are plenty of other girls nearby, plenty of men nearby who can give him a drink, and he can get himself a drink, too. Why does Rivka nevertheless help him? And why is this a sign?

Let us recall: what did we see, and what did Eliezer see in Avraham's house? When Avraham sits on a scorching day and sees travelers, he does not yet know that they are angels, he does not know at all who they are. He is already running to meet them, already giving the command to slaughter a calf, not just like that, but a calf in honor of some random guests. We have read the book of Bereshit and know that they are not random. Avraham, as it is written about this, without knowing it, received angels. If he had known them, he would not even have fed them, for why would angels need food. But for strangers he was ready to run somewhere, to organize, to ask Sara to make flatbreads, to demand that a calf be slaughtered. This means that the reception of the guests will drag on for several hours.

I am often asked: so what about milk and meat with Avraham? Imagine, he served the flatbreads right away, and until the meat of the calf is cooked – that is several hours.

It would seem, Avraham is simply burning with the desire for hospitality, and only this drives him. And the very same thing drives Rivka. There is no point at all for her in watering Eliezer's camels and giving Eliezer himself a drink. She is hospitable, in her is the fire of this commandment, that is exactly why she suits Yitzchak most of all. Where else would you find such a “rightly crazy” one who would suit Yitzchak? That is why Eliezer asks for such a sign.

Read also: Vayera, Toldot, the sons of Ketura and the weekly portions of the Torah.