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Chaya Sora 5785
Vayera 5785
Lech Licha 5785
Noach 5785
Simchas Toarh Breishis 5785
Chaya Sora 5785
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YouParsha Chaya Sora https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0yGK3or6Kg The Life of Sarah
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This week's Portion of Chaya Sora - Genesis 23:1 - 25:28 - contains the story of the engagement of Yitschok to Rifka. The Talmud states that the stories of the Patriarchs are a "sign" to their progeny, us. This does not mean that those occurrences that happened to our ancestors will occur to us, but, rather, the forefathers blazed the trail so that our service to the Creator would be facilitated.
Rashi, the classic Torah Commentator, writes that stories involving the slaves of the Patriarchs are more precious than the Torah of their children. We see that the story of Eliezar, Avrohom's Canaanite slave, was repeated, while many complicated mitzvahs are merely alluded to in the Bible. There is only one story mentioned in the Chumash involving a Patriarch's slave, the one involving Eliezar's mission to Besuel to find a match for Yitschok.
Avrohom was referred to as Avrohom "Ha-Ivri". Ha-Ivri literally means "From the other side." Everyone was against Avrohom as he was the only monotheist to be actively involved with publicizing the awareness of one G'd. Avrohom was able to convince people that Hashem Echod - G'd is one and even the physical world is nothing more than a mere manifestation of G'dliness. Eliezar was his servant and messenger. There could be no obstacles to the success of his mission. He traveled a 500 mile journey in one day, found the exact girl for whom he was looking, miraculously avoided being poisoned and told Rifka's family that if they did not approve of the match he would find a wife for Yitschok, elsewhere.
As soon as Rifka was brought into Sara's tent, she and Yitschok began revealing the most essential levels of the infiniteness of Hashem. There, in her mother-in-law's tent, her candles burned from Shabbos to Shabbos, her bread never became impure and the cloud of Glory hovered above her tent. The real purification of the world only began, though, once they had Yaakov.
Our sages tell us that our present relationship with Hashem is similar to an engagement. The marriage will be when Moshiach comes. Then, the most inner aspects of the Torah will be revealed. Eliezar's mission to unite Yitschok and Rifka was similar to the coming of Moshiach, in that it paved the way for the future revelations. That is why his story is beloved to Hashem.
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The Tzemach Tzedek was a master at helping agunos, abandoned wives. A woman once complained that her husband was missing. He instructed her go to a certain large city and the chief rabbi there would be able to help her.
She made the arduous journey to that city only to find that the Rabbi had never heard of her husband. She was dejected, but undauntedly would accost the rabbi on a daily basis to help her find her husband. If the Tzemach Tzedek said he could help, she had perfect faith in the Almighty, that her help would come through that rabbi.
Many weeks passed. The rabbi began avoiding this woman's daily sessions of pleading for her husband's return. One day a garrison of Russian troops passed through the city. As was customary, the commanding officer sent a list of Jewish prisoners of war they had captured, to the city rabbi. The rabbi would then accept responsibility for those Jewish prisoners. Among the list of names, the rabbi was shocked to see the name of this aguna's husband.
The rabbi immediately sent for the woman. The husband was brought to the court and a get, Jewish bill of divorce, was prepared. I suppose you could say that they lived happily ever after?
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