In Parshat Chayei Sara, Breisheet Chapter 24 we read the story of
Avraham sending his servant (Midrashically
known as Eliezer) to find a wife for Yitzchak.
Rabbeinu Bachya comments (Breisheet 24:22):
All the details of what was
happening with Rivka at this time foreshadowed events of the future involving
her offspring. Similarly, all that happened to Avraham’s servant on this
mission foreshadowed events that would happen to her descendants in the desert.
Avraham told Eliezer in Breisheet
24:7:
HaShem, God of heaven, Who took me
from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, Who spoke to me, and Who
swore to me, saying, “To your descendants I will give this land”- He will send
His angel (Malacho) before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from
there.
Just as an angel had been at
Eliezer’s side through the efficacy of Avraham’s prayer who had said that “G-d
will send His angel before you,” so too did it happen to Avraham’s descendants
in the desert. The angel in question was not a regular natural phenomenon but
one of the disembodied spiritual creatures. As well, the angel who accompanied
the Jewish people was such a disembodied spiritual force who had been emanated
by the merit of Avraham.
This was whom the Torah had in mind
when it quoted God as telling Moses in Parshat Mishpatim, Shmot 23:20:
Here I am about to send an angel
(Malachi) ahead of you.
Just as Avraham referred to this
divine force as Malacho, “His angel,” so too did God refer to the same divine
force as Malachi, “My angel.”
Rabbeinu Bachya adds more similarities
between the two stories:
Just as the waters at the well had
risen towards Rivka, so the waters rose towards her “children” in the desert as
it says in Bamidbar 21:17: “It was then that Yisrael sang the song: ‘Arise, O
well, sing to it!’”
The mission to find a wife for
Yitzchak was carried out by a trusted servant (Eliezer). The Jewish people in
the desert were led by God’s trusted servant (Moshe).
We read in Breisheet 24:10: “The
servant took ten camels from his master’s camels and departed. All the best of
his master was in his hand…” Eliezer had been equipped with all the “good” of
his master, Avraham, The Torah, in a parallel reference, tells us that God
equipped Moshe for his task by equipping him with all ‘His goodness’. This is
what is meant in Shmot 33:19: “God said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass
before your presence…”
Eliezer gave gifts to Rivka at the
well (Breisheet 24:22):
When the camels had finished
drinking, the man took a gold nose ring, weighing half a shekel, and two
bracelets for her arms, weighing ten gold shekel.
He also gave gifts to Rivka and her
family at her father’s house (Breisheet 24:53):
The servant took out articles of
silver, articles of gold and garments and gave them to Rivka. To her brother
and mother, he gave precious fruits.
The Jewish people also received gifts
on two separate occasions. They received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai
and received the gift of the covenant shortly before they entered the Land of
Israel (Devarim 28:69):
These are the statements of the
covenant that God commanded Moshe to ratify with B’nai Yisrael in the land of
Moav, beside the covenant that he made with them at Chorev (Mt. Sinai).
At that time many commandments which
were applicable in the Land of Israel were revealed for the first time in
detail as B’nai Yisrael were getting ready to enter the Land.
We see from here that Rabbeinu Bachya’s parallels really work.
Just as Good took care of Eliezer and Rivka, so too did He take care of Moshe
and B’nai Yisrael.
Now we need to be taken care of once again.
We need God to send us an angel to help us fight this war, we need trusted
leaders that we can rely on and we need to appreciate the Torah, God’s bond with
the Jewish people including the agricultural mitzvot which help connect us with
the Land of Israel.
