Parshat Chayei Sarah (Breisheet
24:59) ends with Rivka leaving her home in Padan Aram to marry Yizchak: “So
they sent off their sister, Rivka and her nurse along with Avraham’s servant
and his men.”
At
the end of Parsha Toldot (Breisheet 27:43-45) when Esav started making plans to
kill his brother, Rivka told Yaakov:
Now,
my son, listen to me. Flee at once to Haran, to my brother Lavan. Stay with him a short time, until your
brother’s fury has subsided. Until your brother’s
anger against you has subsided, and he has forgotten what you did to him. Then
I will send for you and bring you back from there. Let me not lose you both in
one day!
In Vayetzei, After Yaakov and his
family safely arrive in the Land of C’naan, a verse pops up that seems to be
out of place (Breisheet 35:8): “Devora, Rivka’s nurse, died, and was buried
under the oak below Beit El; so it was named Alon Bachut (The Weeping Oak).”
Was Devora who is mentioned here the
same nursemaid that Rivka had when she was a child? If so, what was she doing
with Yaakov’s family now and why was such a big deal being made about her
death?
Rashi
asks how Devora ended up with Yaakov and brings an answer from Rabbi Moshe
Ha-darshan: Rivka promised Yaakov (Breisheet 27:45) “Then I will send for you
and bring you back from there.” Rivka fulfilled her promise by sending Devora
to Yaakov in Padan Aram to tell him to leave that place. Devora died on the
return journey.
Rashi
also brings an Agada from Breisheet Rabbah 81:5 which states that Yaakov received
news of another death, for he was informed that his mother, Rivka, had died. In
Greek “alon” means “another”. Rivka’s death was kept secret in order that
people might not curse the mother who gave birth to Esav (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki
Teitzei 4).
Ramban
explains that Yaakov wept and
mourned for his righteous mother who had loved him and sent him to Padan Aram
but was not privileged to see him when he returned. Therefore, God appeared to
him and blessed him in order to comfort him just as He had done with Yitzchak,
following the death of Avraham. With reference to both of them the rabbis
taught that He gave him the blessing of consolation addressed to mourners.
Proof for this is that which is said below “And Yaakov came unto his
father to Mamre.” If Rivka had been there, it would have said
“to his father and his mother” for it was she who sent him to
Padan Aram and caused him all the good for Yitzchak commanded him to go there
at her advice.
We see from here that the focus on
Devora’s death was to cover-up Rivka’a death in order to make sure that her
name was not disgraced. The naming of the spot, Alon Bachut reminds us that
there were two reasons to cry at the time, for the death of the dedicated
nursemaid, whether she was the original nursemaid or not and for the death of
Rivka Imenu.
Unfortunately, in the Tanach, there
were more reasons to cry at that spot. In Shoftim (Judges) 2:1-5, the tribes
were rebuked for not breaking apart the altars of idol worship. They did not
listen to God and did not keep their part of the bargain. They wept and the
place was named Bochim (Crying).
In Melachim I 12:28-31, King Yeravam
made an alternative to the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) in Jerusalem by placing
golden calves and bamot (high places) in Beit El and Dan leading the northern
tribes to idol worship.
Today, a 1000 year old Oak tree,
considered a descendant of the ancient oak tree from the time of our
forefathers stands in Beit El. When we visit the tree, we are taken back in
time to the day when Yaakov stood near that spot weeping over the death of his
mother, Rivka.
