Eliezer’s Moment as Patriarch

Most of the content of the Torah portion of Chayei Sarah is dedicated to Eliezer’s mission to secure a wife for Yitzchak.  Avraham dispatches Eliezer, directing his loyal aide to his birthplace and instructing him to avoid Canaanite women. Eliezer departs, travelling with an impressive display of wealth, and arrives at the city well at Aram Naharaim. At this point, he turns to God, submitting Himself before His will and requesting a specific plan (Bereishit 24:14):

“And it will be, [that] the maiden to whom I will say, 'Lower your pitcher and I will drink,' and she will say, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels,' her have You designated for Your servant, for Isaac, and through her may I know that You have performed loving kindness with my master."”

(The appropriateness of such a prayer is the subject of debate among the commentaries, and not the focus here.)

As he completes this prayer, Rivkah enters the scene, and begins to follow the sequence as Eliezer had hoped for. As she is offering water to his camels, the Torah pauses (ibid 24):

“And the man was mishtaeh to know whether the Lord had caused his way to prosper or not.”

Every word from this verse was translated from Hebrew except for “mishtaeh”. The reason why, as we will soon see from Rashi, is that there is no clear definition of the word, leading to some fascinating explanations.

The Torah then turns back to the story, so to speak, as Eliezer gives some of the jewels he bought to Rivkah and discovers her familial origins.

What is strange, at first glance, is the apparent “interruption” in the sequence of the story.  Why does the Torah need to pause and enter into Eliezer’s mind? Why not allow the story to move along?

As noted, Rashi offers a variety of explanations for what the word “mishtaeh” means (note - they will not be presented in the order Rashi uses). He quotes the translation given by Onkelos: Eliezer was “waiting” to see if the plan, via God, would be successful. Why is it important to know he was waiting? Go on with the story!

Rashi presents another possibility:

“he was astonished and startled because he saw his efforts on the verge of succeeding, but he did not yet know whether she was of Abraham’s family or not”

Once again, we can ask why it is important to pause and let us know this information? Furthermore, what idea do we now glean from his state of mind at this moment?

Rashi modifies the above possibility, focusing Eliezer’s astonishment on Rivka:

“…he was astonished about her, as in [above 20:13]:“Say about me, ‘He is my brother’ ””

Again, why do we need to know about this? And how is this different than just being astonished?

Finally, we are left with what on the surface is the most difficult interpretation:

“an expression of desolation, as in (Isa. 6:11):“[until] the cities become desolate…and [the ground] lies waste and desolate.””

In this context, desolate conveys a sense of depression and loneliness (although some translate this as bewilderment). Are we to believe that at the moment of potential success, where Eliezer is bringing to fruition the plan as given to him by Avraham, he is overcome with melancholy? Why would this be the case?

The main question that ties all these various explanations together has to do with the rationale of interrupting the flow of events with a seemingly unimportant piece of information. Obviously, the Torah would not waste our time, so we must search out what wisdom it is trying to convey. It must be emphasized that this concept is one of the most critical to understand about studying Torah.

In this instance, there is a potential concern which might arise when reading through the story. Eliezer was Avraham’s trusted aide, a student in his philosophy and clearly devoted to the future of the fledgling Jewish ideology. In fact, Avraham even discussed the possibility of Eliezer being the inheritor, the next of the patriarchs (more on this later). However, at the end of the day, he was not Avraham. No matter how great we might think he was, he could not replace Avraham. Therefore, every step of the decision-making process would be subject to a greater degree of scrutiny. Was Eliezer acting in line with Avraham’s wishes? Was his thinking clear? Was he acting impetuously? Was he motivated purely by what was best for the future of the Jewish people? It would be normal to have some degree of reservation.

What furthers this misgiving is the way the story unfolds. After Eliezer’s request from God, the seemingly first woman he meets follows all the steps. If there ever was a time to consider Eliezer jumping the gun, this would be it. Onkelos targets this very concern. No doubt, there was a degree of enthusiasm and excitement, as the plan was succeeding. And at times, when we do get close to success, the desire to succeed overcomes the need to make sure we are focused on what is necessary. The Torah is telling us that Eliezer was not caught up in the throes of these emotions, where the end was so near he could taste it. He waited; he was being methodical.

The idea of being astonished refers to his reaction to being exposed to Divine Providence. While Avraham was more of an “expert” in this domain, Eliezer was experiencing something profound. To be a recipient of this type of response from God would be overpowering to many. Yet Rashi notes that he still wanted to be sure she was from the “correct” family. In other words, Eliezer, in seeing the first part of the plan executed, and knowing God was endorsing this entire process, might then have relegated the second part to something accidental. Equally important to the traits exhibited by the future matriarch was her family upbringing, and this was not part of Eliezer’s prayer. Therefore, it might have been tempting to see the second part of the plan as being less important, leading him again to act impetuously. While he was astonished by the experience, he was still in control of his thoughts and was as focused as ever on the proper completion of the plan.

Rashi changes the focus of his astonishment, as Rivka becomes the object of this feeling. Here, Rashi might be telling us how unique Rivka was. It wasn’t just that she followed the proposed plan he had in place. She went above and beyond, acting in a manner that left no doubt at all this was the right person for Yitzchak. Eliezer was Avraham’s messenger, tasked with a difficult mission. A sense of trepidation would not be out of the ordinary, a fear of making the wrong choice. Yet Rivka’s behavior gave Eliezer supreme confidence that this was the correct decision, and therefore was acting in the most rational way possible.

Finally, there is the odd concept of Eliezer feeling desolate. Why would he feel this way at this moment? Eliezer, as noted above, was considered briefly to be a viable option as the future of the Jewish nation. His relationship with Avraham was one rooted in the tenets of Jewish ideology, leading to a close bond. Eliezer gained so much from this relationship and owed his enlightened way of seeing the world to Avraham. Eliezer realized that his relationship with Avraham was about to undergo a seismic shift once the plan came to fruition. He would no longer be the inheritor, and at that moment, on the cusp of success, understood what he potentially could be losing. Nonetheless, he was not deterred, and he pushed forward.

All of these explanations of mishtaeh point to one underlying theme. Eliezer’s decision regarding Rivka was truly a complete fulfillment of the mission laid out for him by Avraham. In a sense, he was filling in as one of the patriarchs at this critical moment in our history. The brief interruption in the flow of the story demonstrates to the reader the importance of placing our faith in Eliezer’s thought process. We thus see how the thematic tangent is in fact a source of important information, reflecting the foundational idea that infinite wisdom can be found in every word of the Torah.