There is so much in this week’s Parashat. We have the death of Sarah, the wife of Isaac, death of Abraham, Ishmael’s descendants, birth is Esau and Jacob, and Esau sell his birthright. Last week we read the binding of Isaac and as soon as the story ends we read that Abraham has heard his brother Nahor and Milcah have had 8 children. Next we hear about the death of Sarah. She was 127 years old when she died.
The Torah has a strange way of telling us Sarah’s age when you read it in the Hebrew. It says Sarah was 100 years and 20 years and 7 years old when she died. What that means is that in very stage of her life she brought the innocence of a child with her. She brought the youth, and excitement all the way through her life. Most people leave things behind however Sarah did not. After Sarah’s death Abraham buys the only property he will own in Canaan. He buys the cave at Machpelah near Mamre and the surrounding trees. After Abraham and Isaac mourn the loss of Sarah Abraham sends Eliezer to his Father’s house to find Isaac a wife.
Eliezer loads down 10 Camels with a dowry for the family who will give their daughter’s hand in marriage to Isaac. Eliezer puts a fleece before the Lord. He asked that the women who comes to the well and gives him to drink and offers to water his camels let her be the one for Isaac. As soon as Eliezer finished his request Rebecca appeared. She gave Eliezer water to drink then offered to water his camels. Eliezer then puts a gold ring in Rebecca’s nose and gold bracelets on her wrists. Eliezer asks Rebecca who she is and she tells him she is the daughter of Bethuel the granddaughter of Nahor and Milcah. Eliezer then praises God and asks is there room in your fathers house for me and my camels. Rebecca says yes and runs ahead to tell her father.
Why did Eliezer make this request of God? Why would Eliezer ask for a kind caring women for Isaac? The answer is Abraham is known far and wide that he is a man of kindness and hospitality. This is a value that Abraham has instilled into his servant. However when Eliezer meets Rebecca’s brother Laban he notice that Rebecca’s family does not value kindness and hospitality. When you read the meeting between Laban and Eliezer depending on the translation you read it will tell you Laban unloaded the camels, feed them and washed the feet of Eliezer and his men. However a true translation will say the man unloaded the camels, feed them and washed the feet of his men. Eliezer׳s name is never mentioned in this story the servant is called the iysh which means the man. So when it says in Genesis 24:32 the man who did all the work was Eliezer not Laban.
After meeting Laban alters the way he approaches Rebecca’s family. He tells of the great wealth of Abraham and how his son Isaac now owns everything. He saw they didn’t value kindness. They only valued wealth. Eliezer has wisdom to know how to read his audience. He convinced them to give Rebecca to Isaac as a wife. Afterwards Eliezer praises the Lord and gives the dowry to Rebecca’s family.
My question for you is what kind of servant are you. Are you one who knows your master and his desires? Or are you a servant that cares about the stuff your master has? Are you an Eliezer who cares about kindness or are you a Laban who cares about the world. One day everyone of us will stand before the master. On that day everyone will know what kind of servant you were. If you have been a worldly servant it is not too late to become a true servant.
