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Learning from Eliezer

By: SFW Students & Alumna
Leora Bellman (SFW '09)

Rav Neventzal teaches us about the abundant chessed of Eliezer in this week’s parsha, parshat Chayei Sarah:

"And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell" (Genesis 24, 3)

Avraham told Eliezer to acquire a daughter from Canaan for his son Yitzchak because he wanted the girl to be from his family and from his household. While Eliezer was on his mission, searching for a wife for Yitzchak, he did certain actions such as praying in Charan and testing Rivkah; things that were not part of Avraham’s command. Eliezer, in these cases, acted on his own initiative.

This teaches us a lot about Eliezer’s personality. He was not just an adam pashut; rather, he was considered the "elder" of the house of Avraham and a chacham. Knowing that numerous girls would want to marry Yitzchak, he put in his own efforts and implemented his own ideas in order to find him the perfect wife, a wife appropriate for Yitzchak’s standards.

I feel that we can take mussar from Eliezer’s actions and apply it to our everyday lives: it is always better to go above and beyond in all our actions, and achieve the best of our abilities.

Shabbat Shalom.