"HaShem, G-d of my master Avraham!"
(Genesis 24:12)
Marcheshvan 26, 5781/November 13, 2020
This week's Torah reading, Chayei Sara - The Life of Sara - is a type of quiet after the dramatic storm of the binding of Yitzchak, with which the previous Torah reading, Vayera, concluded. The binding of Yitzchak was the final of the ten trials with which G-d tested Avraham's faith and fortitude. Avraham not only passed his final test but he sanctified and elevated the moment by offering up to G-d a ram in place of his son, and naming the place of the binding of Yitzchak "HaShem will see, as it is said to this day: On the mountain, HaShem will be seen." (Genesis 22:14)
The binding of Yitzchak (akeidah, in Hebrew) is Avraham's last recorded encounter with G-d. Chayei Sara, which opens with the death of Sara, presents us with Avraham mourning the loss of his beloved wife and fellow spiritual seeker, and negotiating a burial plot for Sara. Avraham's purchase of the Machpelah burial cave and the adjacent field from Ephron the Hittite was the very first step in the acquisition of the land of Israel, first promised to Avraham by G-d when Avraham, following G-d's instructions, left his home in Haran, his familiar surroundings and his family, and set of for Canaan. Significantly, while G-d promised Avraham the entire land of Canaan for his posterity, G-d left it to Avraham to make the first move in actually taking possession of the land. This may strike us as ironic, but it perfectly describes the nature of the covenant which Avraham made with G-d. Avraham's perfect faith in G-d's promise is manifested in his taking upon himself the task of slowly, slowly acquiring the land of Canaan. This is the relationship created between G-d and Avraham by way of the ten trials that G-d placed before him. This division of labor, as it were, informs the history of the nation of Israel to this day. G-d's promise is forever and inviolable. Fully trusting this eternal verity, Israel's task is to conquer, to settle, to sow the land and establish cities, and a nation based on Torah throughout the length and breadth of the promised land.
The second component of G-d's promise to Avraham, progeny and a nation to inherit the land, takes up the remaining verses of parashat Chayei Sara. Having buried Sara, Avraham, "advanced in days," (ibid 24:1) takes immediate action to set in motion the fulfillment of this Divine promise. Again, G-d promised Avraham a great nation, but it is Avraham's responsibility to make it happen. Too old to perform this essential task on his own, Avraham enlists "his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that was his" (ibid 24:2) and directs him to return to the land of Avraham's origin and find for his son Yitzchak a bride. Clearly this assignment was crucial and beyond in determining the future nature and character of the promised nation of Israel. Astonishingly, not only did G-d leave this fateful step to Avraham to fulfill, but Avraham, encumbered by old age, was compelled to subcontract the crucial job of matchmaking to his servant. When we ponder the idea that the entire fate of the nation of Israel that G-d had planned and promised on behalf of all humanity to the end of time was to be placed in the hands of an unnamed servant of Avraham our jaws must drop in astonishment!
We learn three things from this perplexing scenario. Firstly, we learn that even when G-d seemingly steps back and out of the picture, He, and His promise, are never absent from our lives or the life of man. G-d's complete confidence in Avraham successfully performing the necessary requirements for the fulfilling of G-d's promise, following his ten tests, is a Divine guarantee of success, and is matched by Avraham's complete and unfettered trust in his servant, who we shall see is a devoted student and disciple of Avraham, to find and bring back a bride for Yitzchak and a matriarch for the nation of Israel.
The second lesson we learn from the servant's performance of his mission, is his unhesitating initiative in determining the criteria for identifying a bride for Yitzchak and in calling upon the G-d of Avraham to guarantee the success of his mission. In essence, the servant, who is traditionally identified as Eliezer, has invoked the covenantal relationship established between G-d and Avraham to inform the critical undertaking which he has accepted upon himself. Once again, responsibility for seeing that G-d's promise will come to fruition rests upon the shoulders of man, and, in this case, technically a gentile, not of the seed of Avraham. G-d's promise to Avraham of a great nation and a homeland is clearly a promise whose blessing is intended for all humanity and therefore is a shared responsibility for all nations.
The third lesson we learn from Avraham and Eliezer's mission to locate a bride for Yitzchak is one that we have been taught from the very beginning: G-d creates and into G-d's creation He places man, not just another creation, but a partner in creation whose G-d given task is to perfect G-d's creation. This partnership, which began in earnest with Avraham, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the building of the Holy Temple, a House for G-d and a dwelling place for His presence in creation. G-d entrusted this crucial task entirely to Israel in the desert. When King Solomon received the assignment to build a Temple in Jerusalem, he, like Avraham, placed his trust in the children of other nations, in Solomon's case, the artisans of King Hiram, to assist in building G-d's house. G-d trusts in man. History shows us that when we trust in one another, the sky (and beyond) is the limit!
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