Bereishit 24:16
וַתֵּרֶד הָעַיְנָה וַתְּמַלֵּא כַדָּהּ וַתָּעַל
vatered ha'aynah vatemale chadah vata'al
She descended to the well, filled her jug, and she came up.
The crucial words "she drew water," is missing from this verse. On the second occasion when Rivkah again descended (v20) to provide water for Eliezer's camels the Torah does insert the words, "she ran to the well once more in order to draw water; she drew water..." These fine differences in the text prompted Chazal in Bereishit Rabbah 60:6 to say: "all the women go down to the well to fill (their jugs). This one - as soon as the waters saw her they rose up to meet her." G-d said to her, "Just as the waters have seen fit to rise in your honor so other waters will rise in homor of your children." The reference is to "then the Benei Yisrael broke out in son, 'Rise up, O well, - sing to it...'" (BaMidbar 21:17).
The also explains the unusual verse 17, "the servant ran towards her..." As soon as Eliezer had noticed the strange phenomenon that the waters rose to meet this girl (v16) he hastened to meet her.
Here we encounter for the first time that the 72-lettered version of the 4-lettered Ineffable Name is alluded to. The first letters in the words כַדָּהּ וַתָּעַל (chadah vata'al) spell 26 in numerical value. The numerical value of the 4-lettered Ineffable Name י-ה-ו-ה when spelled in letters only equals 26. When these four letters are spelled out as words, i.e. יוד הי ויו הי (yod-hei-vav-hei), the result is 72. Such permutations of the Holy Name of G-d exert their influence on water and the waters whch responded to the arrival of Rivkah did so as a result of being sensitive to such considerations. At a later time, when the Benei Yisrael were on the edge of the sea of Reeds the water was able to rise in the form of walls to let the Benei Yisrael pass through in response to Moshe's staff which had this Name of G-d (72 letters) inscribed on it. A similar consideration enabled Moshe to strick the rock and to bring forth water from it (Shemot 17:6). (Targum Yonatan on Shemot 14:21).
24:19
וַתֹּאמֶר גַּם לִגְמַלֶּיךָ אֶשְׁאָב
vatomer gam ligmaleicha esh'av
She said, "I will also draw water for your camels."
The physical strength required for Rivkah to draw water for all of Eliezer's camels could only be explained if she enjoyed divine assistance. This is all the more so if we accept the opinion of Chazal in the Seder Olam that at that time was only three years old. The whole matter can be viewed only as part of the success of which Avraham had assured Eliezer at the outset when he told him, "He will send His angel ahead of you and make your mission successful." (24:7) This is the reason you find an allusion to G-d's great Name in this verse the Name which was discussed in the privious paragraph. The fact that the letter ג (gimel) in the word גמליך has a dagesh is additional evidence of an allusion to the attribute gevurah being involved in what transpired at this well.
24:22
וַיִּקַּח הָאִישׁ נֶזֶם זָהָב בֶּקַע מִשְׁקָלוֹ-וּשְׁנֵי צְמִידִים
vayikach ha'ish nezem zahav beka mishkalo usneh tsmidim
the man took a golden nose-ring weighing a beka and two bracelets...
Why did the Torah need to tell us the weight of these pieces of jewelry? We are dealing with an allusion to the fact that eventually Rivkah's descendants, i.e. the generation who would contribute to the building of the Mishkan in terms of shekalim. In Shemot 35:26 the Torah speaks of the weight of these shekalim also in terms of one "beka per person." When the Jewish people received the two Tablets with the Ten Commandments you will find that these comprised 172 words. This corresponds to what we read here וּשְׁנֵי צְמִידִים עַל-יָדֶיהָ עֲשָׂרָה זָהָב מִשְׁקָלָם (usneh tzmidim al-yadeiha asarah zahav mishkalam) "and two bracelets for arms, weighing ten gold shekel." The words עֲשָׂרָה זָהָב (asarah zahav - ten gold) are an allusion to the Ten Commandments. The word שקל (shekel) is seen as an acronym describing קול אש (kol esh - voice of fire), i.e.. the ingredients most prominent during the revelation of G-d at Mount Sinai.. We are told that on that occasion "from the Heavens he let you hear His powerful voice, and on earth He showed you His great fire" (Devarim 4:36). This also leads us to examine the amount of shekels offered by Haman (יש״ו) in order to secure permission from King Achashverosh to do to the Jewish people as he saw fit. He offered 10,000 talents of silver, or 600,000 shekels. (Ester 3:9) It was his plant to neutralize the 600,000 shekels the Benei Yisrael had contributed at the time for the sockets of the Holy Mishkan and to deprive them of any merit they might have accumulated due to that donation. In short, Haman (יש״ו) wanted to neutralize the accumulated merit of the people who had ebraced the Torah at Mount Sinai. He wanted to annul what had been acqquired with fire and sound. This is what has been hinted at here in Eliezer's payer (v27) when he said, "I was on the way when G-d guided me.." He meant that the merit of the אָנֹכִי (anochi - I AM) which the Jewish people would accept in the future was active on his behalf at the time he stood by the well. All the details of what was happening with Rivkah at this time foreshadowed events of the future involvoing her offspring. Similarly, all that happened to the servant of Avraham on this mission foreshadowed events in Jewish history of the future when that people was in the desert.
Just as an angel had been at his side through the efficacy of Avraham's prayer who had said that "G-d will send His angel ahead," so it happened to Avraham's descendants in the desert. Seeing that the angel in question was not a regular natural phenomenon but one of the disembodied spiritual creatures, so the angel who accompanied the Jewish people was such a disembodied spiritual force who had been emanated by the merit of Avraham. This was whom the Torah had in mind when it quoted G-d as telling Moshe in Shemot 23:20 "Here I am about to send an angel ahead of you." Just as Avraham in this chapter referred to this divine force as מַלְאָכוֹ (malacho) "His angel," so G-d referred to the same divine force as מַלְאָכִי (malachi) "My angel," and not just any malach (angel) (Shemot 23:23). Just as the waters had risen towards Rivkah, so the waters rose towards her "children" in the desert as explained before. The servant also alluded to such future developments when presenting her with the jewelry mentioned in this chapter. This mission was carried out by a trusted servant, i.e. Eliezer. The Jewish people in the desert were led by G-d's trusted servant Moshe. When the Torah wrote in this chapter that Eliezer had been equipped with all the "good" of his master Avraham, the Torah, in a parallel reference, tells us that G-d equipped Moshe for his task by equipping him with all "His goodness." This is what is meant by Shemot 33:19 "I will let all My goodness pass before you." Just as Eliezer gave gifts to Rivkah not only at the well but also in her father's house (v53), so the Jewish people who received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai again receied the gift of a covenant shortly before they entered the Holy Land (Devarim 28:69). At that time many commandments were applicalbe in Eretz Yisrael were revealed for the first time in detail. This reflects the statement of Chazal in Gittin 60 that, "the Torah was given to the Jewish people in individual scrolls." Chazal meant that although Moshe had receied all 613 mitzvot while he was on Mount Sinai in the first year of their wanderings, he did not teach all of these commandments to the people at once. Just as the story of Rivkah and Eliezer at the well has been repeated in the Torah and the srvant relates all that happened to him at the well, so Moshe repeated many parts of the events the jewish people experienced during their trek through the desert once more in Sefer Devarim. Also, the Jewish people received both the first and the second set of Tables.
24:62
וְיִצְחָק בָּא מִבּוֹא בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי
VeYitzchak ba mibo Be'er Lachai Ro'i
and Yitzchak was in the process of coming from Be'er lachai Ro'i.
The plain meaning of the text is precisely what Chazal wrote in Bereishit Rabbah 60:14 in answer to the rhetorical question where Yitzchak was coming from, that he came to bring Hagar who dwelled near the well mentioned in order for her to become the wife of his father. Hagar had named this well to acknowledge that G-d had seen her disgrace and had helped her regain her dignity.
This verse and the words בָּא מִבּוֹא (ba mibo - coming from) may be a reference to the spiritual equivalent of the Jewish people, i.e Mount Moriah. Yitzchak had only now returned from a three day stay at the holy site. He had been shown by G-d that this was the spiritual well of the Jewish people, the source from which they receive the water, i.e. Torah, which keeps them alive. During all this time when Yitzchak had lived in solitude his whole thinking had concentrated on the concept and eventual realization of what the Jewish people are suppose to stand for in G-d's scheme of things. The words בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי (from Be'er lachai Ro'i) support our interpretation as otherwise the Torah should have written ב-באר לחי רואי "at the well of Lachai Ro'i."
24:63
לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה
lasuach basadeh
to meditate in the field.
According to both Ibn Ezra and David Kimchi these words mean, "to stroll among the shrubs." Yitzchak had gone for a stroll to enjoy nature.
A Midrashic interpretation based on Bereishit Rabbah 60:14. Teh word לָשׂוּחַ (lasuach) which means "to pray" as it does in all instances where it occurs. Well know examples are Tehillim 102:1 "A prayer of the lowly man when he is faint and pours forth his plea before HASHEM." Chazal in Berachot 26 have derived their view that Yitzchak inaugurated the daily Minchah prayer from this verse.
A Kabbalistic approach is that the words לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה (lasuach basadeh) teach that when someone prays to the One and Only G-d he employs a kinuy "a pronoun" of G-d's Name. In other words, one is not to enunciate the four-lettered Name of G-d י-ה-ו-ה. Having used a substitute Name for G-d, out of reverence for the "real" Name, one will "Find" G-d. This is the mystical dimension of the words לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה. There is something similar with Yaakov in Bereishit 28:11 where the Torah describes such a prayer as occurring in the evening וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקוֹם (vayifga bamakom), the word "bamakom" being the substitute for the real Name of G-d. We employ this substitute in the Haggadah of Pesach when we recite ברוך המקום (Baruch HaMakom), meaning "blessed be HASHEM." Whenever the verb פגע appears it occurs with the preposition ב such as in Yirmeyahu 7:16, or in Iyov 21:15. All the activities of G-d are ascribed to such substitute Names, כנויים (kinuyim), when they are still in the theoretical stage, whereas they are ascribed to the "real" Name of G-d when they have reached the operative stage. We find confirmation of this in Yirmeyahu 8:14 "for HASHEM our G-d has doomed us, He has made us drink a bitter draft, for we have sinned against G-d." Significantly, the verse does not end with "for we have sinned against Him," as we would have expected but the Prophet says "against HASHEM." This means that up until the moment G-d actually executed His judgment on us, a "substitute" Attribute rather than His Essence was involved. It is worth reflecting on this.
24:64
וַתִּפֹּל מֵעַל הַגָּמָל
vatipol me'al hagamal
she fell off the camel.
Rivkah did not "fall" off the camel she was riding on when she saw Yitzchak; rather, she inclined her head as one does prior to falling off an animal. This interpretation is supported by the choice of the word מעל in this verse. Had she really fallen off, the Torah would have written "ותפול מהגמל." This is also why Onkelos translates these words as ואתרכנית, the same expression he used when he translated what Eliezer was going to say to Rivkah at the well, where the Torah wrote "please incline your jug" (24:14). There is a similar example in 2Melachim 5:21 where Yirmeyahu wrote of Naaman, "when Naaman saw him (Gechazi) run after him, 'he fell' from the chariot toward him.." There too the meaning clearly is not that the general Naaman literally fell out of his chariot because he saw Gechazi running. The meaning is that he bent down, inquiring why Gechazi had run after him, etc.
Ibn Ezra interperts וַתִּפֹּל (vaatipol) literaally, adding that she fell down deliberately, i.e. on her face and prostrated herself. It is similar to BaMidbar 16:4 where it says of Moshe "'he fell' on his face." Moshe did not fall against his will but he prostrated himself deliberately. when the Torah here continues with וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל-הָעֶבֶד (vatomer el-ha'eved) "she said to the servant," we must understand this as what she said prior to prostrating herself.
24:67
וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ
Vayevi'eha Yitzchak ha'ohelah Sarah imo
Yitzchak brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah.
Here the Torah first refers to Rivkah merely with the pronoun "her," whereas when the same verse continues to report that Yitzchak married Rivkah she is mentioned by name. The normal procedure should have been to mention Rivkah by name at the beginning of the verse and to refer to her by pronoun when she becomes the subject again in the same verse. Why did the Torah depart from the norm? Perhaps the underlying consideration was to mention Sarah first as she had been her predecessor in that tent and Rivkah had only been born after Sarah had already died and Betu'el had fathered Rivkah (22:23). At that juncture the Torah had seen fit to report Sarah's death (23:20 which meant that at the time Yitzchak was bound Sarah had already died. Bereishit Rabbah 55:4 said that Yitzchak was 37 years old at that time and that when Sarah heard what was going to happen to him (the Akeidah) her soul departed and she died. The Torah itself testifies that Yitzchak was 40 years old when he married Rivkah (25:20), which makes Rivkah 3 years old when she was married. Keeping all this in mind explains why the Torah first spoke only about Yitzchak bringing Rivkah into the tent of his mother Sarah as at that tender age she was not yet a real soul mate for him. Yitzchak's love for Rivkah was kindled when he observed how perfectly she filled the role of his mother Sarah had fulfilled in her tent. At that point, Yitzchak felt ready to complete the proceedings of marriage, i.e. "Yitzchak married Rivkah and she became a real wife for him."
וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ
vayinachem Yitzchak acharei imo
he comforted himself over the loss of his mother.
Yitzchak did not accept the condolences of his peers for the loss of his mother until he was able to console himself with Rivkah. The words, "Yitzchak brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah," teach that if someone's wife dies and he had grown up children from her he should not remarry until he married off his children first. Having done so, he should remarry. The Midrash derives all this from the sequence of what the Torah tells us here about the conduct of Avraham who waited with remarrying until after Yitzchak had a home of his own.
May HASHEM continue to enlighten us with the Light of His Torah.
-Chazal
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