“Now Avraham was old, he came with his days”(24:1)
“Now Avraham was old, he came with his days” (24:1)
There is an idea here expressed by many commentaries that when the verse says that Avraham came with all his days, we learn that not one day in Avraham’s life was wasted. Each and every day he accomplished something. (Maayanah Shel Torah)
Each day is an entirely new and different experience from any other. Yesterday you may have done a lot, but you still must try to accomplish something today. At the end of each day, you should ask yourself, “What have I accomplished today?” Every day is a “new day”, another opportunity to do something great! (Rav Zelig Plisken)
“The man was astonished at her…” (24:21)
When Eliezer was seeking out a Shidduch (a match) for his master’s son, Yitzchok, he encountered Rivka at the well. When describing Eliezer’s reaction upon seeing her the verse (24:21) says he was shocked and astonished. We can understand why Eliezer was elated at the prospect of fulfilling his mission but why such a strong reaction of shock and astonishment?
The Redak and Seforno explain that Eliezer was incredulous when he saw how diligent and alacritous Rivka was to perform kindness. (Continued on page 2) Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlit”a explains further: Perhaps the explanation is that the Torah uses the exact same words for “running” and “rushing” when Rivka was serving Eliezer and the camels, as it did for Avraham when he ran and rushed to serve his guests.
For Eliezer to see the exact same behavior from Rivka that he saw in his master’s house was so uncanny that it led him to stand in shock and awe. We can also suggest that it is clear from the fact that the Torah employed the exact same terminology that the Shidduch of Rivka was clearly a reward for Avraham’s performance of Chesed (kindness) almost four decades earlier.
The Gematria (numerical value) of וירץ (“and he ran”) is 306, the same numerical value as דבש, honey. This is to teach us that one should run to do Chesed and pursue it with sweetness and joy.
