🎤Kol-🐥Hayyah🐘 - קוֹל־חַיָּ֖ה
Hayyei Sarah 5779: Eliran Sobel (Program Associate of the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute)
Hayyei Sarah 5779: Eliran Sobel (Program Associate of the Shamayim V'Aretz Institute)
Shabbat Shalom Shamayim V’Aretz.
I want to start by asking you all a question - with what traits should we judge another person?
In this week’s Parashah, Parashat Hayyei Sarah, Abraham’s servant, who is midrashically understood to be ’Eli‘ezer, is given this exact task. Abraham was getting old, is preparing for his son’s future, and he asks his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. When ’Eli‘ezer goes out to find someone, he devises a test to see who among the women gathering water is the right match for Isaac. He prays to God, asking-
I want to start by asking you all a question - with what traits should we judge another person?
In this week’s Parashah, Parashat Hayyei Sarah, Abraham’s servant, who is midrashically understood to be ’Eli‘ezer, is given this exact task. Abraham was getting old, is preparing for his son’s future, and he asks his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. When ’Eli‘ezer goes out to find someone, he devises a test to see who among the women gathering water is the right match for Isaac. He prays to God, asking-
ה׳ אֱלֹקֵי֙ אֲדֹנִ֣י אַבְרָהָ֔ם הַקְרֵה־נָ֥א לְפָנַ֖י הַיּ֑וֹם וַעֲשֵׂה־חֶ֕סֶד עִ֖ם אֲדֹנִ֥י אַבְרָהָֽם׃ הִנֵּ֛ה אָנֹכִ֥י נִצָּ֖ב עַל־עֵ֣ין הַמָּ֑יִם וּבְנוֹת֙ אַנְשֵׁ֣י הָעִ֔יר יֹצְאֹ֖ת לִשְׁאֹ֥ב מָֽיִם׃ וְהָיָ֣ה הַֽנַּעֲרָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֨ר אֹמַ֤ר אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙ הַטִּי־נָ֤א כַדֵּךְ֙ וְאֶשְׁתֶּ֔ה וְאָמְרָ֣ה שְׁתֵ֔ה וְגַם־גְּמַלֶּ֖יךָ אַשְׁקֶ֑ה אֹתָ֤הּ הֹכַ֙חְתָּ֙ לְעַבְדְּךָ֣ לְיִצְחָ֔ק וּבָ֣הּ אֵדַ֔ע כִּי־עָשִׂ֥יתָ חֶ֖סֶד עִם־אֲדֹנִֽי׃ (חיי שרה, עליה ג׳).
“O Lᴏʀᴅ, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my master Abraham. Here I stand by the spring of the water, and the daughters of the townsmen are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, lower your jar that I may drink,’ and who replies, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’—let her be the one whom You have decreed for Your servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know that You have dealt graciously with my master” (Genesis 24:12-14).
On verse 14, the commentator Malbim writes that this was a test of her wisdom, since it would show she has the intuition that if he is asking for water, he cannot draw it himself, and she therefore needs her to help him. Malbim continues her thought process, “All the more so, he [’Eli‘ezer] doesn’t have the strength to draw water for the camels. Her good nature would be awakened within her heart and she’d have pity for the Tza‘ar Ba‘alei Hayyim [pain of the animals] and water them also.” This phrase, Tza‘ar Ba‘alei Hayyim is often translated as “cruelty to animals,” and the Talmud determines that it is a Biblical-level concern to prevent Tza‘ar Ba‘alei Hayyim (Bava’ Metzi‘a 32b). Furthermore, the Talmud teaches, “Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: One is prohibited from eating before feeding their animals, as it is stated [in Deuteronomy 11:15]: ‘And I will give grass in your fields for your animals’ first and only then: ‘And you shall eat and be satisfied’” (Berakhot 40a). This statement survives in Jewish law today, for the sake of having compassion for animals.
Immediately after ’Eli‘ezer proposes his test, Rebecca comes to the well, he performs his test, and she passes it perfectly. She pours him some water, and then, without being asked, offers to give water to all of his ten camels. The Etz Hayim Humash’s commentary points out, “A single camel (and here there were 10!) requires at least 25 gallons of water to regain the weight it loses in the course of a long journey.” This is to show that Rebecca’s kindness was so great that she was willing to draw 250 gallons of water without being asked. And once the camels finished their water, ’Eli‘ezer asks if he can stay overnight, and when Rebecca agrees, she makes sure to point out, “There is plenty of straw and feed at home, and also room to spend the night” (Genesis 24:25) confirming that everyone, both the humans and the animals, have the accommodations they need.
Going back to ’Eli‘ezer’s test prayer, Rashi, a medieval French commentator, writes, “She is worthy of him, for she will be a Gomelet Hasadim [one who perform acts of kindness], and she is fit to enter the house of Abraham.” The phrase Gomelet Hasadim is the adjective form of the noun Gemilut Hasadim, meaning acts of kindness. And in Pirqei ’Avot, a collection of wisdom teachings in the Talmud, we are taught,
שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק... הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים
“Shim‘on the Righteous… would say, ‘On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the Worship and on Acts of Kindness’” (Mishnah ’Avot 1:2).
So having such a kindness is one of the fundamental cores of a Jewishly-inspired life.
I hope this Shabbat we can all take at least a moment to recognize the kindness in everyone, whether we know them or not, and whether they are a human, a camel, a dog or a cat, or perhaps even a cow or a chicken. May we all have Rebecca’s intuition of kindness and be aware of the needs of everyone around us.
Shabbat Shalom.
So having such a kindness is one of the fundamental cores of a Jewishly-inspired life.
I hope this Shabbat we can all take at least a moment to recognize the kindness in everyone, whether we know them or not, and whether they are a human, a camel, a dog or a cat, or perhaps even a cow or a chicken. May we all have Rebecca’s intuition of kindness and be aware of the needs of everyone around us.
Shabbat Shalom.
Lieber, David L, and Jules Harlow. עץ חיים - Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2001. Print.
Scherman, Nosson, Hersh Goldwurm, Avie Gold, and Meir Zlotowitz. חמישה חומשי תורה: עם תרגום אונקלוס פרש״י הפטרות וחמש מגילות: The Chumash: The Stone Edition, The Torah, Haftaros and Five Megillos with a Commentary Anthologized from the Rabbinic Writings. Brooylyn, N.Y: Mesorah Publications, 1995. Print.
https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8219#showrashi=true
https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.40a?lang=bi
https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.24?lang=bi&aliyot=0
https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.1.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
http://www.shamayimvaretz.org/why-act.html
Scherman, Nosson, Hersh Goldwurm, Avie Gold, and Meir Zlotowitz. חמישה חומשי תורה: עם תרגום אונקלוס פרש״י הפטרות וחמש מגילות: The Chumash: The Stone Edition, The Torah, Haftaros and Five Megillos with a Commentary Anthologized from the Rabbinic Writings. Brooylyn, N.Y: Mesorah Publications, 1995. Print.
https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8219#showrashi=true
https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.40a?lang=bi
https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.24?lang=bi&aliyot=0
https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.1.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
http://www.shamayimvaretz.org/why-act.html