LET THE MAIDEN 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 OUR SERVANT ISAAC.

THEREBY SHALL I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE DEALT GRACIOUSLY WITH MY MASTER.

(Bereishit 24:14)

The Needs of Man and his Animals,

and the Quality of Mercy

Our

Sages derived from the passage And I shall

give grass in your fields for your animals (Devarim

1:15) that one must

feed his animals before he eats. Know that this applies only when there is no

danger or suffering, but should there be danger or pain,

one should attend to alleviation of his own suffering before feeding his

animals. When the man [Abraham's anonymous servant] requested, Please,

let me sip a little water the saintly girl sensed that he was thirsty and

suffering. Therefore she told him "Drink", and when she

estimated that she had given him enough to allay his suffering from thirst, When

camels etc." And the Torah says until they finish drinking – meaning

"I will not [water them] according to my estimate; I will water them and

not stop until I see that I set drink before them and they do not drink – this

will be the sign that they have finished."

(Or HaHayyim, Bereishit 24:19)

Dedicated to the memory of my mother

Upon the 34^th

anniversary of her passing.

New Leadership

for the People Israel

Devorah Greiniman

Both parashat Hayey

Sarah as well as its haftorah deal with an especially

timely topic: the passing of generations and the replacement of leadership. How

do these occur, and how are they best handled?

The parasha shows us how

generational leadership is passed from Sarah to her daughter-in-law Rebecca,

and from Abraham to his son Isaac, by means of Eliezer,

Abraham's loyal servant. The haftorah unfolds before

us the handing over of kingship from David to Solomon, by means of Nathan the

Prophet and Solomon's mother, Batsheva.

I shall begin with a question: if Abraham had already been

told of Rebecca's birth, and if, as we learn from Nahor's

genealogy in the end of parashat Vayeira,

she was the only girl in the family whose age and pedigree made her a proper

match for Isaac, why did Abraham not mention her name to his servant? Why did

Abraham merely tell him to bring a woman from the land of his birth

without relating the additional details known to him to his servant? After all,

it is clear to us that Eliezer was somewhat

apprehensive about his mission – he was not sure he would succeed at it.

Lacking that information, Eliezer

had to use his wits and intuition. He had to figure out what Abraham expected

from a daughter-in-law and the nature of Isaac's character. What woman could

fill Sarah's place as the lady of Abraham's house and be a wife to Isaac? These

considerations led him to concoct the "test" which allowed him to

discern at first sight the appropriate woman for the job: Let the maiden to

replies, "Drink, and I will also water your camels."

A simple request, but as several commentators noticed, it

was a test which uncovered several characteristics that were necessary for the

matriarch of the generation. As the Keli Yakar points out, Rebecca's reaction not only revealed

the kind of hospitality that was typical of and vital to Abraham's household. It

also demonstrated an open approach towards people, be they whomever they are (quoted

in Nehama Leibowitz,

Studies in the Book of Genesis, Hayey Sarah 3, note

1).

After all, she did not have any idea who Eliezer was.

In addition, she demonstrated physical strength, diligence, and stamina. Beyond

all these, as Isaac Abarbanel mentions, her manner of

speech was sensitive and courteous. Finally, her quick reaction and persistence

in fulfilling her offer to the weary traveler testify to an additional trait

which is emphasized by Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael Steinsaltz (see

his Nashim BaMikra,

Ministry of Defense, 1983, 4^th edition 1990, chapter 3): all of

Rebecca's actions show her decisiveness and her readiness to fully execute her

decisions. All of these characteristics are desirable in a potential leader.

I think that this analysis uncovers Abraham's intention in

not revealing the details of Rebecca's identity to his servant from the start. It

seems that he did not think that Rebecca's pedigree guarantied that she could

serve as a proper wife to his son and as the familial matriarch. He relied on Eliezer, his right-hand man, to act as his eyes. He relied

upon the wisdom of his trusted servant, and he was not disappointed. This shows

us an additional characteristic of the handing over of leadership from generation

to generation. In his twilight years, after serving as leader in the best

possible way, Abraham recognized his own infirmity and allowed others, people

who he had learned to trust for their wisdom and their loyalty to him and to

his God, to begin dealing with things in his place. He already foresaw a world

in which he would not be active. He did not merely adopt the rule that "no

man is indispensable" – he encouraged the development of the future

leadership.

Indeed, Eliezer managed to find a

bride for Isaac in a natural way, utilizing his understanding and experience. She

was fit for Isaac, whose personality was so different from that of Abraham,

while she also bore qualities similar to those of Abraham: hospitality,

industriousness, openness to the world, decisiveness, endless loyalty, and

preparedness to leave her homeland and her mother's house when called forth to

do so. Israel had gained a

valiant matriarch who influenced her own and future generations.

The story of King David's final days and the transfer of

kingship to Batsheva's son, Solomon is quite different from Abraham's story. Nevertheless, David

– by accepting the pleas of Batsheva and of the

always-candid prophet, Nathan – also demonstrated readiness to rely upon loyal

advisors, and avoided demanding that full authority remain in his hands alone.

Something additional may be learned from these two stories:

good leaders do not fall from the sky. Of course, it is important for potential

leaders to possess the qualities of inner strength, openness, and readiness to

work for the general good. However, it is equally important that they be

surrounded by people who take note of their talents and who will take the

initiative, out of loyalty and concern for the general good, to cultivate,

advance, and support those future leaders.

Each one of us is called upon to demonstrate some form of

leadership in his or her own life, but there are few people blessed with the

requisite talents to lead broader sections of society, and there are many who

lack such qualifications. More than once, we have heard grumbling regarding the

low quality of the national and state leadership. However, those leaders were

in fact chosen by the complaining bystanders themselves, i.e. we ourselves

choose the leaders. When their turn comes to exit the political stage, will our

leaders find the wisdom to leave aside their status and personal needs and

trust in the advice of those who understand the generation's call for a new

leadership? Will we be wise enough to recognize appropriately talented

candidates and work for their rise to leadership of the state and nation,

leaders able to direct the people securely towards the future? Will we find the

wisdom to simultaneously support those leaders while speaking truth to those in

power? At the end of the day, responsibility for the quality of our leaders

rests on the shoulders of each and every one of us.

Devorah Greniman is the managing editor of Nashim:

Issues and Associate Editor in the Publications Department of the Israel

Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She is also a writer and translator.

His

loving-kindness and His truth

What

love is in feelings, hessed – loving-kindness

– is in deeds, love translated into action. Truth is, to a certain extent,

a restricting, or at lease a limiting addition. Hessed

v’emet – loving-kindness

and truth is an act of love where the love does not run too close to

overlooking the truth. Human love is blind. It is inclined to accede to the

wishes of the beloved one without considering the true worth of these wishes. God's

love is hessed v’emet,

it only grants such wishes in which the truth is conserved, which truly do lead

to happiness. Thus with Jacob, the care for his burial in general is an act of hessed, the limitation, the observing the

condition but not in Egypt, is the emet. So, too, what the spies were to do by

Rehab was a hessed v’emet,

a conditional act of kindness. Truth is the spice, which guards the

loving-kindness, so that he not lose with his own

hands the main ingredient: the truth.

So perhaps here too. To see their children married

is the dearest wish of parents. If they try to accomplish it at all costs,

without consideration of the true essentials (if it is not with a girl with an Abrahamitic disposition, well then we will take one from Aner, Eshkol, or Mamreh, or from Aram) then they are

endeavoring to do hessed without emet. But Abraham wanted only hessed together with emet,

and both were granted to him by God.

(Rabbi Shimshon R. Hirsch,

Commentary on Bereishit 24:27, translated by Isaac

Levy)

You

shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt. Do not wrong

him with words, and do not oppress him… strangers are beloved, for everywhere

He calls them as He calls Israel: the Children of Israel were called servants,

as is written For it is to Me that the Israelites are servants and the

strangers were called servants, as is written, To love the name of the Lord,

to be servants unto Him …The Children of Israel were called "friends,"

as is written, And you, Israel, Jacob my servant, etc., the seed of Abraham

My friend and the strangers were also termed "friends," as is

written, And befriends the stranger …Abraham called himself an alien, as is written, I am a resident

alien among you; David called

himself an alien, as is written, I am an alien in the land and For

is like a shadow, with nothing in prospect, and it is written For like

all my forebears I am an alien, resident with You. Beloved are aliens, for

Abraham circumcised [himself] at the age of ninety nine years; had he done so

at age twenty or thirty, aliens would have been able to convert only if younger

than thirty, therefore the Omnipresent passed [the time] with him until he

reached ninety nine years, so as not to lock the door before the coming

converts, and in order to reward for the days and years, including reward for

doing His bidding, as is written, The Lord was pleased, because of his

righteousness, to render the Torah great and glorious.

(Mekhilta, Parashat

Mishpatim, Massekhet Nezikin, Parasha 18)

Is

It Permissible to Criticize the Actions of Tzaddikim?

Rabbi

Shmuel bar Nahmani said in

the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Three made improper

requests, two were answered properly, and one was answered improperly – Eliezer servant of Abraham, and Shaul

ben Kish, and Yiftach HaGiladi. Eliezer, servant of Abraham, as is written (Bereishit 24) May it be that the maiden to whom I

say: Pray lower your pitcher etc. Even if she were to be

crippled, even blind!? Nonetheless, he was answered properly, and

Rebecca appeared.

(Taanit 4a)

One

may not practice divination as do the idolaters, as is written You are not to practice divination. What is

divination? For example, those who say, "Because my bread fell from my

mouth or my staff from my hand, I will not go to such and such a place today

because if I do go, I will not succeed in my affairs" or "Because a

fox passed on my right, I will not leave my house today, for if I go out a

scoundrel will harm me." Or those who hear a bird chirp and say: "It

will be so and not so," "It will be advantageous to so and bad to do

otherwise," and those who say "Slaughter this chicken who crowed at

night", "Slaughter this hen who crowed like a rooster," and so

one who devises omens for himself, "If such and such will happen to me, I

will do so and so, and I will not be harmed," or "I will not do as Eliezer servant of Abraham," and all

similar cases, all this is forbidden, and whoever acts in accordance

with any of the above, is to be flogged.

(RaMBaM, Mishneh

Torah, Laws of Idol Worship 11:4)

Critique

"…and

so one who devises omens for himself, "If such and such will happen to me…"

Avraham (RA'aVaD) said:

This is a great mistake. This is permissible, yea, permissible. It is possible

that he (RaMBaM) was misled by what he read

"Every divination which is not like that of Eliezer

and Yehonatan is not considered divination," and

he construed this as constituting a prohibition, but such is not the case. This

is what was meant: One should not depend on this, and how could he attribute

this sin to such tzaddikim?! If they were

present, they would have conducted a pulsa d'nura (fiery lashes) against him.

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