Rabbi Stephen Weiss
Hayyei Sarah
Following the death of Sarah, Abraham sends his servant Eliezer back to the land from which Abraham had come – Aram Naharayim – to find a wife for his son Isaac. In that land, Eliezer ends up stopping in the city of Nahor to water his camels. It is evening, and he sees women coming out to the well to draw water. There he prayed to God, asking for a sign that would indicate who his mater’s son should marry. He would ask a woman to allow him to drink from their jar. The one who replies “Drink, and I will also draw water for your camels” would be the woman God had chosen to marry Isaac.
Eliezer had barely finished his prayer when he saw Rebecca who “went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up. The servant [Eliezer] ran toward her” and asked for a sip of her water. She gave him water to drink and then said that she would draw water for his camels. “She ran back to the well to draw, and she drew water for all his camels.”
The clear message here is that the quality which Eliezer sought in a bride for his master’s son was kindness to all of God’s creatures. But there is another message hidden here as well.
Rashi notes that when Eliezer sees Rebecca, he runs to her. Why? “Because he saw the water rise to greet her.” He saw that Rebecca did not have to exert herself to lower the bucket and draw water. Seeing this, Eliezer understood that there was something special about this woman.
But if the waters rose to the top of the well for Rebecca the first time, why – when she returned to fetch water for Eliezer’s camels – did she need to lower her bucket and draw the water?
Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev derives from this a great teaching: He notes that when Rebecca went to the well to draw water for herself, the waters rose in her honor. In contrast, it is when she went to draw water for Eliezer that the waters did not rise, and she had to exert effort. The difference? The first time she was drawing water for herself. The second time she was drawing water to perform an act of hachnasat orchim – hospitality — for someone else.
From this Rabbi Levi Yitzhak learns that performing mitzvot and showing kindness is not always easy. It takes effort and determination on our part. Indeed, it often seems easier to do things for our own benefit, to secure our material well-being, honor, comfort and convenience. Following mitzvot and looking out for others, on the other hand, often requires risk taking and sacrifice on our part. There are no guarantees that the “waters will rise,” that it will be easy, or we will benefit. More often we must make the effort to exert ourselves and place others’ benefit before our own. Like Rebecca, whether easy or hard, we should “do the right thing.”