Parshat Chayei Sarah- Eliezer meets Rebecca
by Rabbi Lobel

Abraham appoints his most trusted servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Eliezer has sworn to not choose a woman from the land of Canaan but rather to travel to Abraham's birthplace to find a proper spouse for Isaac.

Another condition facing Eliezer, under his oath, was that Isaac's future wife must return with him to the land of Canaan. Eliezer accepted the oath and was set to travel to Aram Naharaim, the city of Nachor , where Abraham's forefathers had dwelled and where his nephew, Besuel, son of Nachor, currently resided.

Eliezer, after reaching the outskirts of the city, seated himself at the well of water and prayed to G-d (verse 20:14) "let it be that the maiden to whom I shall say `please tip your jug so I may drink,` and who replies, `drink and I will even water your camels,' You (G-d) will have chosen her for your servant, for Isaac; and may I know through her that You have done kindness for your master." The next verse continues (20:15) "And it was when he had not yet finished speaking that suddenly Rebecca... was coming with her jug upon her shoulder." The maiden was fine in her appearance and Eliezer asked her for water to drink. When he was finished, Rebecca offered his camels to drink. The posuk testifies that Eliezer was astonished by the fact that, as soon as he finished praying for the proper sign to recognize Isaac's spouse, G-d delivered. After the camels were watered, Eliezer immediately, before asking Rebecca for her name, gave her a golden nose ring and two golden bracelets. Only afterwards did Eliezer ask Rebecca what is her name, who is her family, and if there was a place for him to rest that night.

After meeting her family, including Besuel, her father, and Lavan, her brother, Eliezer introduces himself as Abraham's servant, explains the purpose of his trip, and describes how he met Rebecca. However, there seems to be a variation in his retelling of the story from what actually happened. In the posuk (24:47), Eliezer says, "then I questioned her and said `whose daughter are you?` and she said, `the daughter of Besuel son of Nachur`... and I placed the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her hands." It seems as though Eliezer reversed the order from what actually happened; first he gave her the gifts and then he asked Rebecca for her name. Rashi comments (24:47) that this was done so that Besuel and Lavan would not "catch Eliezer by his words." It would seem somewhat ludicrous to give a maiden gifts without first asking for her name.

To understand the situation, we must first recognize that Eliezer had true "bitachon", trust in G-d. As soon as he saw the sign for which he prayed, he realized that he was successful in finding the proper spouse for Isaac. Eliezer simply did not need any more information. However, when he related the story to Besuel, he could not tell it over in the same fashion. Besuel did not possess such lofty levels of bitachon and would therefore not be able to relate to such actions; not only that, but he would regard Eliezer as being foolish in not verifying who Rebecca was before giving her the gifts. This in turn might have ultimately swayed Besuel's decision in allowing Rebecca to return with Eliezer. We see a tremendous understanding in a person's thinking. Besuel, not having Eliezer's level of bitachon, would automatically project his common understandings upon Eliezer. In other words, Besuel possessed a certain understanding of how one acts in certain situations and would presume that if one does not abide by that standard code of conduct there must be something wrong with that individual. So too with Eliezer, the common practice would have been to first ask Rebecca her name. However, Eliezer achieved tremendous levels of Bitachon and after seeing the sign from G-d, it was all the information he needed to choose a wife for Isaac. It was therefore necessary for Eliezer to recount the story with that variation.

Besuel's faults, his lack of bitachon, would have rendered Eliezer's actions as unbelievable. It is common practice for people to project one's faults on another individual. This is what Besuel would have done if he had been told the true story.