 NOVEMBER 12 • 2020 | 27

SPIRIT

A True and
Faithful Servant
T

his portion deals with 
the death and burial of 
Sarah and with the selec-
tion of a wife for her son, Isaac.
The connection is clear: A 
bereft Abraham understands 
the responsibility that lies before 
him to find a suitable 
mate for his heir to the 
covenant. For this task, 
he chooses his trusted 
servant, Eliezer.
Eliezer demonstrates 
understanding of what 
is required. He knows 
that the woman must 
be a member of the 
Abrahamic family 
(Rebekah is the grand-
daughter of Abraham’
s 
brother, Nahor), and 
must not dwell among the evil 
Canaanites. He further under-
stands that she must be willing 
to live with Isaac in Abraham’
s 
domain rather than with her 
family. Most of all, he under-
stands Isaac’
s bride must have 
the character of Abrahamic 
hospitality, to the extent that 
she will not only draw water 
for him, the messenger, but will 
also draw water for his camels. 
Eliezer arranges a match that 
will determine the destiny of 
God’
s covenantal nation with 
wisdom, tact and sensitivity.
Rabbi Moshe Besdin saw 
Eliezer’
s mission this way: 
All the bounty and goodness 
that had been expressed by 
Abraham was now placed in 
the hands of his most trusted 
servant because the future of 
Abraham was dependent upon 
Isaac, and the future of Isaac 
depended on his future wife.
Throughout this tale, Eliezer’
s 
name is not mentioned. He is 
referred to as eved (the servant) 

10 times and as ish (the person-
age) seven times, but never once 
by his name.
Wouldn’
t such an important 
individual on such a significant 
mission deserve to have his 
name mentioned for everyone 
to remember? I believe 
that is the point of the 
biblical record. Eliezer is 
committed to performing 
an act that will determine 
the continuity of the 
Abrahamic vision; he is 
the consummate servant 
of Abraham, using all of 
his wisdom and ingenuity 
to carry out his master’
s 
will. 
Zev Wolfson immigrat-
ed to the United States as 
a refugee from a Siberian prison 
camp. He took responsibility 
for his mother and brother in 
America, and he was one of the 
most brilliant people I ever met. 
He mastered the stock market 
and real estate and navigated 
halls of influence and power. 
All of these were channeled 
into creating learning institu-
tions for Torah and strengthen-
ing Israel.
He was a crucial figure in 
Congress, reducing Israel’
s loan 
obligations and sending Patriot 
missile batteries to Israel just 
before the Gulf War.
He was probably the greatest 
builder of Torah institutions in 
the history of the world. Despite 
this, not one building, class-
room or project bears his name. 
He was a servant of the Lord 
who lived selflessly and modest-
ly for the sake of his mission.
He was truly Eliezer. 

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor 

of Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of 

Efrat, Israel.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Shlomo 

Riskin

Parshat 

Chaye Sara: 

Genesis

23:1-25:18;

I Kings 1:1-31.

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