פרשת חיי שרה תש"ו - לקיחת רבקה לאשה ליצחק

על שמאל TO THE LEFT — to take a wife of the daughters of Lot who dwelt at the left of Abraham (Genesis Rabbah 60:9).

ויען לבן ובתואל THEN LABAN AND BETHUEL ANSWERED —He (Laban) was a wicked person and so rushed in to answer before his father.

לא נוכל דבר אליך WE CANNOT SPEAK UNTO THEE — refusing this proposition either by answering you with unpleasant words (i. e. a flat refusal) or by giving you a reasoned reply, for it is evident that the matter proceedeth from the Lord since, according to your statement, He brought her and you together.

וישתחו ארצה HE PROSTRATED HIMSELF — From this we may learn that we should thank God for good news (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).

ימים (literally, days) means a year — just as (Leviticus 25:29) “For a whole year (ימים) shall he have the right of redemption” — for the custom was to give a maiden twelve months to provide herself with a trousseau (literally, ornaments) (Genesis Rabbah 60:12).

But have me in thy remembrance when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.

ותאמר אלך AND SHE SAID, I WILL GO — of my own accord even though you do not consent (Genesis Rabbah 60:12).

את היי לאלפי רבבה MAYEST THOU BECOME THOUSANDS OF MYRIADS —May you and your seed receive that blessing which was promised to Abraham on Mount Moriah, (Genesis 22:17) “I will greatly multiply thy seed … [and let thy seed possess the gates of their enemies]”. May it be God’s will that that seed may proceed from you and not from another woman”.

Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the LORD hath spoken.’

As Hashem has spoken. Hashem declares who a person will marry and in this case He has given a clear sign of what He has decreed.

This is what the LORD meant when He said: Where had He spoken this? In the statement (Exodus 29:43), “And there I will be met by the children of Israel and it (the Tabernacle) shall be sanctified by My glory (בכבודי).” Read not here בִכְבוֹדִי, “by My Glory” but בִּמְכֻבָּדַי, “through My honoured ones” (Zevachim 115b). Moses here said to Aaron: “My brother, Aaron! I knew that this House was to be sanctified by those who are beloved of the Omnipresent God and I thought it would be either through me or through thee; now I see that these (thy sons who have died) are greater than me and than thee!” (Leviticus Rabbah 12 2). these are [the words] of Rashi from a midrash of our Rabbis. But if so, its understanding would be [as if the words stated], "and I will be sanctified by My glory," such that I will be holy in the eyes of all of the people and of My honored ones." And [R. Ibn Ezra] also said, "'This is what God has told me' - God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage 'You only have I known…' (Amos 3:2) [etc.," as in the citation above].Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.” But if so, it was told, but not written down [in the Torah] - that God informed him of His ways, that this trait of His is like this. And in my opinion, according to the plain-sense, there is no need for all this because God "said" God's decrees, and thoughts, and the matter of God's ways. And this "speech" is entirely "I said to myself," (Ecclesiastes 1:16) i.e. "I thought this." "This is the reason why Joshua had the circumcision performed." (Joshua 5:4) This is the matter of "because of the money." (Genesis 43:18) And so to, "and let her be a wife to your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken." (Genesis 24:51) And similarly, "He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set its gates in place at the cost of Segub his youngest, in accordance with the words that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun." (1 Kings 16:34) So behold, really Moses said in this verse was: "This is what the LORD meant when He said to Himself, through those near to Me I show Myself holy so that my holiness will not be ruined and I will gain glory before all the people so that they will behave respectfully in my Tabernacle. And the reason that Aaron was silent was that he was crying loudly and fell silent.

כי אתה תבוא את העם הזה — Translate this as the Targum does: ארי אתה תעול עם עמא הדין, THOU SHALT GO WITH THIS PEOPLE. Moses, by the statement “Thou shall go with this people” (as one of them) said in effect to Joshua: The elders of the generation will be with thee: everything has to be done according to their opinion and their advice. The Holy One, blessed be He, however, said to Joshua, (v. 23) “For thou shalt bring (תביא) the children of Israel into the land which I swore unto them” — thou shalt bring them even against their will; everything depends on you alone: if necessary take a stick and beat them over the head: there can be but one leader for a generation, and not two leaders for a generation (Sanhedrin 8a).