Tiferet Shalom Zoom-Chayei Sarah-Eliezer

(2) But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, seeing that I shall die childless, and the one in charge of my household is Dammesek Eliezer!”(3) Abram said further, “Since You have granted me no offspring, my steward will be my heir.”

Eliezer, servant of Abraham, was an Elder and sat in yeshiva, as it is stated: “And Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household, who ruled over all he had” (Genesis 24:2). Rabbi Elazar said: The verse means that he had mastery over the Torah of his master, having gained proficiency in all of the Torah of Abraham. That is the meaning of the verse: “He is Damascus [Dammesek] Eliezer” (Genesis 15:2). Rabbi Elazar said: The word Dammesek is a contraction of he who draws [doleh] and gives drink [mashke] to others from his master’s Torah.

(13) The steward of Abraham's household was his servant Eliezer, and whence was his servant? When (Abraham) went forth from Ur of the Chaldees all the magnates of the kingdom came to give him gifts; and Nimrod took his first-born (son) Eliezer and gave him to (Abraham) as a perpetual slave.

(14) When (Eliezer had thus) dealt kindly with Isaac, he set him free, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him his reward in this world, so that there should not be a reward for the wicked in the world to come; and He raised him to kingship, and he is Og, king of Bashan.

(14) When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

(1) וירק Its meaning is as the Targum takes it: “he girded”. Similar are (Leviticus 24:33) “And I will gird myself (והריקותי) with the sword against you", and (Exodus 15:9) “I will gird on (אריק) my sword”, and (Psalms 35:3) “Gird thyself (הרק) with the spear and battle axe”.(2) חניכיו HIS TRAINED SERVANTS — The word is written without a י (after the כ) so it may be read חניכו “his trained one”, referring to Eliezer whom he had trained to the observance of religious duties. The word חנך signifies introducing a person or a thing, for the first time, to some particular occupation in which it is intended that he should remain (i. e. to dedicate or devote to some particular purpose). It has a similar sense in (Proverbs 22:6) “Train up (חנוך) a child”, and in (Numbers 7:84) חנוכת המזבח “the dedication of the altar”, and (Psalms 30:1) “The dedication (חנוכת) of the house” In old French enseigner; English: to teach, instruct.(3) 'שמנה עשר וגו THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN — Our Rabbis said, “It was Eliezer alone whom he armed and it (318) is the numerical value of his name” (Nedarim 32a).(4) עד רן AS FAR AS DAN — There his strength failed him for he saw prophetically that at some future time his descendants would there erect a calf (Sanhedrin 96a).

The Torah states that he took “eighteen and three hundred” (Genesis 14:14) men to war. Rabbi Ami bar Abba said: Eliezer was equivalent to all of them. There are those who say: Only Eliezer is referred to here, as the numerical value of the letters of his name is this amount, i.e., 318.

(1) וירק את חניכיו, “he mobilised all those whom he had trained;” Avraham told all these men that they were about to go to war and if someone was afraid for his life due to sins he had committed, he was free to go back home. (Deuteronomy 20,8) When they heard this, they all decided to return to their homes, with the exception of his loyal servant Eliezer. G–d told Avraham not to worry and to let them go home, as He would empower Eliezer to possess as much power as all these men had possessed combined. The numerical value of the letters in the name אליעזר total 318, and that is why the Torah described his ”army” as consisting of 318 men. In addition, we have two interpretations of the Talmud scholars Rav and Sh’muel, respectively, the former saying that the word וירק in our verse refers to “pouring words of Torah into these potential soldiers, whereas Sh’muel says that he overcame their fears by giving them large quantities of gold. (same folio in the Talmud) His objective was to instill in these men the will to save as many lives as possible, not to fight for the sake of the loot they might capture by killing fellow human beings.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and set out, taking with him all the bounty of his master; and he made his way to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city, at evening time, the time when women come out to draw water. And he said, “O ETERNAL, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my master Abraham: Here I stand by the spring as the daughters of the townsmen come out to draw water; 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 Your servant Isaac. Thereby shall I know that You have dealt graciously with my master.” He had scarcely finished speaking, when Rebekah, who was born to Betuel, the son of Milcah the wife of Abraham’s brother Nachor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

How Isaac Took Rebeka To Wife.
1. Now when Abraham, the father of Isaac, had resolved to take Rebeka, who was grand-daughter to his brother Nahor, for a wife to his son Isaac, who was then about forty years old, he sent the ancientest of his servants to betroth her, after he had obliged him to give him the strongest assurances of his fidelity; which assurances were given after the manner following : - They put each other's hands under each other's thighs; then they called upon God as the witness of what was to be done. He also sent such presents to those that were there as were in esteem, on account that that they either rarely or never were seen in that country, The servant got thither not under a considerable time; for it requires much time to pass through Meopotamia, in which it is tedious traveling, both in the winter for the depth of the clay, and in summer for want of water; and, besides this, for the robberies there committed, which are not to be avoided by travelers but by caution beforehand. However, the servant came to Haran; and when he was in the suburbs, he met a con siderable number of maidens going to the water; he therefore prayed to God that Rebeka might be found among them, or her whom Abraham sent him as his servant to espouse to his son, in case his will were that this marriage should be consummated, and that she might be made known to him by the sign, That while others denied him water to drink, she might give it him.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Three people entreated God in an unreasonable manner. To two of them God responded reasonably, and to one God responded unreasonably. And they are: Eliezer, servant of Abraham; Saul, son of Kish; and Jephthah the Gileadite.Eliezer, servant of Abraham,as it is written: “That the maiden to whom I shall say: Please let down your pitcher” (Genesis 24:14). Eliezer entreated God unreasonably, as his request allowed for the possibility that she might even be lame or even blind, and yet he had promised to take her to Isaac. Nevertheless, God responded to him reasonably andRebecca happened to come to him.Saul, son of Kish, he made an offer when Goliath the Philistine challenged the Israelites, as it is written: “And it shall be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter” (I Samuel 17:25). The man who killed Goliath might even have been a slave or a mamzer. Nevertheless, God responded to him reasonably and David happened to come to him.Yiftach the Gileadite, as it is written: “Then it shall be that whatever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace…it shall be to the Lord and I will bring it up for a burnt-offering” (Judges 11:31). This might even have been an impure, non-kosher animal. In this instance, God responded to him unreasonably, and his daughter happened to come to him.

And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not follow me?’

(1) אלי לא תלך האשה PERADVENTURE THE WOMAN WILL NOT FOLLOW ME —The word אולי perhaps is written without ו so that it may be read אֵלַי unto me. Eliezer had a daughter and he was endeavouring to find some reason why Abraham should say that he must appeal to him (Eliezer) that he should give his daughter in marriage to Isaac. Abraham said to him, “My son is blessed and you are subject to a curse. One who is under a curse cannot unite with one who is blessed” (Genesis Rabbah 59:9).

(6) From Kirjath || Arba unto Haran was a journey of seventeen days; and in three hours the servant came to Haran. He was astonished in his mind and he said: This day I went forth, and this day I arrived, as it is said, "And I came this day unto the fountain" (Gen. 24:42).(7) Rabbi Abbahu said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wished to show loving-kindness to Isaac, and he sent an angel before Eliezer; and the way was shortened for him, so that the servant came to Haran in three hours....