Love
A guest post on the Torah portion of the week from Gutman Locks of the Old City, Jerusalem, Israel...
This week’s portion of the Torah deals almost exclusively with the continuation of the Jewish People.
It begins with the passing of Sarah our mother. The first thing Abraham did after tending to Sarah’s resting place was to find someone to continue as the mother of the Jewish people. G-d told Abraham that the future of the Jewish people was to be through his son Yitzchak and not through any other children he might father. So Abraham sent his trusted servant to find a proper wife for his son: one who would be fitting to continue Sarah’s ways.
Next is the warm and interesting story of Abraham’s servant finding a woman to be Yitzchak’s wife. This story is so beloved to Hashem that it is one of the only places in the entire Torah that something is repeated and certainly it is the longest.
Then comes the most beautiful love story in the Torah. What type of love is this?
When Rivka first sees Yitzchak she covers her face with a veil. But she was very beautiful and was about to see her future husband for the first time. Even more importantly, her future husband was about to see her for the first time. Why did she cover her face? Wouldn’t she want her husband to see her beauty? Rivka knew that Yitzchak would love her beauty, but she wanted him to first hear how Hashem chose her to be his wife and to love her for that and not merely because she was physically beautiful.
Abraham’s servant told Yitzchak how Hashem chose Rivka “And Yitzhak (1) brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, he (2) married Rivka, (3) she became his wife, and (4) he loved her, and thus was Yitzchak (5) consoled after his mother.” [i]
These events seem to be out of order. Normally a man first sees a woman’s face and if he loves her he marries her and only then does he bring her into his tent.
But Yitzchak did not see Rivka’s face. First he heard how Hashem chose her to be his wife and then he brought her into his mother’s tent. But why into his mother’s tent? Why not into his tent, or into her own tent? And why didn’t he marry her before he brought her into the tent?
He brought her into Sarah’s tent because “Sarah’s tent” is the home of the Jewish People. Coming into Sarah’s tent was Rivka’s “conversion” to Judaism. Only then could Yitzchak marry her and she could become his wife. This shows that their marriage was primarily a spiritual union: a union created to bring forth the Jewish Nation. But it was not only a spiritual union, as the Torah testifies: “and he loved her and was consoled for the loss of his mother.”[ii]
[i] Gen 24:67
[ii] ibid
A guest post on the Torah portion of the week from Gutman Locks of the Old City, Jerusalem, Israel...
This week’s portion of the Torah deals almost exclusively with the continuation of the Jewish People.
It begins with the passing of Sarah our mother. The first thing Abraham did after tending to Sarah’s resting place was to find someone to continue as the mother of the Jewish people. G-d told Abraham that the future of the Jewish people was to be through his son Yitzchak and not through any other children he might father. So Abraham sent his trusted servant to find a proper wife for his son: one who would be fitting to continue Sarah’s ways.
Next is the warm and interesting story of Abraham’s servant finding a woman to be Yitzchak’s wife. This story is so beloved to Hashem that it is one of the only places in the entire Torah that something is repeated and certainly it is the longest.
Then comes the most beautiful love story in the Torah. What type of love is this?
When Rivka first sees Yitzchak she covers her face with a veil. But she was very beautiful and was about to see her future husband for the first time. Even more importantly, her future husband was about to see her for the first time. Why did she cover her face? Wouldn’t she want her husband to see her beauty? Rivka knew that Yitzchak would love her beauty, but she wanted him to first hear how Hashem chose her to be his wife and to love her for that and not merely because she was physically beautiful.
Abraham’s servant told Yitzchak how Hashem chose Rivka “And Yitzhak (1) brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, he (2) married Rivka, (3) she became his wife, and (4) he loved her, and thus was Yitzchak (5) consoled after his mother.” [i]
These events seem to be out of order. Normally a man first sees a woman’s face and if he loves her he marries her and only then does he bring her into his tent.
But Yitzchak did not see Rivka’s face. First he heard how Hashem chose her to be his wife and then he brought her into his mother’s tent. But why into his mother’s tent? Why not into his tent, or into her own tent? And why didn’t he marry her before he brought her into the tent?
He brought her into Sarah’s tent because “Sarah’s tent” is the home of the Jewish People. Coming into Sarah’s tent was Rivka’s “conversion” to Judaism. Only then could Yitzchak marry her and she could become his wife. This shows that their marriage was primarily a spiritual union: a union created to bring forth the Jewish Nation. But it was not only a spiritual union, as the Torah testifies: “and he loved her and was consoled for the loss of his mother.”[ii]
[i] Gen 24:67
[ii] ibid
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