The Torch Passes On

      We have seen Abraham as a giant of faith—mostly able to press on through 25 long years of waiting. An obvious question may pop up: what about his offspring—would they be people of faith, as well? In this sedra (Torah portion), Abraham's influence on his whole household is shown, beginning with his chief of staff, Eliezer. Abraham calls Eliezer and gives him a tough assignment—to go to his country and find a wife for Isaac. How does Eliezer approach this job? Like Abraham, he approaches it by faith. He prays: "L‑rd, direct me to the right woman this way—the woman who comes and says to me, 'Sir, let me give you and your camels some water,' will be the one." At first, this seems like a standard "fleece,"—"L‑rd, if this is You speaking, make the ground wet and this woolen fleece on it, dry." But, as we look more closely, it isn't a fleece. Eliezer was looking for specific traits in the woman: hospitality and willingness to serve.

      Anyone who knows anything about camels knows that they drink huge amounts of water. Besides, watering the animals was not a glamour job. Eliezer stepped out in faith, trusting that the L‑rd would lead him. The L‑rd came through and honored his faith. This episode also tells us a lot about Isaac—he was a 40-year-old man at this point, yet he deferred to his father's wishes. We also see that G‑d blessed him for it. It is interesting to observe that the Isaac-Rebecca relationship is one of the few love stories recorded in Scriptures. It is sad to contrast his story with that in the Haftarah portion (I Kings 1:1-31), which refers to Adonijah, one of David's sons. Like most of David's sons, Adonijah was not a man who honored the L‑rd through his faith, but a man who tried to grab "it" on his own. 

      These two contrasting stories challenge us to continue to follow Abraham's example. As we live our lives in faith, we will know the L‑rd's hand of blessing on our lives, like Abraham did.