The reading for this week from Parashat Chayei Sarah (Bereshit / Genesis 23:1-25:18) can be outlined as follows, (i) Sarah Avraham’s wife dies and is buried (Bereshit 23:1-3), (ii) Avraham bargains for a piece of land from the sons of Heth to bury his wife (Bereshit 23:4-20), (iii) Avraham sends his servant to find a wife for Yitzchak (Isaac) (Bereshit 24:1-4), (iv) Avraham’s servant Eleazar meets Rebecca at the watering spring (Bereshit 24:11-21), (v) Avraham marries Keturah (Bereshit 25:1-6), and (vi) Abraham dies (Bereshit 25:7-8). In this week’s portion we read how Avraham acted righteously before the people living in Eretz Yisrael, by acting honestly to purchase a piece of land in order to bury his wife. We also read how Eleazar (אֱלִיעֶזֶר, note that we first read his name in Bereshit / Genesis 15:2) had great faith in the God of Abraham to help him in his task to find a wife for Yitzchak (Isaac). The name אֱלִיעֶזֶר consists of two words, אֱלִי meaning “my God” and עֶזֶר meaning “helps.” So Eleazar literally means “my God helps.” Eleazar realized the importance of his name, the God of Abraham is awesome, mighty, and will help him in his task to find a wife for Yitzchak. Therefore, Eleazar prays saying הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי נִצָּב עַל-עֵין הַמָּיִם וְהָיָה הָעַלְמָה הַיֹּצֵאת לִשְׁאֹב וְאָמַרְתִּי אֵלֶיהָ הַשְׁקִינִי-נָא מְעַט-מַיִם מִכַּדֵּךְ “behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar’;” in Bereshit / Genesis 24:43 As a result, God prepared the minds and lives of those involved for the selection of Yitzchak’s wife and allowed everything to occur in the proper order so that Eleazar would know that he had found God’s choice for a wife. This happens today too, for those who trust and obey God. The Lord prepares the way for each of us to do the tasks that He has for us to do for Him. Eleazar fell back upon God’s promise in Bereshit 24:42 (מב וָאָבֹא הַיּוֹם אֶל-הָעָיִן וָאֹמַר יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם אִם-יֶשְׁךָ-נָּא מַצְלִיחַ דַּרְכִּי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ עָלֶיהָ) let’s take this as an example for us, that we too need to remember God’s promises to us and be willing to take the path that He has set before us. Read More here.
