The Depth of Eliezer's Test: When the Student is Certain the Rav is Wrong
Lesson No. 143 | Motzaei Shabbos Parashas Nasso, the eve of 13 Sivan 5758 - A lesson for yeshiva students at the Third Wall (HaChoma HaShlishit)
Why was Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, absolutely certain that his master was completely wrong when he sent him to bring a wife for Yitzchak? Based on the novel insights of the Kotzker Rebbe and the holy Arizal, this article reveals the secret of a student's submission to his Rav. Only when Eliezer chose to remain silent in the face of immense questions were the supernal secrets revealed to him, and he understood the righteousness of Avraham Avinu's path.
In describing Eliezer's mission to find a wife for Yitzchak, the Torah elaborates and details the story twice: once when the events actually occur, and a second time when Eliezer repeats the story to Lavan and Besuel. When Eliezer recounts the sequence of events to Rivkah's family, he tells them:
"And I said to my master, perhaps the woman will not follow me."
On these words, Rashi cites the exposition of our Sages, explaining why the Hebrew word "ulai" (perhaps) is written defectively, without the letter vav: "It is written as 'elai' (to me). Eliezer had a daughter, and he was looking for an excuse so that Avraham would tell him to turn to him and marry his daughter to Yitzchak. Avraham said to him: This is impossible."
The Question of the Kotzker Rebbe
The Kotzker Rebbe asks a tremendous question about this: Why is this detail only written at the end, in the second telling of the story? Why wasn't the word "ulai" written defectively (without a vav) right at the beginning, when Avraham administers the oath to Eliezer?
After all, already at the beginning of the mission, Avraham says to Eliezer:
"And I will make you swear by Hashem, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites... rather, you shall go to my land and to my birthplace."
Eliezer hears this command and is astonished. After all, Hashem had told Avraham: "Go forth from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father's house." Hashem emphasized to him that he must leave the land, the birthplace, and his father's house—a complete disconnection! Everyone there was an idol worshiper, the biggest sinners in the world, and Hashem commanded him to disconnect from them entirely.
Yet now, Avraham makes him swear by the God of heaven and earth: "Only to my land shall you go, and only to my birthplace shall you go, and only to my father's house shall you go." Eliezer stands there bewildered: Master of the Universe, there are three positive commandments here to leave this place, and you are making me swear to return there? Why not take my daughter? Why specifically someone from Aram Naharayim? Eliezer simply could not grasp it.
The Absolute Certainty That the Rav is Wrong
The Kotzker Rebbe explains a wondrous principle: In the beginning, Eliezer did not ask questions because he was certain that he was right. He had no doubt whatsoever that his Rav was wrong.
Eliezer thought to himself: My Rav is already old, 140 years of age. It has been 65 or 70 years since Hashem sent him away from Aram Naharayim. Perhaps he has already forgotten? Eliezer was convinced that Avraham was acting out of personal bias (negios). He saw that Avraham had a deep attachment and longing for his family, and therefore, even though Hashem Himself had commanded him to leave them, Avraham wanted to return to his roots.
"Surely my Rav is wrong," Eliezer said in his heart. "I have no doubt about it. It is a million percent certain that my Rav is wrong!" Therefore, the Kotzker Rebbe explains, in the first part of the story, the word "ulai" is not written to imply "elai" (to me), because there he had no doubt. He was one hundred percent certain that his Rav was wrong and that he himself was right.
The Secret of the Acronym: The Soul of Esav
Eliezer sets out on his journey, arrives at the well, and suddenly he sees terrifying things. The holy Arizal reveals to us what Eliezer saw at that very moment:
"And the maiden was very fair to look upon... and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher, and came up... and behold, Rivkah came out, who was born to Besuel... with her pitcher upon her shoulder."
What is the meaning of "with her pitcher upon her shoulder" (v'kadah al shichmah)? The holy Arizal says: The first letters of the Hebrew words *V'kadah Al Shichmah* form the acronym Esav (עש"ו).
Eliezer looks at Rivkah and sees the soul of Esav! He is horrified: Master of the Universe, where is Avraham sending me? Another Esav will emerge from her! What does Avraham want here? Does he want to cause his son Yitzchak to stumble because of his personal bias toward his family? What is going on here?
The Power of Silence
Here, the great secret of nullifying oneself to the tzaddik is revealed. The rule is: If you have a question about the Rav – remain silent. Do not ask any questions.
The Imrei Noam says regarding Parashas Chayei Sarah: The moment Eliezer saw the soul of Esav, he decided to remain silent. He said to himself, "Even though I see the soul of Esav here, and I see terrible things, there must surely be some secret in what my Rav commanded me. I must remain silent."
The Torah describes Eliezer's reaction: "And the man was astonished at her, remaining silent." The word 'משתאה' (astonished) has the same gematria (numerical value) as Yaakov and Esav combined. Meaning, at first, he saw the mixture of both of them and was astonished and confused. But the moment he chose to be 'מחריש' (silent) – to keep quiet and nullify his own understanding – suddenly the soul of Yaakov Avinu was also revealed to him.
The moment he saw that Yaakov was destined to descend from her, all the questions vanished. Suddenly, he began to see the revelation at Mount Sinai and the Giving of the Torah. He also saw with Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration) the breaking of the Tablets, and immediately gave Rivkah two bracelets in order to make spiritual tikkunim (rectifications) and bind the Tablets together so they would not break.
Eliezer's Great Confession
Only then, after all his questions fell away and he saw the supernal truth, did Eliezer arrive at the house of Besuel and Lavan and tell them the story.
The Kotzker Rebbe explains: The second telling of the story is actually a Vidui (confession prayer). Eliezer confesses and says: "How could I have second-guessed Avraham Avinu? What doubts I had about my Rav, thinking that he was mistaken and acting out of personal bias!"
After a person passes the test, he sees his own mistakes and understands that his Rav was right all along. Therefore, specifically in the second telling of the story, Eliezer says the word 'אולי' (perhaps) missing the letter 'vav' (spelled 'אלי' - to me). This is his confession: "Look how foolish I was. I wanted my own daughter, and I completely failed to understand what my Rav wanted, until I saw these wondrous things."
Part 2 of 4 — Lesson No. 143