When it came time for Avraham to choose a wife for his heir Yitzhak, he was quite picky.
As he charges his servant,
Don’t take a woman for my son from amongst the daughters of the Canaanites with whom I dwell! Rather, go to my own land, to my birthplace, to take a woman for my son Yitzhak! (Gen 24:3-4).
After the long journey, when the servant arrives at the well on the outskirts of the city Aram Naharaim, he turns to Yahweh with the following prayer;
“Yahweh, the elohim-of-my-lord-Avraham! Please grant me success today, and deal kindly with my master Avraham. Look! I am poised by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. May it be that the girl to whom I will say, “Please tip down your jug so I can drink,” and she says to me, “Drink! And I will also give drink to your camels, too!” she is the one whom you have appointed for your servant, for Yitzhak. And in that I will know that you have dealt kindly with my master!” (v. 12-14).
And sure enough, before he even finished his prayer (24:15), a beautiful girl arrives, with her jug in hand, to draw from the well. When the servant races to her and asks for drink, she complies, saying;
"I’ll also go ahead and draw for your camels, too, until they have drunk their fill!" (v. 25).
The next storyteller then does a great job concisely capturing Rivkah’s toil and urgency as she races to-and-fro, trying to satiate the thirst of all ten camels after what had been a long, cross-desert journey:
And she hurried, and she emptied her jug into the trough, and she ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew water for every one of his camels. (v. 20)
We join Avraham's servant in watching this girl with wide-eyed amazement! Drawing enough water to quench the thirst of one camel would have been quite the feat; Rivkah does it for all ten!!!!
And amazed the servant was, unable to even believe his eyes; And the man kept staring at her (v. 21).
Rivkah, like Avraham, is a founding figure of the Israelite People. And she was recognized to be worthy as such due to this very act described above; By her willingness to exert herself on behalf of those who thirsted, yet could not help themselves.
She owed the camels nothing. And stood to gain nothing by giving help.
Yet, in being created in His image (Gen 1:27), like every human being, she is called upon to act as He would. And in the words of another one of the ancient poets of Israel:
He satiates every thirsting gullet (Psalms 107:9).
These camels were counted amongst those who thirsted. Rivkah responded, and in doing so, the camels beheld someone truly created in the Divine Image.
By following in Rivkah’s footsteps and showing kindness to those with whom we share this world, we show that the image-of-god is one of COMPASSION.
We show that we are worthy of being a part of a Holy and Noble people who counts Rivkah as one of its great Mothers of Yore.
And we show that Yahweh's faith and expectations were well-placed when He looked to Man to be His chosen stewards on this Earth.
Comments