Parshas Chayei Sarah
1. On the verse[1] “And it was, before he had finished speaking, and behold, Rivkah was coming out,” the Midrash[2] brings the statement of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai[3]: “Three were answered at the utterance of their mouths: Eliezer the servant of Avraham, Moshe and Shlomo. Eliezer — ‘And it was, before he had finished speaking, and behold, Rivkah was coming out.’ Moshe, as it is written[4], ‘And it was, as he finished speaking all these words, the ground split…’ Shlomo, as it is written[5], ‘And as Shlomo finished praying to G‑d, the fire came down from heaven…’”[6]
The plain wording of the Midrash seemingly implies that being “answered at the utterance of their mouths” is connected with the personal greatness of the “three” who are listed.
And since all three received one and the same reward, “answered at the utterance of their mouths,” and especially since the Midrash stresses “three were (answered at the utterance of their mouths)” — including them all together — it is understood that there is a common aspect (quality) in all three[7].
We need to understand: how can Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, be compared (even in the same quality as it was in him) to Moshe and Shlomo?
The question is greater still (as the commentators ask[8]):
Being “answered at the utterance of his mouth” in Eliezer’s prayer had an advantage (it came more quickly) over the prayers of Moshe and Shlomo. Of Eliezer it says, “And it was, before he had finished speaking” — he was answered even before he had finished his prayer; whereas with Moshe and Shlomo this was at the conclusion of their prayer: “And it was, as he finished speaking,” “And as Shlomo finished praying.” It turns out, then, that Eliezer had an advantage over Moshe and Shlomo[9]?!
We must also understand: if this is due to the greatness of the people, why was being “answered at the utterance of their mouths” only with them and not with others[10]?
We must therefore say that the three being “answered at the utterance of their mouths” is connected not (so much) with the greatness of those who prayed, but (mainly) with the content of the prayers[*].
This requires explanation: what is the special quality of these three prayers, that specifically with them they were “answered at the utterance of their mouths”?
2. This will be understood by first explaining the quality of being answered on a prayer at the utterance of one’s mouth:
The Rambam in his Yad[11] says that one of the qualities of a baal teshuvah is that he “cries out and is answered immediately.” In his words: “How exalted is the level of teshuvah! Yesterday this person was separated from G‑d, the G‑d of Israel… he would cry out and not be answered… and today he is cleaving[12] to the Shechinah… he cries out and is answered immediately etc.”[13]
We need to understand. In the preceding halachah[14] the Rambam says: “Teshuvah brings near those who are far. Yesterday this person was hated before the Omnipresent, loathsome, distant and abominable[15], and today he is beloved and cherished, near, and a friend.” Seemingly, “he cries out and is answered immediately” is a result of being “beloved and cherished, near, and a friend” to the A-lmighty. Why, then, does the Rambam make it a matter of its own, in a halachah of its own?
This will be understood from the explanation of the two halachos above, for seemingly both halachos have the same content — that through teshuvah one becomes close to the A-lmighty?
The Rambam, however, is stating here two levels in the quality of teshuvah, and therefore divides them into two separate halachos:
In the first halachah he speaks of “closeness to the Shechinah,” as he says at the beginning of the halachah, “Great is teshuvah, for it brings a person close to the Shechinah”[16]; and this is expressed in “Yesterday this person was hated… and distant… and today he is beloved and cherished, near, and a friend.”
In the second halachah he speaks of a higher level in the quality of teshuvah[17] — “How exalted is the level of teshuvah”[18]: not only does one become “beloved and cherished, near, and a friend,” close to the Shechinah, but one becomes “cleaving to the Shechinah” — united, in a state of cleaving to the Shechinah.
Therefore the Rambam places the matter of “he cries out and is answered immediately” in this halachah, in continuation of “and today he is cleaving to the Shechinah” (and not in the earlier halachah, the matter of “brought close to the Shechinah”), because “he cries out and is answered immediately” comes as a result of being “cleaving to the Shechinah”[19].
3. The explanation of this:
The delay of time it takes until something comes from the giver to the recipient is evidence that the recipient is not cleaving to and united with the giver; quite simply, they are two separate things. When, however, they are cleaving and united, there is no (delay or) interruption in time (just as there is none in place), since they are as one, without separation between them.
Therefore, when a person is only “near” to the A-lmighty, “beloved and cherished, near, and a friend,” but not cleaving to the Shechinah, then indeed, being “beloved etc.,” the A-lmighty will accept his request, but it is not necessarily so that he will be “answered immediately.”
Only when he is “cleaving to the Shechinah”[20] — when the one praying is cleaving to and united with the One who answers him — is he “answered” in a manner of “cleaving” (also in time): at once and immediately[21].
4. Just as this is with regard to the “person” — the one who prays — that “he cries out and is answered immediately” is connected with, and is a result of, being “cleaving to the Shechinah,” it may be said that the same applies to the “object,” the quality and content of the prayer. In our case, the quality of the three prayers is that they are connected with cleaving (to the Shechinah)[22].
Accordingly one can explain why these three prayers in particular are singled out [(a) Shlomo’s prayer is connected with the revelation of the Shechinah, “and I will dwell among them”[23], in the Beis HaMikdash[24]; (b) Moshe’s prayer (in connection with the dispute of Korach): “By this you shall know that G‑d has sent me… but if G‑d creates a new creation…”[25]; (c) Eliezer’s prayer, in connection with the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah]: because they contain the three general ways in which G‑dliness is revealed in a manner of union (cleaving to the Shechinah) that exist in creation — in the world, in human beings, and in Torah.
5. The revelation of G‑dliness in the world (in a manner of union) is the revelation of the Shechinah in the Beis HaMikdash[26]. The revelation of G‑dliness in the Beis HaMikdash was such that place became united with G‑dliness: one saw with physical eyes that the physical place was nullified to the G‑dliness that is above place, to the point that the place itself became higher than place, as our Sages say[27], “The place of the Ark was not included in the measurement.”
And this is the content of Shlomo’s prayer: “I have surely built You a house of habitation, a place for You to dwell forever”[28]; “Behold, the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built”[29]. And immediately after it[30] he was “answered at the utterance of his mouth”: “And as Shlomo finished praying, the fire came down from heaven… and the glory of G‑d filled the house” — the Shechinah rested openly in the Beis HaMikdash (and from then on the resting of the Shechinah has remained in that place forever, as the Rambam rules[31]).
The revelation of the Shechinah to human beings (in a manner of union) is prophecy — “He revealed His secret to His servants the prophets”[32] — which is also a fundamental matter of our faith. In the words of the Rambam[33]: “It is among the foundations of the faith to know that G‑d grants prophecy to human beings”[34]. The revelation of prophecy is such that the prophet becomes cleaving to and united with the word of G‑d[35], to the point that the word of G‑d “is enclothed”[36] “in their intellect and comprehension in the prophetic vision, and also in their thought and speech”[37].
And this is the content of the prayer of Moshe Rabbeinu — and therefore he was answered immediately: “By this you shall know that G‑d has sent me to do all these deeds… If these men die as all men die… G‑d has not sent me; but if G‑d creates a new creation… then you shall know that…”
That is, this is not a sign and wonder for the Torah of Moshe in general[38], that the commands and mitzvos of the Torah were told to Moshe at Sinai, but a sign and wonder that Moshe is His emissary, as Himself, with regard to “all these deeds” — “to give Aharon the High Priesthood, his sons the deputy priesthood, and Elitzafan the leadership of the Kehasites”[39]. For in addition to its being the Torah of Moshe, this too is the mission and prophecy of Moshe[40] (“He revealed His secret” — and therefore “a new creation” (a new revelation)) — prophecy[41], of whose kind and pattern was the prophecy of the other prophets[42].
And the third general way of the revelation of the Shechinah — in Torah, “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one”[43] — is connected with Eliezer’s prayer, as will be explained.
6. Regarding the parshah of Eliezer, our Sages say[44]: “The conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs[45] is more beautiful… than the Torah of the children” [from the very fact that “the conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs” is evaluated (and moreover as “more beautiful”) against “the Torah of the children,” it is understood that the two are related].
It is explained in Chassidus[46] that “the conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs” — and specifically the match of Yitzchak and Rivkah — is the general matter of the Torah and its mitzvos. For this reason it is told in the Torah at length: it is a fundamental and general matter, which brought about the giving of the Torah as a whole, “the Torah of the children.”
The explanation of this:
The achievement of the giving of the Torah is — as has been discussed many times — the joining of the “upper” with the “lower.” Until the giving of the Torah there was a decree that the upper would not descend to the lower and the lower would not ascend to the upper; at the giving of the Torah the decree was annulled, and “the lower shall ascend to the upper, and the upper shall descend to the lower”[47]. That is, through (the giving of) the Torah the world, the “lower,” is joined with G‑dliness that is higher than the world, until they become joined together. As we see in the fulfillment of mitzvos[48] after the giving of the Torah: by performing a mitzvah with a physical object, one causes the physical thing to become a vessel for G‑dliness — it becomes an article used for a mitzvah, an article of holiness[49], up to the point of union — a holy object[50].
The preparation and prelude to this joining through (the giving of) the Torah came earlier — and this is also the empowerment for the service after the giving of the Torah.
The first place in the Torah — in the plain meaning of Scripture — that tells of a “joining of the upper and the lower,” of holiness (and something set apart) becoming joined and united with the “lower” in complete and true union, is the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah[51]:
At the time of the marriage Yitzchak (in addition to being the son of Avraham, circumcised at eight days etc., with all the lofty qualities he received from Avraham) was, after the test and self-sacrifice of the Akeidah[52], elevated to the level of “an unblemished burnt-offering”[53] (holiness in the utmost).
And Rivkah was “the daughter of Besuel… the sister of Lavan,” and from “Paddan Aram”[54] — outside the Land, whereas “outside the Land is not fitting for you”[55], for Yitzchak. From this it is understood that Eliezer’s mission, to bring Rivkah from her place in Paddan Aram (outside the Land) as a wife for Yitzchak, the unblemished burnt-offering, and that he “cleave to his wife and they become one flesh”[56], is the greatest elevation.
[This is unlike the marriage of Avraham and Sarah, which took place before Avraham became “unblemished” through the mitzvah of circumcision, before “the souls they had made in Charan”[57] etc. — at a time when Avraham too (like Sarah) was in Ur Kasdim and in his father’s house[58], the house of Terach before he did teshuvah[59], among idol worshippers.]
And “the deeds of the fathers are a sign for the children”[60]. It is understood that the “sign” and empowerment for the union and joining accomplished at the giving of the Torah comes[61] from the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah[62].
7. According to this one can answer the question raised above (section 1): why being “answered immediately” in Eliezer’s prayer had an advantage (it was more “immediate”) over the prayers of Moshe and Shlomo — that he was answered even before his prayer had ended, whereas with Moshe and Shlomo it says that it was as their prayer ended. The reason is that this is connected with the superiority of Torah over prophecy and the Beis HaMikdash:
The revelation of G‑dliness that is drawn into the prophet, and similarly into the Beis HaMikdash, is two things that become united together[63].
Therefore we see that in the revelation of prophecy there was, with every prophet, a “before he prophesied,” a “during the prophecy” and an “after the prophecy” (in addition to the fact that prophecy as a whole ceased[64]). Similarly regarding the Beis HaMikdash: in the Second Temple five things were lacking[65]; only on the three festivals “he shall see and be seen”[66]; there is no service at night[67] etc.; and especially — the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. Although its holiness “is not annulled”[68], the physical Beis HaMikdash (where one saw with physical eyes how “the place of the Ark was not included in the measurement,” and also in the Second Temple “ten miracles were performed etc.”[69]) was destroyed — a state in which (with physical eyes) one does not see a revelation of G‑dliness.
Since the revelation of G‑dliness in them was something newly introduced into their existence, an interruption in it is possible[70].
Torah, however, is from the outset one thing with G‑dliness — “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one.” In Torah no changes are possible: the Torah “stands forever and for all eternity; it has no change, no diminution and no addition”[71].
[And since the union of Torah with G‑dliness is in a manner of “entirely one,” therefore the union of Jews and of the world with G‑dliness, when it comes through the Torah, is also in this manner. Through Torah, Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one. Similarly the very existence of the world is bound up with Torah: not only was the world created “for the sake of the Torah”[72] (in a way in which Torah and the world remain two separate things), but the very existence of the world depends on Torah, as our Sages say[73]: “The Holy One, blessed be He, stipulated with the work of creation and said: If Israel accepts My Torah, well and good etc.” — their very existence is conditional on “Israel accepting My Torah”][74].
And therefore the “answer” to Eliezer’s prayer concerning the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah (which points to the general matter of Torah, as above) came in a manner of “before he had finished speaking”:
When the answer comes only after the prayer has ended, this is evidence that the content and subject of the prayer is something that is not in complete and true union with G‑dliness. It is indeed in a manner of “cleaving to the Shechinah,” and therefore the answer comes immediately — but[75] the cleaving is (in its plain meaning) two things that have become attached to each other. Therefore the prayer and its answer are also in a similar manner (only in closeness and attachment): first comes the prayer, and after the prayer ends the answer comes (at once).
When, however, what is requested in the prayer is something that is from the outset “entirely one” with G‑dliness, then the answer correspondingly comes in a way that cannot be separated from the prayer; in our case — not “as he finished speaking all these words”[76], after the prayer ended, but “before[77] he had finished speaking.”
8. On the verse “And it was, before he had finished…” it is explained in Chassidus[78] that in the drawing down of G‑dliness there are two ways[79], which are alluded to in the verse[80] “He sends His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly”:
“He sends His command to the earth” is the flow that arrives below “slowly, slowly”; that is, it passes through the order of the descent of the worlds, from level to level (and at each level the flow is united with the “world” of that level), until it comes down below.
And there is a flow in the manner of “His word runs swiftly”: it comes down directly below, with “swiftness,” “leaping over” the order of descent.
The reason for the difference between the two flows is the place from which the flow is drawn, where it begins. When the flow is from a level of G‑dliness that is related to the descent of the worlds, it is drawn down below in such a way that it must pass (in a manner of enclothement) through the order of descent. But when the flow is from the G‑dly light that is above the order of descent, it comes down directly below, in a manner of “swiftness,” because it does not need to pass through the order of descent (in a manner of enclothement).
On this basis Chassidus[79] explains why with the “three” (mentioned above) they were “answered at the utterance of their mouths,” in a manner of “immediately”: because through their prayer they reached the G‑dly light that is above the order of descent, which is drawn down below in the manner of “His word runs swiftly.”
And on this basis the superiority of Eliezer’s prayer over the prayers of Moshe and Shlomo is also explained, that specifically with him it was “before he had finished speaking.” Since the purpose of his prayer was for the sake of Yitzchak, and Yitzchak’s quality is gevuros, an intensification of vitality, the answer to the prayer therefore came in a manner of intensity (not simply swiftness, but with an intensity within the swiftness) — “before he had finished speaking.”
It may be said that the explanation in the sichah above can be matched with the explanation (in the teachings of Chassidus):
From the perspective of the order of descent, the union of the world with G‑dliness is, as it were, like something that (afterwards) became united with G‑dliness. Only from the perspective of the Infinite Light that is above the order of descent (and especially from the perspective of the Essence) is the world from the outset truly one with G‑dliness — the “created being” is, as it were, one thing with the “True Being”[81].
(From talks of 20 MarCheshvan, 5742, and Shabbos Parshas Shemini, 5733)
Key Lesson
Eliezer, Moshe and Shlomo were all answered the moment they prayed, because each prayer was bound up with a revelation of G‑d in true union: the Beis HaMikdash in the world, prophecy in man, and Torah. Eliezer was answered even before he finished speaking, because his mission — the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah — prepared the giving of the Torah, and Torah is not something joined to G‑d but entirely one with Him. When a Jew lives with Torah and mitzvos, his connection to G‑d is not a bond between two separate things but a true oneness, which no interruption can break.