[Avodah] A Question About Yitzchok Taking a Canaanite Wife

[Shoshana L. Boublil]

> Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 13:00:30 -0400
> From: "Prof. Levine" <Larry.Levine at stevens.edu>
> To: avodah at aishdas.org
> Subject: [Avodah] A Question About Yitzchok Taking a Canaanite Wife
> Message-ID: <0LB5006FFZ8XKD at nexus.stevens.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; Format="flowed"
> 
> Bereishis 24: 3 says I will make you swear by God, the God of heaven
> and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from
> among the
> daughters of the Canaanites in whose midst I dwell.
[del] 
> If this reasoning is correct, then I do not understand why Avraham
> made Eliezer take this vow. Why not make Eliezer take a vow that he
> would take a wife for Yitzchok from Avraham's family?

 [SLB writes] R'MYG already responded to the issue of a "my fair lady" type
of bride, but there is another issue.

Avraham has a two-fold request - go to Haran and seek a wife from my family
- but whatever happens you, Eliezer will NOT bring home a Canaanite woman.

There was always the possibility (in theory at least) that Rivka would have
been engaged/married already by the time Eliezer got to Haran. She could
have refused to come. Eliezer would have to seek another bride for Yitzchak.
Once this situation arose, Avraham wanted it clear to Eliezer that the
replacement bride could not be a Canaanite, no matter what - even if she
happened to be "family" by marriage and lived in Haran.

Shoshana L. Boublil