[Avodah] end of Vayeira

L Albright lalbright at albrightip.com
Tue Jun 12 06:18:20 PDT 2012


From: Sholom Simon [mailto:sholom at aishdas.org] 
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 11:11 PM
> At the end of Vayeira, Rashi says that H" told Avraham about Rivkah.  So,
> then, why do Avraham and Eliezer have to go through all that they did in
> order to find Rivkah later?

Well, it's not Rashi that says that ... the Chumash itself seems to
say that.

HOWEVER, the question in my mind is just how much of the announcement
was actually conveyed to Avraham, and how much is the continuation of
the Mikrah.

I'd say that the posek that includes the specific announcement re Rivkah
was NOT conveyed to Avraham, and that the end of that posek proves it
... as it says (in full: Bereshit 22:23) "And Bethuel birthed Rivkah;
these eight birthed Milcah to Nachor the brother of Abraham." Note "the
brother of Abraham" and not "your brother" ...

From: Sholom Simon [mailto:sholom at aishdas.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 10:21 AM
> Right -- the Chumash _seems_ to say it.

> But Rashi quotes a Medrash about how Avraham wished he had married off
> Yitzchak, and H" says: don't worry, Rivkah has been born.

> (Major paraphrase).

> If that's the case, why go through that whole thing with Eliezer?

Well remember that, as a result of the information conveyed in this
instance, Eliezer was in fact told to go to Avraham's family to find a
wife for Yitzchak. And Avraham had to be informed of the formation of
Nachor's family because, when he last saw Nachor, he was as childless
as himself. Eliezer was well aware that he would find a wife for
Yitzchak where he was going and that she would be from Nachor's family.
He just may not have known any specifics.

I'd point out that Rashi seems to be taking a liberty with the Midrash
(perhaps for the reader's sake) as Bereshit Rabbah 57:3 doesn't mention
the name of Rivkah at all (at least in my version) ... it only says
that Avraham was informed that Yitzchak's "zugo (viz.: wife)" was born
to Nachor's family.

Contrast the end of verse 23 with the end of verse 20, which identifies
Nachor as "your brother". I'd say that that's where the information
conveyed to Avraham ends. The remainder is the Mikrah's continuation.

L Albright
Albright IP
http://www.albrightip.com


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