DIRECTIONS IN RASHI

A weekly dvar Torah with special emphasis on understanding and utilizing

the fundamental principles that guided Rashi

THE

Parashas Chayei Sarah

Most of this weeks Parasha is taken up with Eliezers trip to Haran

to find a wife for Yitzchak. From the beginning of the Parasha until
Pasuk 33, the Torah presents the story, in great detail, from the third-person
point-of-view (Avraham was old, the servant said to him, etc.). Beginning
with Pasuk 34, Eliezer retells the story, in all its details, as a first-person narrative
to Besuel and his family (I am Abrahams servant, I came this day to the well
etc.

TEXT

i"yx

mFwOd ipt l zFa` ica r lW ozg iU dti `g` iAx xn` {an weqt}
itEB dAx d e ,dxFYa dlEtM xfr il` lW dWx R ixd W ,mipA lW ozxFYn
dfinx A `N` EpYp `l dxFz

[Why does the Torah repeat Eliezers story in complete detail?] Said Rabbi Acha:
The conversation of the servants of the Patriarchs is more beautiful to Hashem
than the Torah of their descendents, for we see that the Parasha of Eliezer is
doubled in the Torah, and yet many basic principles of the Torah [i.e., mitsvos]
were given only through a hint.
Although some disagree, many commentators insist that Rashi does
THE
not explain one verse according to a particular Midrash, and then
RELEVANT explain a later verse according to another Midrash that contradicts
PRINCIPLE and disagrees with the first one. In Devek Tov, a classic
supercommentary on Rashi, the author rejects the idea that Rashi
would quote contradictory Midrashim, and writes: The mind cannot accept that
Rashi, the divine teacher, whose entire goal is to explain the Torah in such a way
that there are no doubts, and to show the Torahs beauty, and to benefit us by
reconciling the texts [would quote contradictory Midrashim].
A corrolary of this is that we must hold Rashi accountable for his words; i.e., if
he establishes a general principle, we must constantly check to see if this principle
holds true throughout the Torah.

Rashi establishes here a principle that only narratives about the Avos
are important enough in the eyes of Hashem to be repeated in the
Torah in detail; the Torah of their children, however--meaning the
Mitsvos--are not repeated in detail, and in fact are often not presented directly at
all, but rather by hint only.

THE
QUESTION

This is difficult to understand, because we do find some Mitvos that are repeated in
detail. Most notably, the instructions for making the Mishkan and the Bigdei
Kehuna are presented in great detail in Parashayos Truma and Ttsaveh, and then
are repeated in detail in Parashayos Vayakhel and Pekudei!
Rabeinu Bechaye [14th-century commentator] explains that the Avos
were especially beloved because da M xO
d md md --they were a
chariot for the Shechina, the holy presence of Hashem. Just as a
chariot exists only to serve the one who rides on it, the Avos subjugated themselves
totally to Hashem, and thus merited that Hashems presence rested and rode on
them. Furthermore, this zelhazd (subjugation) extended even to their families
and servants, such as Eliezer, the servant of Avraham (see Tanya, Chap. 39).
AN
ANSWER

According to this, we can understand why the parashayos dealing with the
construction of the Mishkan are repeated, similar to the parasha of Eliezer. Texts
dealing with the Avos are repeated because the Avos were chariots for the
Shechina; obviously, the Mishkan was also a chariot for the Shechina--its
function was to serve as a resting-place for the Shechina in this world.
In fact, there is another similarity between these two parashayos. The four long
texts that describe the construction of the Mishkan end with a description of how
this edifice accomplished its purpose of bringing the Shechina down to rest upon it:

oM W O dz
` `ln 'd cFakE
opr d eilr okW {dl:n

zeny}

The cloud abode on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Similarly, the parasha of Eliezer ends with Rivka being brought back to Eretz
Canaan and marrying Yitzchak:

Flid Y
e dwa xz
` gT
Ie FO ` d
xU dld`d wg v
i d
`a ie{fq:ck
'ebe dX` l

ziy`xa}

And Isaac brought her to his mother Sarahs tent, and took Rebecca, and she
became his wife...
Rashi explains that when Rivka entered Sarahs tent as Yitzchaks wife, she
"inherited the greatness of Sarah and merited to three miracles that had been the
exclusive accomplishments of Sarah:

xEWw opr e dQr A diEvn dkxa E zAW axrl zAW axr n wElC xp did znIw dxV W onf lMW
Exfg dwa x z`AW kE ,EwqR dzO X n E ,ld`d lr
As long as Sarah was alive, a lamp stayed lit from Friday to Friday, and a blessing
was found in the dough, and a cloud hovered over the tent; after she died, these
ceased; when Rivka arrived, these things returned.
The cloud hovering over the tent was the Shechina, the presence of Hashem (see
Gur Aryeh). Just as the text about the Mishkan concludes with the Shechina, so too
does the text about Eliezer and Rivka.
CONCLUSION

The two texts--one about Eliezer and Rivka, the other about the
Mishkan--are both about bringing the Shechina into this world,
and thus both are repeated by the Torah in all their details.