By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
The story of Eliezer’s journey to find a wife for Yitzchak is written twice in the Chumash: once when he is actually instructed to go, and once when he repeats the whole story to Rivka’s family. Parshas Chayei Sara is very long, something which is highly unusual in the Chumash.
Rashi quotes from Chazal: “Rabbi Acha said, ‘The conversation of the forefathers’ servants is more beloved to Hashem than the Torah He commanded their children. The parsha of Eliezer is doubled in the Torah, but many fundamental laws of Torah are given to us in merely a hint!”
How can we understand this? Was the purpose of Creation not to find a nation to accept the Torah and live by it? How could anything be more precious to Hashem than the Torah He gave klal Yisrael?
A solution can be found in the Gemara Sukkah. The Mishnah states that one who sleeps under a bed in the sukkah has not fulfilled the mitzvah. Rabban Gamliel said, “Have you seen my servant Tavi [an eved Canaani] who is a talmid chacham? He knows that slaves are exempt from the sukkah, and so he sleeps under a bed [so as not to take a place away from someone who is obligated].” Rabbi Shimon comments, “From the conversation of Rabban Gamliel we learn two halachos: that slaves are exempt from sukkah, and that one who sleeps under a bed does not fulfill his obligation.”
Why does Rabbi Shimon use the unusual expression, “from the conversation of Rabban Gamliel,” rather than the more typical “from Rabban Gamliel’s words?” To teach us that the conversation of talmidei chachamim must be studied.
Rabban Gamliel told this story in a casual conversation with his colleagues. He wasn’t giving a shiur or even telling a dvar Torah. Nevertheless, we learn halachos from it, because a talmid chacham has so deeply internalized his Torah that every word he says reflects its values and attitudes. His conversation, too, is Torah.
The Torah was given to am Yisrael as a tool for perfection. The more Torah, the greater and more noble the person becomes. The talmid chacham who has achieved this by using the tools of Torah to grow and develop is a finished product.
Eliezer was the best student of Avraham Avinu, one who taught his master’s teachings to the people. His conversation is the culmination of everything Torah wants us to become.
