The Context:
Eliezer, servant of Avraham, was dispatched to find a wife for Yitzchak. Famously, he prayed for G-d to reveal the intended bride to him through a test, the first maiden to offer him and his camels water to drink would be Yitzchak’s bride. “Now he had not yet finished speaking, and behold, Rivkah came out, who had been born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Avraham's brother, and her pitcher was on her shoulder.” (Bereishis 24:15)
The Midrash comments on this verse that three people merited to have their prayers fulfilled immediately. Eliezer, as we have just illustrated. When Moshe prayed to G-d to quell Korach’s rebellion and affirm that Moshe made decisions based on G-d’s communication with him, “the earth opened up” to swallow Korach, “immediately when he [Moshe] finished speaking.” (Bamidbar, 16:31) Upon completing the construction of the Beis Hamikdash, King Shlomo prayed for G-d rest His presence there, “And when Shlomo finished praying, and the fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the glory of G-d filled the House.” (Divrei Hayamim II 7:1)
The Premise:
The reason these three prayers were answered immediately must be related to the theme and content of the prayers themselves. All three requests revolve around a similar theme which elicits an instantaneous Divine response. But of these three, Eliezer’s prayer is the most effective. Moshe and Shlomo are answered when they finish speaking; Eliezer is answered even before he finishes speaking. This implies that the content of his prayer was conducive to an even more intimate response. What is it about these prayers that they invite this unusually expedited fulfillment?
The Explanation:
When the Rambam enumerates the spiritual advantages of the penitent, the baal teshuva, he includes the fact that “he cries out and is answered immediately,” as a result of his intense cleaving to G-d that he has achieved through his repentance. Why is an immediate Divine response a result of “cleaving to G-d?” As long as there is distance between G-d and the petitioner, the response will be delayed. The closer one is to G-d, the less “distance” there is for G-d’s beneficence to travel, and the sooner the answer will be. The penitent who cleaves to G-d is thus answered without any delay.
Just as this applies to the petitioner, the closer they are the sooner they are answered, so, too with the content of the prayers as well. All three of the prayers under discussion concern themselves with the theme of G-d’s attachment with important realities in our world, therefore, the answer is immediate.
Shlomo prayed for G-d to be revealed in the Beis Hamikdash, which is the single place where G-d’s attachment with material space is most blatant. G-d was revealed in the space of the Beis Hamikdash through daily miracles, and through the paradox of the Holy of Holies in which the ark both did and did not occupy space. Moshe prayed for verification of prophecy, which is where G-d’s communion with humanity is most blatant. In prophecy, G-d’s wisdom and will are fused with the mind of the prophet. And Eliezer prayed for the success of Yitzchak and Rivkah’s marriage, which is the precedent for the entire project of the Torah, which is totally one with G-d’s Essence.
To explain: The Torah’s objective is to defy the boundaries between the spiritual and the physical, and to fuse them so that the Divine will is expressed in the materiality of the world. In order to do this, our forefathers introduced this concept into the world through their own actions and lives. The first precedent for the fusion of spirit and matter, holiness and profane, was Yitzchak’s marriage to Rivkah. Yitzchak had the status of a perfect offering, totally dedicated to G-d. while Rivkah was raised in a home of idolaters. Their marriage was thus an illustration of the ability of holiness to infiltrate even the depths of the earth.
G-d and the Torah are essentially one entity. The Torah is the undiluted expression of G-d’s will. Therefore, Eliezer’s prayer, which was concerned with the beginning of the Torah’s work in this world, was answered swiftly. But because the Torah is totally one with G-d, his prayer was actually answered before he finished speaking, because there is no separation whatsoever between G-d and His Torah. With the material space of the world and with humanity, the themes of Shlomo and Moshe’s prayers, there is distance between them and G-d, they are not one inherent being. Therefore the prayer is answered immediately after it has been completed. Eliezer is unique in that his prayer touched G-d’s Essence, and therefore it was as if it was always answered, there was no space between request and response.
