Timing It Well

The Zohar explains some of the signs of Divine Providence during the incident in which Eliezer, Abraham's servant, met Rebecca by the well.

Come and see how many supernal secrets there are hidden in the Torah. This is why King Solomon states, "She is more precious than pearls". (Proverbs 3:15) How many are the treasures hidden in her [like the pearl inside an oyster]. That is why King David, when he looked into her with the spirit of wisdom and knew how many wondrous things issue from her, begged, "Open my eyes that I may see the wondrous things in Your Torah". (Psalms 119:18)

As we will see below, every word and every letter of the Torah contains multileveled hints, lessons and hidden meanings. This is one of the reasons why learning the Torah in any language but Hebrew is so difficult.

Come and see what is written: "And it came to pass, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebecca went out". (Gen. 24:13) Now what do the words "went out" mean, [since Eliezer was waiting by the well] it would be better said that she arrived! What do the words "went out" [in Hebrew, "yatzet"] imply?

It hints that the Holy One Blessed Be He took her out [and separated her out because of her righteousness] from all of the people in her city. All of them were wicked and she stood out as the exception ["yatzet" in the Hebrew derives from the same root as "yatza" above] from them all.

"And she came down to the spring [in Hebrew, 'ayinah']". Why is the word "spring" [in Hebrew, "ayin"] spelled with a final letter hei in our text? The secret is that the Well of Miriam rose up there [hinting at the Divine Presence that welled up in the merit of the righteous Rebecca as for Miriam]. That is why the word "ayinah" is spelled with the letter hei [which is from the last letter hei of the four letter name Havayah, yud-hei-vav-hei]. Furthermore, the water rose up for her [and what was at first called a 'well' (in Hebrew, "be'er") when Eliezer arrived, became like a spring ("ayin") in the merit of Rebecca.]

The text goes on to say that the other girls also "went out". To explain how that phrase also relates to Rebecca, another aspect of the verse is discussed.

Another interpretation, "And here, Rebecca goes out [in Hebrew, 'yotzet']" which is like the verse that says [the daughters of the people of the city] "go out ['yotzot'] to draw water". (Gen 24:13) Why is the word "yotzot" used and not words like "they went" or "they came" to draw water? The reason [that the words "go out" are used] is that they were hidden [in their houses] all day long, and only at that time did they go out to draw water. [They would wait until after the shepherds had already gone home to retain their modesty] and this sign was noticed [by Eliezer].

Eliezer understood that the reason G‑d had him arrive at exactly that time was to enable him to meet the modest girls who specifically went out of their homes at that time of day in order to avoid the shepherds. He understood that it was from them that he was to meet the bride for Isaac.

From the Zohar, p. 132a; translation and commentary by Simcha-Shmuel Treister

Copyright 2003 by KabbalaOnline.org. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form, unless with permission, in writing, from Kabbala Online.