Click here for a printable PDF.
This week’s Parshah, Chayei Soroh, tells us of Hashem’s special mission sent his servant Eliezer. Avrohom sent him to find a wife for his son, Yitzchok. He had Eliezer swear that he would “not take a wife for his son from the Canaanites’ daughters. None of those women would be suitable for him. Instead, he should go to Avrohom’s land and his birthplace to find a wife for Yitzchok.
Eliezer asked Avrohom,[1] “Perhaps the woman will not wish to go after me to this land. Shall I return your son to the land from which you came?” Avrohom responded that[2] “Hashem, the G-d of the heavens, Who took me from my father’s house, and the land of my birth, and Who spoke about me, and Who swore to me, saying, ‘To your seed will I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you. You shall take a wife for my son from there.”
Rashi cites the words “Hashem, the G-d of the heavens, Who took me from my father’s house,” and explains as follows. “He (Avrohom) did not say, ‘and the God of the earth.’ However, earlier, he said, ‘And I will make you swear by Hashem, the G-d of the heaven and the G-d of the earth.’ Avrohom said to him, ‘Now He is the G-d of the heaven and the God of the earth because I have made Him familiar in the mouths of the people. However, when He took me from my father’s house, He was the G-d of the heavens but not the earth. That was because humanity did not acknowledge Him, and His name was not familiar on the earth.”
Rashi teaches us that before Avrohom began his work, Hashem was only called “the G-d of heaven.” People thought that G-dliness was something heavenly, spiritual. Hashem was not a part of our daily lives. Avrohom, the first Jew, changed that. His dedication and self-sacrifice caused everyone to recognize that He was also the G-d of earth. People began to think of G-d as part of their day-to-day lives.
As a result of our following in our forefather’s ways, we will undoubtedly merit the coming of Moshiach. Then, everyone will see that Hashem permeates our entire being.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
Rabbi Shmuel Mendelsohn
Adapted from Likkutei Sichos Volume 20, p. 565 ff.
DEDICATED IN HONOR OF THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE
מוקדש לזכות כ”ק אדמו”ר נשיא דורנו מליובאוויטש
IN HONOR OF
The Soldiers of Tzivos Hashem Chaim and Aiden Oded שיחיו Morris
DEDICATED BY THEIR PARENTS
Rabbi & Mrs. Menachem M. and Chaya Mushka שיחיו Morris
לזכות
חיילי “צבאות השם” חיים ועדן עודד שיחיו מאריס
נדפס ע”י הוריהם
הרה”ת ר’ מנחם מענדל וזוגתו מרת חי’ מושקא שיחיו מאריס
[1]. Our Parshah, Bereishis 24:5.
[2]. Ibid, ibid. 7.
The Rebbe Teaches Rashi 