Eliezer’s Mission: Lessons in Agency, Kindness, and Unity

The Torah dedicates an entire, unusually detailed chapter — Genesis 24, the longest in Sefer Bereishit — to the story of Eliezer, Avraham’s servant, who travels to find a wife for Yitzchak.  On the surface, the story could have been told in a single verse:

“Avraham sent his servant to Aram to bring back a wife for Yitzchak.”

 Why, then, does the Torah recount every nuance — Eliezer’s prayer, Rivka’s act of kindness, the gifts, the dialogue with her family? Our member Rabbi Paul Bloom explains.

Clearly, this narrative carries profound lessons, not only about the formation of the Jewish people but also about our own identity and mission as servants of a higher calling. Three central insights emerge from Eliezer’s journey — each deeply relevant to our time.

The Power of the Messenger

Remarkably, the Torah never once refers to Eliezer by name in this entire chapter. He is always called “Eved Avraham” — the servant of Avraham.  Why? Because Eliezer succeeds in doing something rare and extraordinary: he completely erases his ego. His personal opinions, ambitions, and emotions vanish; only the mission remains.

When Eliezer sees himself not as an independent actor but as the shaliach — the faithful agent — of Avraham, his abilities become limitless. As long as he operates as an individual, he is constrained by human limitations. But as the extension of a great man, representing Avraham’s vision and faith, he can accomplish miracles. Indeed, his mission was humanly impossible: to travel to an unknown land, find an unknown woman, persuade her family to let her go willingly, and bring her back to marry Yitzchak. Such a task could succeed only through divine assistance — and that assistance was available precisely because Eliezer saw himself as a shaliach shel Avraham, not as Eliezer the man. This principle — koach ha’sheliach, the power of the agent — continues to shape Jewish life.

 Chabad emissaries across the world embody it. Ask any shaliach what his role is, and he won’t say, “I’m the rabbi of this city.” He’ll say, “I am the Rebbe’s shaliach.” By defining himself as a representative of a higher mission, his strength multiplies a thousandfold. We see the same principle in the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces today.  The moment a young man or woman dons the uniform of the IDF, they are no longer acting as private individuals. They become sheluchei Am Yisrael — emissaries of the Jewish people — defending our nation against forces of darkness and destruction. Their strength, courage, and miracles flow from that consciousness: I am fighting not for myself, but for Klal Yisrael and for Hashem. And just as Eliezer’s success was a divine partnership, so too we pray that Hashem continues to protect His shluchei Yisrael, bringing them home safely and triumphantly.

The Test of Chesed: What Defines the Future of Israel

Eliezer’s test for Rivka is simple and profound. He does not ask about lineage, beauty, or intellect. He asks for water.  And when Rivka not only draws water for him but also offers to water his camels — a backbreaking act of kindness — he knows instantly that she is the one.

The entire future of the Jewish people, he understands, must rest on chesed — selfless generosity, sensitivity, and care for others.  Rivka’s greatness lies not only in what she gives, but in the eagerness and abundance with which she gives. That trait — the impulse to help, to see the needs of others before one’s own — becomes a defining characteristic of Am Yisrael.

On a deeper, mystical level, our sages explain that Yitzchak represents gevurah — strength, discipline, and exactness — while Rivka represents chesed, boundless kindness.  Only through their union can the Jewish people come into being, for our destiny depends on the synthesis of these two forces: justice tempered by compassion, strength guided by love.

The Symbolism of the Gifts: Unity and Integration

When Eliezer meets Rivka, he gives her jewelry — a golden ring weighing a beka, and two bracelets weighing ten gold shekels.  Why does the Torah record such details? Rashi, quoting Bereishit Rabbah, explains that each item carries symbolic meaning. The beka alludes to the machatzit ha’shekel — the half-shekel that every Jew gave to the Mishkan and later to the Beit HaMikdash. That contribution represented the unity of the nation: every Jew, regardless of wealth or status, was equal in this offering.  Through the half-shekel, every individual became part of the communal sacrifices, connecting personally to the spiritual life of the nation.

We see the same spirit of unity today. In Israel, people who only recently were divided by politics or ideology now stand shoulder to shoulder — comforting the bereaved, supporting soldiers, baking challot for Shabbat with notes of love and prayer, organizing care packages, and praying together for victory and protection.  This achdut, this profound sense of belonging to one another, is the living echo of the beka mishkalah — each person contributing their part to the wholeness of Am Yisrael.

The two bracelets, says Rashi, represent the Shenei Luchot HaBrit — the two Tablets of the Covenant.  Why two? Because they symbolize the two dimensions of Torah: the commandments between man and God, and those between man and man.  Eliezer was teaching Rivka — and all of us — that chesed alone is not enough. True righteousness requires both devotion to God and sensitivity to people.
 Only when the two tablets — faith and morality — are bound together does Jewish life achieve its full strength and beauty.

The Enduring Message

Eliezer’s story is not just about the origins of our people; it is a mirror for our own times.
 We, too, live in days of divine mission. Every Jew is called to be a shaliach — an agent of something far greater than themselves.  Whether serving in the army, volunteering, praying, teaching, or comforting — each of us, when we act as part of Am Yisrael and in the name of Hashem, draws on a reservoir of strength beyond imagination.

Eliezer’s humility, Rivka’s kindness, and the symbols of unity and Torah that bind them — together form the foundation of who we are.  May we, like them, fulfill our missions faithfully, act with boundless chesed, and remain forever united as one people, guided by the twin lights of Torah and love.

“Yevarech Hashem et amo ba’shalom — May Hashem bless His people with peace.”