Eliezer and Our Story

One very unsung hero in the bible is Eliezer.  The Servant of Abraham.

He was said to be so holy and on such a high level that he was able to go into paradise while alive.

Eliezer was given the holy task of being the vessel to make the match for Yitzchok/Isaac.  He took it on.  I am almost certain that if it was for anyone else, there would be scores and scores of written words about how the father should have taken the job himself and what an important job it was and how dare he leave it to the servant.  But since it was one of the people that we decide is a "good guy" then no matter what, some will not fault him for anything.

So there goes Eliezer with this big load of responsibility on his back.  Stories have it that he prayed constantly for Hashem to show him who is the right person for this holy marriage.

He stood by the well and waited.  He knew most people had to come around this old time water cooler and perhaps he can get info this way.  As he waited, Rivka (Rebecca) came with her pitcher to gather water for her family.

 Eliezer asks her for some water and she graciously pulls water out of the well not only for him, but for his camel as well.  This was a sure sign that she was giving and kind.  Not only that but that she went the extra mile.  Eliezer then presented her with gifts and explained his purpose.  Rivka brings him home to tell the family what's going on.

The family is an interesting one.  The father, Bethuel, doesn't sound like he's such a nice guy.  In fact, he named his own daughter, Rivka, after a bunch of cows (in Hebrew a group of cows is called a rivka) as a way to insult her.  Bethuel tries to swindle Eliezer for more $$, but Rivka sees her way out and grabs it.  That very day she agrees to go with Eliezer.

Question:  if Bethuel was such a bad guy that he was willing to shame his daughter by calling her a rivka, try and swindle a man who was trying to offer a good marriage to his own daughter, why wouldn't he shame his son as well by calling him Laban which means white.  It was post the time of the flood.  Hopefully, most of the nefillim were washed away and all those who brought on destruction of the world.  But what if a few remained.  what if Laban, due to Bethuel's genes, came out white.  Why would someone call another white if he wasn't the lone white guy?  As if the whiteness singled him out and, this being Bethuel we're talking about, was a way to insult someone.

I'll tell you why.

Because I suspect right now we are in the times of Avraham.  Meaning we are in a place in time where we can do kindness.  We can do hospitality.  We can take care of bodies, things, etc.  But mentally, we may still be in the same mindset as Noach's thinking.  And Noach was basically a racist.  He set the tone. He didn't like the fact that Ham was wise.  that Ham, the dog, and the raven took advantage of an advantageous moment and elevated themselves. So much so that he wanted to chuck the raven the first chance he got.  He cursed Ham the first chance he got.  And luckily the dog escaped unscaithed.

So even though we can give and be kind, mentally we are stuck in Noach's mindset.  I think this is also why the Torah is written in the angle that it is written.

I think it is important to take the halachot (laws) and mitzvot (good deeds, commandments) from the Torah, but then each person must map out and chronicle their own narrative of why.  We must all write our Torah.

For example, the story of the Exodus could be written completely from the direction of the Egyptian.  How Hashem wanted to bring them back to holiness.  Or perhaps they reached the height of wisdom and had no choice but to enter a new world -- the world of humility, which would explain the whole reversal of creation that occurred.

That same story can probably be said again from the angle of another, smaller group of people who lived during that time.

I pray we find Hashem and do good deeds (mitzvot, commandments) and not rely on hisstory -- i.e. the other guy's story, but find our story -- and find the goodness in our story (and not fight another about their story).

Noach, Avraham, and Moshe Rabbeinu

 In my mind I divide the society into three parts. The Noach, Avraham and Moshe.Rabbeinu.

Noah -- back in his day was the most righteous. But if you look at everyone around, they were all depraved. So as righteous as Noach was, he may have still been racist or hateful. That's how I see racists.  In a depraved society, where people are being greedy, stingy, lusting after sex - lusting after domination, then everyone is looking out for number 1; themselves, in such a society, the racist at least appears to becomes the righteous.

A clear case is the situation in America.  Police officers are shooting and killing unarmed Black men with little or no impunity. And yet many people will defend these same cops and on top of that vote for Donald Trump, a man who raises the inspiration of racists.

In such a case, at least, the racists show compassion for "their kind" which is a step higher than being totally for oneself and throwing all of humanity under a bus. But nevertheless, it's a very low state indeed.

Then comes Avraham -- in this stage they know Torah -- or at least they have the capacity to reason out Torah. people try to live righteously, and are willing to spread the good word.  But I don't know if they would break any status quo. That's how I see many Jews today -- not all.

 And then there's the Moshe Rabeinu level (Moses). Moshe married an Ethiopian,also a Midianite, He brought the people to the level of getting prophecy straight out from Hashem. He was hopeful and brought some of the Egyptians that had been turning to Judaism (probably since Yosef haTzaddik's time) , and put the people ahead of himself. It is said that the Jewish people had fallen to the 49th level of tumah (impurity).  That means they could have had a Noach-type moshiach at that time, but for some reason, the much higher caliber moshiach, Moshe Rabbeinu, came.

What decided which moshiach would come?  The only thing I can think of is that the society in Noach's time must have fallen into the 50th level of tumah which was why they had to go.  No redemption for them; they just had to go.

Whereas in the case of the Jewish people in Egypt, they were at the 49th level of tumah and so redeemable.

The Moshe Rabbeinu level is where we need to be.  There the racists would be frowned upon.  There everyone will have a chance to be the best they can be and receive directly from Hashem.  This is definitely the level where Black folks can stand a chance to be normative and to function without the dread of racism.

Now, after the exodus from Egypt, many couldn't handle Moshe's disappearance when he went to get the stone tablets and built the golden calf. Upon Moshe's return, he saw that they had replaced him with a statue -- the golden calf.  Moshe threw the stone tablets and destroyed the idol.  Then he went and got new ones -- different ones. Now if someone goes to get a gift, then returns and sees the receivers are misbehaving and decides not to give them the gift, but rather to give them a different gift, I don't think that second gift would be of a higher caliber than the first one was.

I think that set us back to the Avraham stage. Back to not really changing any status quo but trying to live righteously and spreading the good word whenever possible, praying from a distance, (Or did we go back to Noach? Yikes!)

At any rate, the goal to strive for is the Moshe Rabbeinu level. Its great to call upon the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  But maybe, just maybe we should be calling upon the G-d of Moses (that facet of G-d)?