And if we figure out what that is we won't just get a deeper understanding of this story, we might understand why the story is here in the first place.ĭavid: Let's take a look at some of those discrepancies.
I think it's possible that the Torah is trying to actually make you bored so that you notice those differences, that you realize that there are these small discrepancies, because hidden in those discrepancies is the real story. There are some really important differences. Immanuel: Right, if you look at Eliezer's retelling of the story you will realize that Eliezer's retelling of the story is not identical to the narrator's description of what happened. So it's obvious that the Torah is purposely retelling this story for us again. We don't hear all the details of her retelling of the story. When Rebecca retells the story to her mother it says, "Vatageid l'beit Ima" – she tells her mother's household – "ka'devarim ha'eileh" – these things.
Why do we hear it with full detail for a second time?ĭavid: And it's really strange because we know that the Torah can be brief when it wants to be. Immanuel: So the question is, why do we need to know all of this? It's a nice matchmaking story but who cares about these small details? Not only do we hear all those small details but we hear them twice. In that conversation he retells the entire story, and we hear it again, for the second time. We hear about the conversation he has with Rebecca, and then about the conversation he has with Rebecca's family. Then when he actually meets Rebecca, we expect the story to be over but then we hear even more details. Instead of just hearing how Eliezer actually finds Rebecca, we hear all about his journey what he took on his journey, his prayer to God along that journey, a sign that he asked God to make for him so that he knows exactly who the right girl is. The Story of Finding a Wife for Isaac – Twice RetoldĪbraham charges Eliezer to find a wife, but not from where they live, not from Canaan, but back from Abraham's homeland. Abraham marries Keturah and has a few more kids and then Abraham dies.ĭavid: Now the bulk of the parsha is really the story of Eliezer trying to find a wife for Isaac and at face value it's not the most gripping story. He finds Rebecca who returns with him to Abraham and joins the family. There's a long and detailed story about the journey of Abraham's servant to find a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac. Sarah dies and Abraham buys a burial plot. Immanuel: Let's take a look at what actually happens in this week's parsha bring up the clock, 20 seconds. We don't have anything grand like creation or the flood or the Binding of Isaac. Compared to some of the exciting stories in these last few weeks, the stories in this week's parsha seem much less exciting.