Biblical

Eliezer, Servant of Avraham

אליעזר עבד אברהם

The faithful servant and talmid of Avraham Avinu, who shared his master's Torah with others and brought Rivka home as a wife for Yitzchak.

YahrzeitNot recorded

Biography

From Damascus to Avraham's Tent

Eliezer zy"a, the faithful servant of Avraham Avinu, is first named in the Torah at a moment of longing. Hashem promised Avraham a great reward, and Avraham, still without children, answered that the one in charge of his household was Dammesek Eliezer, and that a member of his household would be his heir. The Torah records neither his parents nor his birthplace. Targum Onkelos reads Dammesek as a sign that he came from Damascus, and the Midrash adds that Avraham called him so because, with his help, he chased the four kings as far as Damascus.

The Midrash goes further and identifies Eliezer with Canaan, the grandson of Noach who bore Noach's curse of servitude. It calls him a wise servant, and explains his wisdom: since that curse already rested on him, he reasoned, he would rather serve in the house of Avraham than in any other house. He chose his master, and he chose well.

He stood beside Avraham in battle as well. When the kings took Lot captive, the Torah says that Avraham went out with three hundred and eighteen men born in his household. The Gemara records that Eliezer alone was the equal of all of them, and points out that the letters of his name add up to three hundred and eighteen.

The Elder of the Household

The Torah calls him the elder of Avraham's house, the one who ruled over all that his master had. The Gemara teaches that this means more than a steward's keys. Eliezer was an elder who sat in the yeshiva, and he ruled over his master's Torah, having mastered all of it. Rebbi Elazar reads the word Dammesek as two words joined, doleh umashkeh: he drew up his master's Torah and gave others to drink from it.

The Midrash says that Eliezer's face resembled Avraham's, and that like his master he ruled over his own yetzer hara. So great was the likeness that when he later arrived in Charan, Lavan greeted him as one blessed by Hashem, thinking he was Avraham himself.

He was at Avraham's side in the work of chesed, too. The Gemara tells that on one blazing day Avraham sent Eliezer out to search the road for travellers to host, and when Eliezer found no one, Avraham went out to look for himself. Rashi teaches that Eliezer, together with Yishmael, was one of the two young men who travelled with Avraham to the Akeidah. Yet when Avraham feared that his household servant would be his only heir, Hashem answered that this would not be: his heir would be his own son. Eliezer's place was not to inherit Avraham but to serve him.

The Journey to Aram Naharayim

When Avraham was old, he called Eliezer and made him swear, with his hand under Avraham's thigh, that he would not take a wife for Yitzchak from the daughters of Canaan, but would go to Avraham's land and family. Rashi explains that the oath was taken on the mitzvah of milah, which had come to Avraham through pain and was therefore dear to him. Avraham promised that Hashem would send an angel before him, and the Midrash says that two angels were sent: one to accompany Eliezer and one to bring out Rivka.

Eliezer took ten of his master's camels, which, Rashi explains, were known everywhere because they went out muzzled so that they would not graze in other people's fields. Avraham had written a deed giving all his property to Yitzchak, and Eliezer carried it so that the family would gladly send their daughter. He set out, and Chazal teach that the road contracted before him: he left that day and arrived that same day at the city of Nachor.

There, at the well, he davened, and his prayer was answered before he had finished it. Rivka came out, drew water for him and for all his camels, and proved herself the woman of chesed he had asked Hashem to show him. Her family agreed, and Rivka herself said she would go. On the way home Yitzchak was out in the field davening toward evening, and Rivka covered herself with her veil. Eliezer told Yitzchak everything that had happened, and Rashi says he spoke of the miracles: how the road had shortened, and how Rivka had appeared in answer to his tefillah. Yitzchak brought Rivka into the tent of his mother Sarah, and the blessings of Sarah's tent returned.

His Enduring Legacy

The Torah tells the story of Eliezer's journey twice: once as it happened, and again in his own words to Rivka's family. Many essential halachos are learned only from a single letter, yet this account is spelled out at full length. Rebbi Acha drew the lesson: the ordinary conversation of the servants of the Avos is more pleasing before Hashem than even the Torah of their descendants. Every year, when Parshas Chayei Sarah is read in shul, Klal Yisroel hears his journey told twice over.

The Midrash teaches that because Eliezer served that tzaddik faithfully, he left the ranks of the cursed and entered the ranks of the blessed. Lavan's greeting, Come, blessed of Hashem, was the proof. Rav Yochanan of Beis Guvrin drew a conclusion for all generations: if a servant could rise so high through faithful service, how much more will the Jewish people, who do kindness for great and small with their own hands and feet.

Chazal count Eliezer among three people whose prayers were answered the moment they spoke: Eliezer, Moshe Rabbeinu and Shlomo HaMelech. The Torah does not tell of his passing, and no yahrzeit or kever is known. Chazal list him among the few who entered Gan Eden alive, alongside Chanoch, Eliyahu HaNavi, Basya the daughter of Pharaoh and Serach the daughter of Asher. His prayer at the well remains a model for anyone who sets out on an errand for someone else, and his life shows how far a person can rise by attaching himself to a tzaddik and carrying his Torah to others.

Stories

Before He Finished Speaking

Standing alone at a well in Charan, Eliezer asked Hashem for a sign of chesed, and Rivka appeared before his prayer was done.

Eliezer reached the city of Nachor toward evening and made his camels kneel beside the well, at the hour when the women came out to draw water. He had no letter of introduction and no way of knowing which family was Avraham's. So he turned to the only One who could guide him. Hashem, God of my master Avraham, he prayed, arrange it for me today, and do kindness with my master. Let the girl to whom I say, Please lower your jar so I may drink, answer, Drink, and I will water your camels as well. Let her be the one You have chosen for Yitzchak.

Rashi explains what he was looking for: a woman who did chesed would be worthy to enter the house of Avraham. Before he had finished speaking, Rivka came out with her jar on her shoulder. The Midrash relates that as she went down to the spring, the water rose up toward her, and Eliezer, seeing it, ran to meet her.

He asked only for a sip. She said, Drink, my lord, lowered her jar, and when he had finished she ran back again and again until all ten camels had drunk their fill. Eliezer stood silent, watching, still unsure whether she was from Avraham's family. Then he asked whose daughter she was. When she answered, the daughter of Besuel, son of Nachor, he bowed to the ground and blessed Hashem, who had not withheld His kindness from his master and had led him straight to his master's family.

Chazal count this among three prayers that were answered the moment they were spoken.

Source: Bereishis 24:11–27 with Rashi (24:14, 24:17); Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 60:1–6; English: The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022).

Practical lessonAsk for help with someone else's errand

Eliezer's prayer was not for himself. He asked Hashem to do kindness with his master, and to show him a person of chesed. This week, when you are doing something for someone else, whether a favor, a job for your employer or a call on behalf of a friend, stop for one moment before you begin and say quietly: Hashem, let this go well for them. Then watch, as Eliezer did, for the small signs of kindness along the way, and thank Hashem when they come.

The Daughter He Set Aside

Eliezer had hoped Yitzchak might marry his own daughter, yet he carried out Avraham's mission faithfully and would not even eat until he had told why he had come.

Chazal reveal something the Torah only hints at. Eliezer had a daughter of his own, and he hoped that she might become Yitzchak's wife. When Avraham gave him the mission, Eliezer asked, Perhaps the woman will not want to follow me. Rashi notes that the word for perhaps is written so that it can also be read as to me: Eliezer was quietly looking for a reason for the match to come back to his own family. Avraham answered him plainly. My son is blessed, and you are under a curse, and one who is cursed cannot be joined to one who is blessed.

Eliezer did not argue, and he did not weaken. He set out and brought the mission to completion with his whole heart. When he arrived at Rivka's home and food was set before him, he refused to eat. I will not eat until I have said what I came to say, he told them. He began with the plainest words: I am Avraham's servant. The Midrash learns from this that if a person has something about himself that others may look down on, it is best to say it first.

The next morning, when Rivka's family wanted to keep her for a year, or at least ten months, Eliezer would not wait. Do not delay me, he said, now that Hashem has made my journey succeed. He took Rivka back to his master's son, and with her the hope he had held for his own daughter was set aside for good.

Source: Bereishis 24:5, 24:33–34, 24:54–56; Rashi on Bereishis 24:39; Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 59:9 and 60:9; English: The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022).

Practical lessonFinish the job you were given

Sometimes the task in front of us competes with a hope of our own. Eliezer let go of his and carried out his mission completely. Think of one thing you were asked to do for someone else that you have been dragging out, or doing half-heartedly because part of you wanted something different. Today, finish it properly, and do it before you take care of something for yourself. If there is something about you that makes you feel self-conscious, try saying it first and simply, as Eliezer did, and then get on with the work.

A Guest in Sedom

In the cruel city of Sedom, Eliezer outwitted its crooked judge and its heartless customs with calm cleverness.

The Gemara tells that Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, once happened to come to Sedom. The people there attacked him and wounded him, and he went before the judge to demand payment. The judge ruled that Eliezer must pay his attacker, since the man had let his blood, as a bloodletter would. Eliezer picked up a stone and wounded the judge. What is this, the judge cried. Eliezer answered: the fee you now owe me, pay it to the man who wounded me, and my money can stay where it is.

Sedom had a bed for its guests. If a guest was too long for it, they cut him to size, and if he was too short, they stretched him. When they invited Eliezer to lie on it, he answered that ever since the day his mother died he had vowed not to sleep on a bed.

The people of Sedom had also agreed that anyone who invited a stranger to a wedding would be stripped of his cloak. Eliezer arrived at one wedding hungry, and no one gave him bread. So he sat down at the far end, behind everyone. When they demanded to know who had invited him, he turned to the man beside him and said, You invited me. Terrified of losing his cloak, the man grabbed it and ran out. Eliezer said the same to the next man, and the next, until every guest had fled, and he sat down and ate the meal.

Source: Gemara, Sanhedrin 109b (Talmud Bavli); English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz translation), Sanhedrin 109b.

Practical lessonMeet unfairness with a clear head

Eliezer did not shout or despair in Sedom. He stayed calm, saw through the crooked rules, and turned them back on those who made them. When you meet a situation that is plainly unfair, at work, in a bureaucracy or in a group that has made up its own harsh rules, take a breath before you react. Ask yourself what the fairest response would be that also protects you, and say it calmly. And remember the people who are new or alone in such places; make sure, as Avraham's household always did, that no guest at your table goes hungry.

Teachings

Drawing Water for Others

The Gemara reads Dammesek Eliezer as doleh umashkeh: one who draws water and gives others to drink, from the Torah of his master. The Noam Elimelech hears this in Avraham's words to Hashem. Avraham was childless, and one might have said that Eliezer could count as his son, since whoever teaches another person's son Torah is considered as if he had given birth to him. Avraham answered that this was not so. If Eliezer is a tzaddik who draws from my Torah and gives others to drink, that comes from him, not from me. The Rebbe explains that a name can be a cause: being called by a worthy name helps a person become a tzaddik. Eliezer lived up to the meaning of his name, and his goodness was his own.

Noam Elimelech, Bereishis, Lech Lecha (on Bereishis 15:2–3); Gemara, Yoma 28b

Practical lessonPour out what you have drawn

Eliezer did not keep his master's Torah to himself; he drew it up and gave others to drink. Think of one thing you learned this week, a line from the parsha, a halacha or a thought from a shiur. Share it today with one person: a child at the Shabbos table, a friend on the phone, a coworker who would appreciate it. Say where you heard it. And consider the meaning of your own name, or your child's; let it remind you of the person you are trying to become.

Do Your Own Part

The Noam Elimelech reads Avraham's charge to his servant as a conversation between the attribute of chessed and the tzaddik, Hashem's faithful servant. The tzaddik is called the elder of the house because even in his youth he sees himself as old, always thinking that today he may return home on high, and so he lives in constant teshuvah. The servant asks: perhaps the woman will not want to follow me; shall I bring your son back? The Rebbe reads this as the tzaddik's question. If the flow of blessing does not come down, may I lay the blame on Your son Israel, and say that their sins are holding it back and that they must do teshuvah? Avraham answers, Beware lest you bring my son back there. Far be it from you to put the lack on them, the Rebbe explains. Just do your own part.

Noam Elimelech, Bereishis, Chayei Sarah (on Bereishis 24:2–9)

Practical lessonLook at your own side first

When something goes wrong in a family, a classroom or a shul, it is easy to point at others. The next time you catch yourself thinking it is all their fault, pause and ask a different question: what is my part here, and what can I do today to make it better? Then do that one thing, without waiting for anyone else to change. A parent can start with a warmer word at breakfast; a teacher can start with one student; anyone can start with an honest look in the mirror.

Bowing for Good News

Twice in a single day Eliezer stopped everything to thank Hashem. When Rivka told him she was the daughter of Besuel, he bowed and blessed Hashem, who had not withheld His kindness and truth from his master. And when Lavan and Besuel agreed that the matter came from Hashem, the Torah says that he bowed to the ground before Hashem. From these bows Chazal draw the lesson that a person should give thanks to Hashem for good news. Eliezer did not wait until the mission was over, the camels unloaded and Rivka safely home. The moment he saw Hashem's hand, he thanked Him.

Bereishis 24:26–27 and 24:52, with Rashi on 24:52; Midrash Bereishis Rabbah 60:6

Practical lessonThank Hashem on the spot

Good news often reaches us in the middle of a busy day: a message that a test came back clear, a child's call, a deal that went through. We feel relief and move on. Next time, stop for ten seconds before you answer the next email. Say, out loud or in your heart, Baruch Hashem, thank You for this. If the news is about someone else, tell them you are thanking Hashem with them. The halacha even gives a bracha for good news; let your own thanks come right away, as Eliezer's did.

Family & talmidim

Teachers: Avraham Avinu

Children: A daughter (unnamed)

Historical sources