Parashat Chayei Sarah

Hidden Acts of Chesed

This past Shabbat, our family hosted a very special guest: Corduroy, a member of Class 1D. Each week, a different student has a chance to bring home this well-loved teddy bear. My first grader was dedicated to ensuring that Corduroy’s time with us would be meaningful for Corduroy. Corduroy lit Shabbat candles with us, participated in building structures with big red cups – a Shabbos minhag (custom) we learned about from the Lefkowitz family – and he even played a game of Jenga. 

The kind of care and dedication that my son had for Corduroy reminds me of a scene from this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Chayei Sarah. In this week’s parashah, Avraham sends his servant to find a wife for Yitzchak. The Torah narrative describes how the servant runs toward Rivka and asks to sip some water from her jar. Rivkah not only provides water for Avraham’s servant (who at the time is a total stranger) but then also offers to draw water for his camels. 

Bereshit 24:20 states:

“וַתְּמַהֵר, וַתְּעַר כַּדָּהּ אֶל-הַשֹּׁקֶת, וַתָּרָץ עוֹד אֶל-הַבְּאֵר, לִשְׁאֹב; וַתִּשְׁאַב, לְכָל-גְּמַלָּיו.”
“She quickly emptied her jar into the trough, she ran back to the well to draw [water], and she drew for all his camels.” 

This pasuk includes many action words in a short time span: “she emptied,” “she ran,” and “she drew.” These verbs communicate a sense of urgency on the part of Rivkah; she acted quickly and swiftly to quench the thirst of the servant’s camels. 

Rivka’s actions are quite striking in that she went out of her way to do an arduous task for a complete stranger, as well as for his animals. Her kindness certainly does not go unnoticed, as she went on to marry Yitzchak and become one of the founding matriarchs of the Jewish people.

This past Yom Chesed, our fourth graders read How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham. The story is about a child named Will who notices a pigeon with a broken wing in the midst of a very busy city street, when everyone else is immersed in their own agendas.

Like Rikva, Will goes the extra step to help the bird, and ultimately allows the bird to re-enter society with a healed wing. Yet one of the themes of the story is not about the bird itself, but rather our ability to be healed by helping those around us. 

At a time where our faces are frequently turned inward toward our phones, my hope is that Rivka’s actions will inspire us to at times not only look up and notice, but offer to go an extra step and to water someone else’s camels.

Whether for stuffed animals (i.e. Corduroy) or real animals, these acts of chesed are small but mighty. Sometimes a need is right in front of us; we might just not be looking.

Shabbat Shalom!