B"H

                             "Path Markers"
                              Chayei Sarah:
                          By: Yaacov Silverstein
                       e@mail: hm16@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il
                  HomePage: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/
                                Year:  5760
This Weeks Dvar - Torah was prepared in the memory and merit of:
 My grandfather:  Rav Yitzchak Zev Ben Yisroel Mordechai Hakohen Solomon
Z"L 

Pasuk (24:1-2) "Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem
blessed Avraham with everything (Bakol).  And Avraham said
to his servant, the elder of his household who controlled all (Bechol)
that was his."

Avraham's daughter:
------------------

Avraham was getting old and he now took it upon himself to find a wife
for his son Yitzchak.

Eliezer, being a servant of Avraham, was a person of stature and
understanding, and thus was chosen to find, with heavenly
assistance, a wife for Yitzchak.

In the beginning of the Parsha, we see that Avraham cried over the death
of Sarah.  The Torah writes the word "UlivKosah" with
a small "Kaff".  The Midrash explains that Sarah also had a daughter who
was called "Bakol", who died at the same time as
Sarah died.  Thus the small "Kaff" to tell us that if we take off this
letter, we are left with "U'Levitah" - and her
daughter.

When the Pasuk tells us that Avraham was blessed with "Bakol", there are
those who say that it means he was blessed with a
daughter by that name. (Gemarah Baba Basra 141)

Avraham was blessed with everything:
-----------------------------------

There are other opinions which say that "Bakol" comes to teach us that
Avraham was blessed with everything, meaning that
Hashem blessed Avraham with total control over his wills and desires. 
Hashem awarded Avraham with "his own eternity".

Rav Mordechai Gifter explains that his servant Eliezer was also in
control of himself, as we see in the next Pasuk "...the
elder of his household who controlled all."

Why did Avraham need a special blessing from Hashem while Eliezer
didn't?

Rav Gifter  explains that we know from Chazal "One who is greater than
his friend also possesses a greater evil inclination."
(Sukah 52:a)

The greater one grows spiritually, the more powerful ones Yetzer Hara
becomes.
Both Avraham and Eliezer mastered their Yetzer Hara, yet Avraham was on
a higher level, thus he had a stronger Yetzer Hara,
and needed a special blessing from Hashem in order to overcome it.

"Eliezer controlled all that was his" , Eliezer controlled his money,
his money didn't control him.  He was not obsessed by
money, and he did not pursue riches.  The "Kli Yakar" explains that this
is why Avraham entrusted Eliezer, for he knew that
the lust for money would not cause him to act inappropriately.

Eliezer's daughter:
------------------

We do however see a slight flaw by Eliezer.

For when he asked Avraham "Perhaps the woman shall not wish to follow
me" (24:5), the word "Ulai" (perhaps), is written with
the letter "Vav".  However when Eliezer tells over to Lavan the whole
story, (24:39) he says "Perhaps..." and it is written
without a "Vav".  For without a "Vav" can be read as "Ayli" (to me),
Eliezer was hoping that maybe he could marry off his
daughter to Yitzchak, thus when he asked Avraham, "Perhaps...", he
wasn't asking, rather he was hoping.

At first, when he told Avraham, he wasn't aware of his true motivations,
however when he repeated to Lavan how everything
worked out, only then did he realize that the "Perhaps..." was really
"to me".

He was now aware of his subconscious, bias motivations.

Rav Eliyahu Dessler explains that as long as Eliezer was still hoping to
give over his daughter to Yitzchak, he was unable to
see his self-interest, for one can not see the truth in any area, in
which his bias operates.

Only when he renounced his bias, was he able to see the truth in his
statement.

For now he understood that Hashem had already chosen Yitzchak's wife,
thus he realized his bias.

A person can only see the truth to the extent that his spiritual level
permits.  We must increase our spiritual awareness to
allow ourselves to be more truthful to others and ourselves.

Only one who can discover his hidden motives, can see the truth.



*******
I would like to thank my mother (S.M.F) for helping me out by
looking over the first draft.

(The above Halacha is not Psak, it is there to try to help to increase
ones Torah awareness, for final Psak, please consult your : Local
Reliable
Orthodox Rabbi.)


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