At the heart of the story, we see how matchmaking worked in the ancient world, which gives us a glimpse into the social and economic systems that were common back then and might still be around today. We'll get to that in a minute...

The story starts with Sarah's death., Abraham's wife, at the age of 127, in Kiryat Arba, which is Hebron in the land of Canaan. Abraham purchases land and Sarah is buried in the Cave of Machpelah. Immediately afterwards, Abraham's servant is sent to Aram Naharaim to find a wife for their son Isaac.

Abraham's servant receives explicit instructions and sets out on his journey. The parashah repeats the story in variations three times:

The first time he received the task: Abraham swears his servant: "Go to my country and my birthplace, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

Second, the text describes the story itself: "And the servant took ten camels from his master's camels and went, and allhis master's goods in his hand, and he arose and went to Aram Naharaim, to the city of Nahor."  

Then again, the servant describes to the family of the girl chosen for marriage the task he has been given: "And my master made me swear, saying, "You shall nottake a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. If you do not go to my father's house and my family, and take a wife for my son."

Finally, the servant returns to his master with the task completed and tells Isaac all that has happened, like a debriefing report. "And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.".

Why is the repeated description necessary? This may be to emphasize Abraham's intention to choose a wife for his son from among his own people, or to describe Abraham's wealth and thus the profitability of the proposed deal for the family of the girl intended for marriage.

It seems to me that the repetition in the description of events occurs in order to validate complex processes and remind us to revisit and examine what the mission was and what actually happened. Documenting significant events, investigating them, and holding those responsible to account are very important steps in our public life today. We must demand this.

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How romantic can a scene be that includes a desert, a spring, a beautiful girl, a caravan of camels, a water jug, and lots of gold and jewelry?

Poems were written, paintings, engravings, and photographs depicted this human, romantic, and even erotic scene. But things are not as innocent as they seem at first glance.

Abraham's servant arrives in Aram Naharaim, in the city of Nahor, and sees the daughters of the city's men going down to the spring carrying jugs.

What value does he see in the girl that makes him run to her? How is she measured? What are the criteria for a good and worthy woman?

The girl who caught the slave's eye is beautiful and a virgin. She is quick, knows her job, is kind and generous, volunteers to water the camels, and, just as importantly, comes from a respectable and wealthy family.

And here the trade begins: after the slave examines her behavior, which is to show kindness to strangers, hastening to give him and his camels water to drink, he rewards her with a nose ring and gold jewelry. Rebecca's brother, Laban, hears about this, runs to the spring to see what is going on, finds out who the messenger is, and invites him to their home.

After the servant describes his origins, his mission, and the sequence of events, Laban and his father Bethuel agree to give Rebecca to Isaac. Abraham's servant gives a reward "And the servant took outsilver and gold vessels and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; and he gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother."

The surprising twist, like a feminist one, comes later. Rebecca is apparently very young. Her brother Laban and her mother Milcah are debating whether to send her away immediately or to wait. They suggest calling Rebecca and asking her if she would agree to travel far away with the messenger. And they said, "Let us call the girl and ask her." 58 They called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

Who is the feminist here? The family members or Rebecca herself?

It is not entirely clear how much freedom the young girl really has to decide her own fate. She received a nose ring and bracelets, silverware, gold, and clothes, and saw her mother and brothers receiving gifts... Perhaps she felt obligated, or perhaps she even fell in love with the slave himself.

In any case, it seems that this step taken by the family of Bethuel ben Nahor to ask the girl for her consent has resulted in women having the right to choose their husbands even today, thousands of years later, in our Hebrew culture.

And that, my friends, is no small thing, then or now.