Dear Friends,
A special encounter can be perplexing, or astonishing, or both.
Last evening, a rabbinic classmate posted on Facebook that yesterday was the 25th anniversary of when she received an unexpected phone call, and wrote the number on a yellow Post-It note. She still has that Post-It note. And, the caller is now her husband. It is a great, almost Hollywood story – but perplexing and awesome!
Similarly, this week my son and daughter-in-law flew from Boston to California with their nearly year-old daughter (my granddaughter, Jackie!), to visit with family, including my father, Jackie’s great grandfather, for the first time. Pictures of that encounter are astonishing. I am in awe of the moment.
We can stand in awe or astonishment at such special, encounter moments.
Eliezer did. He was Abraham’s eldest servant and was dispatched by Abraham to return to the land of his birth to find a bride for Isaac, Abraham’s marriageable son. Upon arriving in Nahor, Eliezer prayed that God would send a signal as to whom should be the bride he might bring back to Isaac, stating that the maiden who brought water for both him and his camels, would be the kindly one to marry Isaac. Shortly, when the daughters of the town came to the well, Rebecca immediately came forward with water for him to drink, and for his camels.
To which, the Torah indicates, “The man stood staring at her, silent, in order to learn whether or not the Eternal had made this way for him.” (Genesis 24:21) The commentary of Rashi, our medieval French sage, suggests that “staring” connotes “astonished and perplexed.”
Clearly, Eliezer should have been astonished that his mission and his prayer seemed successful. He stared, waiting to speak to the girl and learn of her lineage and determine if she was proper for Isaac. And, he was perplexed. Why should watering camels be the litmus test?
So, too, in our lives. Moments of encounter should be astonishing and perplexing - whether they are an initial phone call, meeting one’s great granddaughter, a first job interview, or seeing a medical specialist. They demand our wonder and our surprise. What is on the other side of the encounter may be mundane, or as in Eliezer, Isaac and my colleague’s cases, magnificent. But, the moment of encounter is frightening in its awe, intriguing in its perplexity (read Post-It note), and thrilling in its possibility.
Let’s savor such moments of encounter!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn.
A special encounter can be perplexing, or astonishing, or both.
Last evening, a rabbinic classmate posted on Facebook that yesterday was the 25th anniversary of when she received an unexpected phone call, and wrote the number on a yellow Post-It note. She still has that Post-It note. And, the caller is now her husband. It is a great, almost Hollywood story – but perplexing and awesome!
Similarly, this week my son and daughter-in-law flew from Boston to California with their nearly year-old daughter (my granddaughter, Jackie!), to visit with family, including my father, Jackie’s great grandfather, for the first time. Pictures of that encounter are astonishing. I am in awe of the moment.
We can stand in awe or astonishment at such special, encounter moments.
Eliezer did. He was Abraham’s eldest servant and was dispatched by Abraham to return to the land of his birth to find a bride for Isaac, Abraham’s marriageable son. Upon arriving in Nahor, Eliezer prayed that God would send a signal as to whom should be the bride he might bring back to Isaac, stating that the maiden who brought water for both him and his camels, would be the kindly one to marry Isaac. Shortly, when the daughters of the town came to the well, Rebecca immediately came forward with water for him to drink, and for his camels.
To which, the Torah indicates, “The man stood staring at her, silent, in order to learn whether or not the Eternal had made this way for him.” (Genesis 24:21) The commentary of Rashi, our medieval French sage, suggests that “staring” connotes “astonished and perplexed.”
Clearly, Eliezer should have been astonished that his mission and his prayer seemed successful. He stared, waiting to speak to the girl and learn of her lineage and determine if she was proper for Isaac. And, he was perplexed. Why should watering camels be the litmus test?
So, too, in our lives. Moments of encounter should be astonishing and perplexing - whether they are an initial phone call, meeting one’s great granddaughter, a first job interview, or seeing a medical specialist. They demand our wonder and our surprise. What is on the other side of the encounter may be mundane, or as in Eliezer, Isaac and my colleague’s cases, magnificent. But, the moment of encounter is frightening in its awe, intriguing in its perplexity (read Post-It note), and thrilling in its possibility.
Let’s savor such moments of encounter!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn.
