Devar/5768/Chayei Sarah
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< Devar | 5768
עברית
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English
And there was set food before him to eat; but he said: "I will not eat, until I have told mine errand." (Gen 24:33)
The first emissary, Eliezer the servant of Avraham, says these words after a long and tiring journey to find a match for the son of his master, Isaac. He refuses to eat even a nibble until he completes his mission. This sort of devotion is unique, therefore the Torah tells us at length about these events. Eliezer isn't "just a goy", rather he's a central personality and example in the history of the people.
He is an example of a "faithful emissary", who doesn't stop until he has fulfilled his mission. He is also an example of the proper approach to being an emissary, by his steadfast devotion to perform the will of the one who sends him. Also, by his praising God when he succeeds. All this, while he is a servant, and not of the lineage of Avraham our forefather.
There are those among our people who always speak of the other nations in a deprecating manner. Some say the Gentiles haven't a soul like Jews have. Some say the Gentiles don't have a portion in the World to Come. Apparently they didn't pay attention to the devotion of Eliezer, nor to the entire book of Jonah, nor to the halacha: Informers, and apikorsim, and heretics and apostates -- the Sages did not need to count them among those whose testimony is invalid, since they only counted the evildoers of Israel. But these rebellious deniers, they are less than the Gentiles: since Gentiles -- one doesn't raise nor lower, and their righteous have a portion in the World to Come; but these, we lower and do not raise, and they have no portion in the Word to Come. (Laws of Testimony 11:11)
That is to say that even Gentiles, who are not members of the Covenant, nor are they bound by all the Commandments, do inherit a portion in the Word to Come if their behavior is in accord with the commandments given to the descendants of Noah. But a Jew who divorces himself from the Torah, and makes himself as if he were a Gentile, he only inherits destruction, despite our Sages statement: "All Israel has a portion in the World to Come".
It is very worthwhile to keep in mind, that all of us - Jews and Gentiles, are children of one man - and we are therefore brothers and cousins. It is not proper for the Holy nation to disdain the others, neither by words, nor by actions nor by thoughts. With God's help, if we behave properly may we merit the revelation of our righteous Messiah, and then all of us will understand we are truly brothers.