In our Parshah we read that Eliezer, servant of Abraham, traveled to Haran to seek Rebecca’s hand in marriage to Isaac. When he appeared before her family he prefaced his presentation with the words, “I am a servant of Abraham.” The Talmud teaches that even the casual dialogue of our patriarchs’ servants was instructive. What instruction can we take from this introduction?
Eliezer completely understood his mission and was eminently capable of carrying it out. He could have taken ownership of it and said, “My name is Eliezer and, on behalf of Isaac, I am here to ask for Rebecca’s hand.” Instead he declared that, though he may be a party to the discussion, “I am a servant of Abraham”--he is only here in deference to Abraham. He was, on every occasion and in every sense of the word, his master’s servant.
In the Torah, there are two general categories of mitzvot, commandments. There are mitzvot that are beyond our understanding, such as the requirement for the red heifer and the prohibition against wearing a blend of wool and linen. We perform these mitzvot in deference to G-d. We accept that his reasons are good and acknowledge that divine logic is simply beyond us.
There are also mitzvot that are within the realm of human comprehension, such as the requirement for charity and the prohibition against theft. Though we understand the logic of these mitzvot, we recognize that G-d must have had a far deeper logic then the one available to us.
Our reasoning is finite, as is the logic of the mitzvah that is presented to us. But G-d’s infinite mind must surely have conceived of an infinite logic that completely transcends our finite capacity. It is therefore important that we perform also these "logical" mitzvot not only out of our limited understanding of them, but also in deference to a G-d whose reasons utterly transcend that of our own.
We must, on every occasion and in every sense of the word, be our master’s servants.
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