By Rabbi Ozer Pinchas Zeffren
In this week’s parsha, Avraham Avinu sent his slave, Eliezer to find a wife for his son Yitzchok. After Eliezer met Rivka by the well and she offered to give him and his camels water, Eliezer wanted her for Yitzchok. Eliezer went to her father Besuel’s house to arrange the shidduch, and he was offered food. However, Eliezer responded: (24:33) ויאמר לא אכל עד אם דברתי דברי But he said, “I will not eat until I have spoken my words.”
Why did Eliezer refuse to eat until he spoke? The Maharil Diskin, Rav Yehoshua Leib Diskin, brings an answer from his father Rav Binyomin Diskin. He answers based on the Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim Siman 652 Siif 2 that one may not eat before performing a mitzvah that he is obligated in. Because Eliezer had a mitzvah to fulfill his oath to Avraham Avinu to marry off Yitzchok, he was forbidden to eat before he married him off.
The Maharil Diskin says an additional answer from himself. The Gemara says (See Yoma 28b and Kiddushin 82a), that the Avos, our Forefathers kept the entirety of the Torah before it was given. We know Yitzchok was forbidden to leave Eretz Yisroel because he received the status of an olah temima, a holy sacrifice when he went up on the altar by the עקידה, the Binding Of Yitzchok. Avraham Avinu did not want Yitzchok marrying a woman from Eretz Yisroel due to their wickedness. So, Eliezer would have to find a wife for him. In order for Eliezer to marry off Yitzchok, he would have to be a shaliach, a halachic agent to perform the kiddushin, the initial part of marriage. However, Eliezer had the status of an Eved Canaani, a non-Jewish slave, and the Gemara in Gittin 23b says that a non-Jewish slave cannot be an agent to perform a kiddushin. How then could Eliezer be an agent and perform the kiddushin for Yitzchok?
So, says the Mahril Diskin, it must be, that Avraham Avinu freed Eliezer which would then make him, halachically, a full-fledged Jew and he would then be able to perform the kiddushin. However, we run into another issue. The Gemara Gittin 38a says that one he frees his non- Jewish slave transgresses a positive commandment of לעולם בהם תעבודו (see Vayikra 25:46). So how could Avraham Avinu free Eliezer?
There’s another Gemara (Gittin 41) that says that someone who is a half non-Jewish slave/half Jew, cannot get married in his current state. This is because his slave side can only marry a maidservant and his free side can only marry a Jewess. So, he must be released in order for him to fulfill the mitzvah of procreation. From this Gemara we see that in order to fulfill the mitzvah of procreation a slave can be freed. So too, in order for Yitzchok to fulfill the mitzvah of procreation, Avraham Avinu was permitted to free Eliezer. However, it’s possible Rivkah or her
father would not agree for her to get married. If so, then Eliezer could not be freed because the mitzvah of procreation wouldn’t be applicable. Avraham Avinu would therefore have to free Eliezer על תנאי, on condition Rivkah would agree to the marriage.
With this, the Maharil Diskin answers the original question why Eliezer couldn’t eat yet. The halacha in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim siman 199 is that slaves have to make their own zimun (group to bentch). Eliezer therefore couldn’t eat yet because he didn’t know with whom he would bentch (see the laws of zimun). He didn’t know yet if Rivkah and her family would agree for her to get married to Yitchok. Were they to agree, Avraham Avinu’s emancipation would take effect, he would be a free man and he would have to make a zimun with the free men.
However, if they were not agree to the shidduch, he would remain a slave and would have to bentch with the slaves.
