The authors of the Tosafot (as brought in the commentary Hadar Zekeinim) suggest that the tree where Devorah the Prophetess sat ("tomer") and the tree where the wet nurse was buried were the same. It was a way for Yaacov to show his appreciation of this righteous woman, who shaped the character of Rivka and also contributed to his own education.ĭevorah the Wet Nurse and Devorah the Prophetess She is the one who gave Rivka the strength to agree to leave her home and go on a journey with a strange slave, in order to join with the house of Avraham, which was based completely on kindness.Īnd this explains why Yaacov himself took such an active role in Devorah's burial. Devorah taught Rivka how to stand up independently against the winds that were blowing in Charan in general and in the house of Lavan in particular. The answer is that the young Rivka had a teacher-nurse who taught her moral behavior, including kindness towards other people. She was the daughter of an evil man and the sister of an evil man, and she lived in an evil place, but she did not learn from their actions." Rivka grew up in a house of swindlers and evil people, but she still became righteous! How could this be? Why is this repeated? Our mentor Nechama Leibowitz taught us that the verse repeats the terms "Aramite – Aram – Aramite" in order to emphasize the similarity to the word "ramai" – a swindler. When she marries Yitzchak, the Torah repeats the family ties of Rivka, emphasizing that he married "Rivka Bat Betuel the Aramite from Padan Aram, the sister of Lavan the Aramite". It was not from her father Betuel, who was greedy, or from her brother Lavan, whose dishonest behavior we will encounter further on. Where did she learn to act this way? It was certainly not from the people in her home. In our first encounter with Rivka at the well we are already introduced to her special character and good behavior. This explanation by the Ramban corresponds to the Targum Yonatan, who translates "meineket Rivka" as the "pidagogata" of Rivka – her teacher and educator. "It is also possible that she was involved in raising Yaacov's children out of respect and love for Rivka, and she was therefore in his home." The wet nurse who raised Rivka helps raise her grandchildren and now joins the family on their return to the Land of Canaan. The Ramban also gives another suggestion. This event is reminiscent of the death of Rachel, who also died and was buried on the way before she could fulfill her dream. But she was not able to accomplish her goal because she died on the way. The Ramban suggests that the wet nurse returned to Charan many years before, "and now she was coming with Yaacov to see her mistress." Before she died, Devorah joined Yaacov and his family on their way back to the land of Canaan, in order to take her leave of the child she had raised. "It is hard to believe that Yaacov's mother would send the old woman as a messenger." It is not reasonable that Rivka would send on this mission somebody who was so old, even older than Rivka herself. And she died on the way." But the Ramban finds this explanation hard to accept. We all grew up with Rashi's commentary, which brings the words of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan: "Since Rivka had told Yaacov, 'I will send someone and bring you back from there', she sent Devorah to him at Padan Aram to say that he should return. But if this is so, we may well wonder: How is it that the wet nurse was with Yaacov and his family on their way back from Choron? Why wasn't she at home with Yitzchak and Rivka? "And they sent their sister Rivka and her wet nurse.". In Toldot we were told that Rivka and her wet nurse were taken to Yitzchak by Eliezer. This is not the only time that Rivka's wet nurse is mentioned in the Torah. The fact that the Torah mentions not only the name of Devorah but also names her burial site gives us a feeling that this was a great woman, one of the hidden righteous, whose actions were not described by the Torah. Why, then, was Devorah privileged, as opposed to some of the Matriarchs, by having her death appear and by having her burial site specifically mentioned? The mention of Devorah's death is thus problematic for two reasons: First of all, the death of Rivka herself is not reported at all (as opposed to Leah, whose death is described). The Torah usually does not go into great detail about minor characters. Who was this woman? Why does the Torah take the trouble to tell us about her death, and why did Yaacov mourn her death so deeply? And she was buried in Beit El underneath the oak tree. "And Devorah, Rivka's wet nurse, passed away. In this week's portion the Torah tells us, as in an aside comment, about the death of Devorah and about how Yaacov mourned for her.
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