Chayei Sarah: Divine Protection

“And her brother and her mother said…” (Genesis 24:55).

Why are Rivka’s brother Lavan and her mother concluding the final details of Rivka’s engagement to Isaac with Eliezer? Where is her father, Betuel?

Rashi tells us that Betuel tried to undermine the engagement by attempting to poison Eliezer, but Hashem sent an angel to foil the plot and Betuel himself ended up drinking the poison.

Eliezer, Abraham’s loyal servant, spares no words in praising and thanking Hashem, so why doesn’t he sing a song of praise here for the miracle that Hashem did for him? He was saved from certain death!

The answer is that he had no idea of the amazing Divine protection that enveloped him as well as the miracle that Hashem had performed for him.

To this day, we have no idea of the evil schemes that our enemies are concocting. This past Yom Kippur, while fasting Jews were pouring their hearts out to Hashem in prayer, a Palestinian terrorist was on his way to murdering Jews. A grenade he was carrying blew up and sent him to oblivion. For every terrorist attack we hear about, there are dozens of attacks that are botched by “operational accidents” of this sort. Every other week, we hear about an explosion that rocks some weapons warehouse or manufacturing facility in Gaza. Hamas has lost more of its operatives in tunnels that cave in than they have in combat with Israel. Hashem is quietly active behind the scenes…

The Yerushalmi Gemara in tractate Peah tells about two brothers from Ashkelon who made a festival pilgrimage to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Their anti-Semitic neighbors planned to rob the Jews of all their possessions while they were away. Yet, when they came to the brothers’ house to steal, they saw the two eating peacefully in their dining room. Perplexed, they aborted their scheme thinking that the brothers had decided against traveling to Jerusalem. Yet, after the festival was over, when the two brothers returned home in their mule-drawn wagon from Jerusalem, the neighbors realized that Hashem had performed a miracle, sending two angels disguised as the two brothers to guard their home.

Many people find difficulty in understanding what King David writes in Psalm 118, “Praise Hashem, all the nations! Praise Him, all the states! For His kindness has overwhelmed us…”

Why would Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, ISIS, Hamas, Fatah, the Islamic Jihad and all our other numerous enemies want to praise Hashem for saving the Jews? The answer is simple: while we have no idea of the magnitude of Hashem’s love, protection, and constant Divine supervision of His chosen people Israel, our enemies are best qualified to praise Hashem, for they know full well how Hashem is constantly thwarting their anti-Semitic designs.

During the Gaza War of the summer of 2014, a senior Hamas commander was asked why their missiles were not more accurate, and despite hundreds of missiles, almost no Israelis were hurt. He responded to the international news media, “What can we do if their G-d reroutes our missiles from Tel Aviv to the Mediterranean Sea?”

When the enemies of Israel praise Hashem, His holy Name is sanctified in a tremendous way. Even so, we don’t yet know a thing. Wait till Mashiach comes, and we’ll hear all the hair-raising stories of how Hashem foiled the plots of our enemies. Even though we don’t know all the actual details, we do know that this very minute, Hashem’s Divine Presence hovers over His people Israel, enclosing us in a bubble of Divine protection. For that alone, we should be praising Him day and night, nonstop. Our enemies know the truth; it’s about time that we open our eyes and recognize it as well!