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Dear Yeshiva Family:
The Marriage of Yitzchok and Rivkah: Halachic Questions and Insights In this week's Parshah, Avraham sends his trusted servant Eliezer to find a wife for his son Yitzchok (Bereishis 24). After a series of tests and divine guidance, Eliezer finds Rivkah and arranges her marriage to Yitzchok. While this story is well-known, it raises two significant halachic questions that require further examination.
Question 1: Can Eliezer Act as an Agent? The first question relates to the concept of agency in halacha. There are clear requirements for someone to act as an agent (shaliach) in the performance of a mitzvah. One key requirement is that the agent must be capable of performing the mitzvah themselves. For example, if someone hires an agent to separate terumah and ma'aser (the tithes from produce), the agent must be capable of separating terumah and ma'aser for himself.
This raises a problem with Eliezer. He was a servant, and as such, he was unable to marry according to halacha[1]. How, then, could Eliezer act as an agent for Avraham to facilitate the marriage of Yitzchok?
Question 2: The Issue of Appointing a Secondary Agent The second question stems from another halachic principle regarding agency: an agent is generally not allowed to appoint a second agent to perform an act. This principle is well-established in halachic literature and is applied to an agent performing a marriage by the Mordechai in the name of the Kadosh MiRadosh. (Ask any Yeshiva Bochur learning Maseches Gittin about the 'Kadosh MiRadosh' and this will surely elicit a smile of recognition of this sugya.) To explain, Avraham appointed Eliezer to act on his behalf, but Avraham was also acting as an agent for Yitzchok. Since an agent cannot appoint another agent, how could Eliezer, appointed by Avraham, betroth Rivkah to Yitzchok?
Resolving the Questions: The Extension of the Owner's Hand To answer these questions, we need to explore a fascinating distinction in halachic understanding regarding the status of servants and workers. The Machaneh Efraim (Shluchin 10:11) offers an insight that can resolve both issues. He writes that when a person owns a servant, or hires a worker, and assigns them a task, the task is not performed as an act of shlichus (agency) in the traditional sense. Rather, the act is considered as though the owner himself performed it, with the servant or worker's actions seen as an extension of the owner's own hand (Yad eved kiyad Rabo).
The Machaneh Efraim explains based on this distinction that if someone hires a worker, even a non-Jewish worker, to build a fence around his roof—a mitzvah that requires a blessing (bracha)—the owner can recite the blessing. While halacha generally prohibits a non-Jew from acting as an agent (shaliach) to perform a mitzvah on behalf of a Jew, due to the requirement that the agent must be able to perform the mitzvah himself, this rule does not apply when the agent is a servant or a worker of the owner. Instead, according to this new understanding of the Machaneh Efraim, the worker is viewed as an extension of the owner, and therefore, it is as if the owner himself built the fence. Since the mitzvah is considered to have been performed by the owner, the owner can recite the blessing (berachah), even if the worker is not Jewish.
According to this perspective, if Avraham had asked Eliezer to perform a task on his behalf, the work would not be seen as Eliezer acting as an agent, but rather as Avraham himself performing the task through Eliezer. This principle has profound implications for understanding the situation with Eliezer's mission.
The Role of Eliezer: Acting as an Extension of Avraham Based on the Machaneh Efraim, we can understand that while Eliezer was not capable of performing the act of kiddushin (the formal act of marriage), he was able to act on behalf of Avraham in a way that was halachically valid. Since Eliezer was Avraham's servant, his actions were viewed as an extension of Avraham's will and authority. As a result, Eliezer could arrange the marriage of Yitzchok and Rivkah, even though, on his own, he could not have performed the marriage[2].
This understanding resolves both of our initial questions. First, even though Eliezer could not marry Rivka himself, he could perform actions for Avraham because he was acting as an extension of Avraham's authority; it was as if Avraham himself was performing the marriage. Secondly, although Avraham was an agent for Yitzchok, Eliezer's role as a servant meant that he was not appointed as a secondary agent but was instead carrying out Avraham's instructions directly, as an extension of Avraham's hand. Thus, the halachic restriction against one agent appointing another agent does not apply in this case.
A Disagreement Among the Acharonim It's important to note that the Machaneh Efraim's insight is not universally accepted. Many Acharonim (later halachic authorities) disagree with this approach when it comes to the performance of mitzvos[3]. According to these authorities, the idea that a servant or worker is considered an extension of the owner applies primarily to financial transactions, not to the performance of religious duties or mitzvos. Accordingly, if a non-Jewish worker were hired to build a fence, these Acharonim would argue that a berachah, a religious duty, should not be recited, since the worker is not able to act as an agent for the mitzvah. Thus, while we could use the Machaneh Efraim's insight to explain the actions of Eliezer, it is a controversial position, and many Acharonim would maintain that a worker or servant cannot act as an extension of the owner in the realm of mitzvos.
Pre-Matan Torah Context: A Different Understanding of Marriage However, perhaps we can still use the concept of the Machaneh Efraim even with the understanding of these Acharonim. For another key point to consider is that this entire story occurred before Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah, and this is crucial in understanding the nature of the marriage between Yitzchok and Rivkah. The Rambam (Ishus 1:1) explains that prior to Matan Torah, the institution of marriage was quite different from how we understand it today. Instead of the formal act and bonds of kiddushin (the halachic betrothal that creates a binding marital relationship), marriage was viewed more as a mutual agreement or contract between the two parties involved. This contract did not require the same formalities that kiddushin does today, and therefore, the act of marriage itself was not the same halachic transaction.
With this context in mind, we can better understand Eliezer's role. While he was technically acting as an agent, what he was facilitating was not the kiddushin as we understand it today, but rather an act that created a bond between Yitzchok and Rivkah—a contract-like agreement, rather than a formal halachic marriage. Therefore, even if a servant or worker cannot perform a marriage nowadays, however Eliezer, acting as an extension of Avraham, could perform this action because it did not require the complex halachic status that is associated with kiddushin. Even though our Avos kept the entire Torah, however, a kiddushin-like bond was not yet given to Klal Yisrael, and the marriage that existed between the Avos (forefathers) and Imahos (foremothers) was not on the kiddushin level.
Furthermore, Eliezer was able to act as an agent for such a marriage because even though there is a halachic principle that one agent cannot appoint another agent, this situation was different. As we discussed earlier, Eliezer was not hiring a secondary agent. Rather, he was acting as an extension of Avraham's will to carry out a task that Avraham could have done himself. This distinction helps us understand why Eliezer's involvement did not violate the rule of appointing secondary agents.
Have an amazing Shabbos,
Rabbi Moshe Revah Rosh HaYeshiva, HTC - Beis HaMidrash LaTorah moshe.revah@htc.edu
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[1] One cannot argue that all Eliezer did was bring Rivkah back to Yitzchok, because Tosfos in Kesubos (7b) learns from the story of Eliezer and Rivkah that one must make berachos at a wedding, clearly indicating the actual betrothal happened at that time. [2] This explanation is given by the Panim Yafos as well as the Makneh (Even HaEzer 35:9) [3] See for example R' Akiva Eiger on the Machaneh Efraim. Maharit Elgazi (Bechoros 4:50) among many other. | 
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