This week, we encounter a beautiful line of tefillah (prayer) from the mouth of Abraham’s servant. Charged with finding a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac, this servant wants his mission to be successful, and he calls out to God: יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם הַקְרֵה־נָא לְפָנַי הַיּוֹם וַעֲשֵׂה־חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי אַבְרָהָם Adonai, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune on this day, and deal lovingly with my master Abraham.
The mission here seems crucial not just so that Isaac finds a partner, but so this new faith that Avraham started has a next generation. And he knows that for that to be true, he needs God’s chesed, God’s love. In a midrashic rendering of this moment, Rabbi Chaggai adds to this one-line prayer two extra words: “hitchalta, gamur.” You started it God, finish it. As if the servant is saying to God, You started Avraham on this path, you can’t NOT ensure there is a continuation. You started this new people and what they bring to the world, keep working in this world, God.
We know that the servant’s mission was successful, and it’s in the very next verse after his tefillah that we meet Rivka, Isaac’s wife, for the first time. The tefillah worked. God’s chesed came through. God started, God is working towards the completion.
And yet, we know that God isn’t explicitly present in this saga. It is only because of the servant’s work, and his willingness to go the distance – literally – that the mission is successful. What strikes me about this servant is that he doesn’t even realize that he is the one that makes his tefillah come true. But he is the one that enables God’s chesed - the very thing he prayed for - to be felt! The ‘hitchalta’ (you started it!) came from God speaking to Avraham ‘lech lecha - go on this journey,’ but the ‘gamur’ (finish! or maybe better said, continue!) only came to fruition because of the partnership with the people who believe in the vision and are committed to it.
We can beg God to do work in this world. We can beg God to help us ensure a vibrant future of Judaism. But God’s work of continuing is entirely dependent on us. We are the actors who can choose to live proud, vibrant Jewish lives. We are the ones who make God’s chesed felt. And whether we realize it or not, we are the ones who do God’s work here on earth.
