November 13, 2025
Avraham Avinu sent his trusted servant, Eliezer, to his homeland, where was born – Aram Naharayim – in order to find there a suitable match for Yitzhak. The Torah tells that Eliezer went to Aram Naharayim with כל טוב אדוניו בידו – "all his master's goodness in his hand" (24:10). The commentaries explain this to mean that Eliezer took with him the official document in which Avraham promised to bequeath his enormous fortune to Yitzhak. Eliezer took this in order to convince the girl and her family to agree to the match. However, the Shelah Ha'kadosh takes note of a slight but important nuance in this pasuk . The word טוב is punctuated not as it usually is, with the dot on top of the ו , such that it would be pronounced tov , but rather with the dot in the middle of the letter ו , resulting in the pronunciation tuv . This raises the question as to the difference between the Hebrew words tov and tuv , and why this might matter in the context of Eliezer's mission to find a wife for Yitzhak. The Shelah Ha'kadosh explains the difference. The word tov refers to goodness that can be easily seen, that is clear, that is unmistakable. Avraham's legacy, which he passed onto Yitzhak – and to all of us – includes many wonderful blessings and precious gifts that are very clear to us. There is no mistaking the great blessing of Shabbat, of family, of Torah learning, and of the many joys that we are privileged to experience by being part of the Jewish Nation. But Avraham also bequeathed to us