And Isaac went out walking in the field toward evening and he raised his eyes and saw: Behold! There were camels approaching.
Raising her eyes, Rebekah saw Isaac. She alighted from the camel
and said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” And the servant said, “That is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.
Genesis 24:63-64
This first meeting between Isaac and Rebecca is described in a few, terse words, but they open before us a window into human existence. The reader is surprised to learn that at the very same instant, both Isaac and Rebecca raise up their eyes, but that their eyes do not meet. They are still some distance from one another – they look towards the horizon and discern some unusual movement.
They see radically different things, however. While Isaac sees camels approaching, Rebecca spots her soon-to-be husband, Isaac.
Isaac does not succeed in focusing properly, and he misses the main point. Rebecca focuses and succeeds in identifying Isaac, even though she has never met him before.
Rabbi Abraham Saba, author of the Tzror HaMor, describes Rebecca’s experience as follows:
Just as he raised his eyes, so she raised her eyes, and by means of Divine vision she saw Isaac and recognized who he was.
She fell off the camel in a show of modesty to indicate that having seen him, she was subservient to him.
For if she had not recognized him, why did she make herself fall?
And the fact that she asked who he was, was simply to be certain.
Rabbi Saba proves that Rebecca recognized Isaac by pointing to her immediate reaction – her fall from the camel. Her follow-up question served only to clarify that her feeling was correct. His understanding is that she knew his identity by means of a Divine vision; the Zohar teaches that she had a physical sense that it was him, even before she recognized him and knew that it was him. The Rashbam also notes that Rebecca’s question “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” could not possibly have been an innocent question, for surely she did not make that inquiry with regard to every person who they encountered on the trip. Clearly she was asking in this case specifically in order to be certain of something that she had already understood.
In his Akeidat Yitzhak, Rabbi Isaac Arama notes the fact that in contrast with Rebecca’s clear vision, Isaac missed seeing that his wife was being brought to him. He explains:
The Torah relates that when Isaac went out walking in the field in the evening, he raised his eyes and looked out and saw nothing but camels. For it was quite a distance, and he was unable to discern the servant and his people or the woman and her handmaidens. He only saw the camels approaching.
But from that same distance, Rebecca raised her eyes and say Isaac standing alone. With no wedding retinue.
By merit of Rebecca’s vision she was able to discern that he was a unique and noble person, and recognized that he was to be her husband…
All of this is in praise of this woman’s acumen and courage, her great sensitivity and intelligence, her morality and modesty. All of which are signs of her perfection, strength and talent in both the physical realm and the intellectual realm. These come together in her, and allow her to perform the tasks that will be required.
Akeidat Yitzhak, Genesis, 22
In comparing Isaac and Rebecca, Rabbi Arama learns a tremendous amount about Rebecca’s abilities, to the extent that he heaps upon her all of the praises of a “Woman of Valor” – acumen, courage, sensitivity, intuition, and more.
Hasidic masters turned the focus of the story away from the human element and suggested reading it as allegory. Rebecca serves as a parable for the Shekhina – the Divine presence that is hidden – while Isaac represents the ordinary Jewish person. The Shekhina does not reveal Itsef before Isaac. The camel represents the midat ha-din – the attribute of justice – that appears in times of Heavenly concealment. Thus, the image of the meeting between Israel and God, is one difficulty and suffering – similar to the image of Isaac’s own belief experience (see Torat Emet of the Apter Rebbe). Bringing Rebecca into the tent is an act of covering that which is already covered, and it represents how Isaac deals with this difficulty – covering the hidden Shekhina allows for the love to be revealed.
Still, it is possible to switch the parable and the metaphor. We can view the challenge of meeting God as a parable for human interaction.
The Babylonian Talmud tells a story that expresses this challenge. A large crowd goes out to welcome the king, whose imminent arrival is expected. Among those who join the crowd is Rav Sheshet, who is blind. It turns out that among the crowd, he was the single individual who successfully recognized when the king arrived. When he heard the loud noises of animals and soldiers, Rav Sheshet knew that the king had not yet come. Only after three sets of troops had marched past and there was a moment of stillness and quiet, did Rav Sheshet determine that the king was coming, and at that moment he correctly deduced that it was time to recite the appropriate blessing (Bavli, Berakhot 58a). Rav Sheshet worked with the understanding that the kingdom on early parallels the Kingdom on High, and that just as the King of kings rules in quiet and majesty, so do the kings down on Earth. The thundering retinue of kings and heads of state often distracts us from what is truly important; the noise hides that which is essential, which is hidden in quiet in its midst.
Isaac gazes upon the camels, yet remains undiscerning. Rebecca looks, and succeeds in seeing properly.
If we want to be able to discern the thing that is true, we must be able to ignore the distractions. It is by focusing our attention that we can succeed in reaching a state of intimacy.