After such a monumental event, life surely changed. According to Legends of the Jews, Abraham felt the weight of his years more acutely after Sarah's passing.
Interestingly, the text suggests Abraham himself requested visible signs of aging! Before, it was difficult to tell the old from the young. As Isaac resembled his father, people would often mistake them, giving requests meant for one to the other. So, Abraham prayed for visible signs of aging, and God granted his wish.
Even in his old age, God's blessing remained with Abraham. To show that the blessings weren’t solely because of Sarah, God continued to prosper him after her death. Hagar bore him a daughter, and Ishmael, repenting of his past actions, became subordinate to Isaac. Abraham enjoyed peace within his family and high regard in the world. Kings from the east and west sought his wisdom. He even possessed a precious stone that could heal the sick, which, upon his death, God attached to the wheel of the sun.
But perhaps the greatest blessing, shared only with Isaac and Jacob, was that the yetzer hara – the evil inclination – had no power over him, giving him a taste of the world to come. This wasn't unearned, of course. Abraham was righteous, fulfilling even later rabbinical laws, like the rules about the Sabbath day's journey (techum shabbat (the Sabbath)). Because of this, God revealed new teachings to him, the same ones expounded daily in the heavenly academy!
Yet, one crucial piece was missing: a wife for Isaac.
So, Abraham called his trusted, aged servant Eliezer. Eliezer wasn’t just a servant; he mirrored Abraham in spirit and appearance. Like his master, Eliezer had control over his yetzer hara and was well-versed in the law. Abraham said to him, "I am old, and I don't know when I will die. Go to my homeland, to my family, and find a wife for my son."
This decision, the text tells us, stemmed from Abraham's thoughts after the Akeidah – the binding of Isaac – at Mount Moriah. He realized that had the sacrifice been completed, Isaac would have died childless. He even considered choosing a wife from the daughters of his allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, knowing their piety outweighed concerns about lineage.
But God intervened, saying, "Do not worry about a wife for Isaac. One has already been provided." According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, who had been childless, was blessed with fertility after Isaac's birth. She bore Bethuel, who then fathered a daughter at the time of Isaac's sacrifice – the very daughter destined to be Isaac's wife!
Remembering the proverb, "Even if the wheat of thine own place be darnel, use it for seed," Abraham resolved to find a wife within his own family. Since any wife would have to convert, he reasoned, it was best to prioritize his own kin.
Eliezer, ever the loyal servant, then posed a practical question: "What if no woman wants to come with me to this land? Can I then marry my own daughter to Isaac?"
Abraham firmly refused. "No," he said, "you are of the accursed race, and my son is of the blessed race. Curse and blessing cannot be combined. And do not take my son back to the land from which I came; that would be like taking him to hell. God, who moves the heavens, will make this right. He who took me from my father's house, who spoke to me and swore to me in Haran and at the covenant of the pieces that He would give this land to my seed, He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there."
Eliezer then swore an oath to Abraham by the sign of the covenant, solidifying his commitment to this crucial mission.
Isn't it remarkable to see how even after the most profound spiritual trials, like the Akeidah, life continues? Abraham's story reminds us that even in old age, purpose remains. And sometimes, that purpose involves finding the right match for the next generation. It makes you wonder, what "Eliezer's mission" are we each called to undertake in our own lives?
The death of Sarah dealt Abraham a blow from which he did not recover. So long as she was alive, he felt himself young and vigorous, but after she had passed away, old age suddenly overtook him. It was he himself who made the plea that age be betrayed by suitable signs and tokens. Before the time of Abraham an old man was not distinguishable externally from a young man, and as Isaac was the image of his father, it happened frequently that father and son were mistaken for each other, and a request meant for the one was preferred to the other. Abraham prayed therefore that old age might have marks to distinguish it from youth, and God granted his petition, and since the time of Abraham the appearance of men changes in old age. This is one of the seven great wonders that have occurred in the course of history. The blessing of God did not forsake Abraham in old age, either. That it might not be said it had been granted to him only for the sake of Sarah, God prospered him after her death, too. Hagar bore him a daughter, and Ishmael repented of his evil ways and subordinated himself to Isaac. And as Abraham enjoyed undisturbed happiness in his family, so also outside, in the world. The kings of the east and the west eagerly besieged the door of his house in order to derive benefit from his wisdom. From his neck a precious stone was suspended, which possessed the power of healing the sick who looked upon it. On the death of Abraham, God attached it to the wheel of the sun. The greatest blessing enjoyed by him, and by none beside except his son Isaac and Jacob the son of Isaac, was that the evil inclination had no power over him, so that in this life he had a foretaste of the future world. But all these Divine blessings showered upon Abraham were not undeserved. He was clean of hand, and pure of heart, one that did not lift up his soul unto vanity. He fulfilled all the commands that were revealed later, even the Rabbinical injunctions, as, for instance, the one relating to the limits of a Sabbath day's journey, wherefor his reward was that God disclosed to him the new teachings which He expounded daily in the heavenly academy. But one thing lacked to complete the happiness of Abraham, the marriage of Isaac. He therefore called his old servant Eliezer unto himself. Eliezer resembled his master not only externally, in his appearance, but also spiritually. Like Abraham he possessed full power over the evil inclination, and like the master, the servant was an adept in the law. Abraham spake the following words to Eliezer: "I am stricken in age, and I know not the day of my death. Therefore prepare thyself, and go unto my country, and to my kindred, and fetch hither a wife for my son." Thus he spake by reason of the resolution he had taken immediately after the sacrifice of Isaac on Moriah, for he had there said within himself, that if the sacrifice had been executed, Isaac would have gone hence childless. He was even ready to choose a wife for his son from among the daughters of his three friends, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, because he knew them to be pious, and he did not attach much importance to aristocratic stock. Then spake God to him, and said: "Concern thyself not about a wife for Isaac. One has already been provided for him," and it was made known to Abraham that Milcah, the wife of his brother Nahor, childless until the birth of Isaac, had then been remembered by God and made fruitful. She bore Bethuel, and he in turn, at the time of Isaac's sacrifice, begot the daughter destined to be the wife of Isaac. Mindful of the proverb, "Even if the wheat of thine own place be darnel, use it for seed," Abraham determined to take a wife for Isaac from his own family. He argued that as any wife he chose would have to become a proselyte, it would be best to use his own stock, which had the first claim upon him. Eliezer now said to his master: "Peradventure no woman will be willing to follow me unto this land. May I then marry my own daughter to Isaac?" "No," replied Abraham, "thou art of the accursed race, and my son is of the blessed race, and curse and blessing cannot be united. But beware thou that thou bring not my son again unto the land from whence I came, for if thou broughtest him thither again, it were as though thou tookest him to hell. God who sets the heavens in motion, He will set this matter right, too, and He that took me from my father's house, and that spake unto me, and that swore unto me in Haran, and at the covenant of the pieces, that He would give this land unto my seed, He shall send His excellent angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence." Eliezer then swore to his master concerning the matter, and Abraham made him take the oath by the sign of the covenant.
