Chayei Sarah

After Avraham buries his beloved wife, he turns his focus to the long-term welfare of his son and sends his servant on a match-making expedition to find a wife for Yitzchak. In the first instruction he gives his servant, Avraham commands that this mission not be a local one; instead, the servant must travel to his master's homeland, Aram Naharayim, to find the perfect match. What a strange directive! Hadn't Hashem told Avraham decades earlier to leave his birthplace and homeland to settle in the land of Canaan? If Avraham wanted to protect his son from the lure of idol worship, those in Aram Naharayim held similar idolatrous beliefs to those in Canaan; why does Avraham prefer the location of his youth?

Earlier in the parashah Avraham identifies himself as both a stranger and a settler simultaneously.  While he sees himself as a citizen of Canaan, Avraham also recognizes that he engages in the culture and life in the new country through an immigrant's lens. The viewpoint of the stranger coupled with the perspective of the citizen allows him to view and evaluate Canaanite life as both an outsider and an insider. Avraham strikes a balanced view of the world around him through these opposite identities. Yitzchak does not see Canaan through the same lenses; he grew up in Canaan and can only see the culture around him as familiar and comfortable. Avraham realizes that in order to perpetuate the balanced outlook that his descendants will need to grow spiritually, he needs to find a wife for Yitzchak who can also regard herself as a stranger and a settler, someone who has taken the same spiritual journey that he himself embarked upon.

Shabbat Shalom,