Parshat Vayishlach - A Small-Enormous Miracle: Chanukah and Death of the Nursemaid

What is the miracle of Chanukah, our next holiday starting in less than 2 weeks?

The Rabbis in the Talmud speak of the miracle of the oil.  They explain that the Jewish people discovered the small amount of pure oil not in a random clay jar but in the chotamo shel Kohen ha’Gadol, in the signet ring of the High Priest. 

The ring of the High Priest, a reminder of the time before Antiochus and the Syran-Greek occupation of the Holy Land, a symbol of purity, a symbol of light and the loving interaction of human beings in God in a holy place at holy moments.  There is a wistful side to this description as the Jewish people walk through the Temple, after the Greeks had defiled it and turned it into a pagan sanctuary, we can imagine the people remembering back to holidays there before the war and hoping to clean up and begin the journey toward renewal.

This small supply of pure oil makes a huge impact on Jewish history.  In this small treasure, a treasure that would be insignificant next to the vast amounts of oil needed to keep the menorah burning daily, there is memory and there is hope, there is sadness and there is strength.

We find the same cauldron of feelings in our parsha for this week, Parshat Vayishlach, in a moment that breaks the flow of action, that according to the Ramban stands out and interrupts the story of Jacob at a place beloved by us here, at Beth El, Bet-El the House of God.

The Torah explains:

וַתָּ֤מָת דְּבֹרָה֙ מֵינֶ֣קֶת רִבְקָ֔ה וַתִּקָּבֵ֛ר מִתַּ֥חַת לְבֵֽית־אֵ֖ל תַּ֣חַת הָֽאַלּ֑וֹן וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ אַלּ֥וֹן בָּכֽוּת׃ (פ) 

Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and was buried under the oak below Bethel; so it was named Allon-bacuth.

A woman named Devorah, a nursemaid whose name we only learn now at the end of her life, passes away and there is reason for tears, Allon-Bachut means the oak of weeping. 

Just as the small supply of oil was otherwise overlooked, so too was this special person in the life of our mother Rebekah, but now we realize in a moving and silent moment just how special she was.  More than just a servant, she was part of the family, like the oil, a reminder of the past, of growing up, and like the oil, the tree under which she’s buried points to the future, the Jewish people, offspring of Jacob, settling and building up the Land of Jacob, the Land of Israel.

Tonight, inspired by the loving tribute to Devorah, I would like us to lift up the memories of people in our lives who touched our lives in some small but meaningful way.  Like Devorah, they were not family, but we think of them as family, as part of our life, the large circle that surrounds us.  If those whom you’re thinking about now are gone, say a prayer for them as we remind ourselves of how they impacted our lives.  If they are still with us, consider the story of Devorah, nursemaid to Rebekah, an inspiration to reconnect, to tell them how meaningful was their influence and how it helped each of us to become the people who we are today. 

The Torah does not name Noah’s wife nor does it name the mother of King David (Nitzevet, Talmud) – but the Torah does tell us the name of Devorah, and that our ancestors mourned her like family. 

The Rabbis remember a small amount of oil in a ring that represented what was lost and what could be restored. 

The influence of both Devorah and the oil remind us of all those people who invested in us, loved us and cared about us even in a small way that now, through the reverse lens, made all the difference in the world.