Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

"And it was when he had not yet finished speaking that suddenly Rivka wa coming out she who had been born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nachor, brother of Avraham with her jug upon her shoulder" (Genesis 24:15)

After saying a prayer that he should find a wife for Yitzchak, the Torah then tells us what happened to Eliezer, Avraham's trusted servant. This is uncanny as the story unfolds because Avraham commands him and makes him swear that he is only allowed to find a woman with certain character traits from his family and not from the cursed Canaanites. What are the odds after this prayer is said that the one chosen to be Yitzchak's wife, "just happens" to come to the well to draw water? One in a thousand, a million?

Judaism certainly doesn't believe in coincidences! Everything is run by G-d and has His influence whether we understand it or not. There is a command for all Jews to believe in G-d. Where do we know this mitzvah from? The first of the 10 commandments which states, "I am the L-rd your G-d who has taken you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage" (Exodus 20:2)

The commentators are bothered and ask why don't we have proof from the fact that G-d created the world, why does the Torah say that it is because He took them out of Egypt? The answer is because there was no one alive at the time that could verify that G-d created the world whereas by the giving of the Torah, we have 2 - 3 million people who saw G-d face to face on Mount Sinai.

You may ask but how do I know this is true? The answer is because we have many many things in Judaism that correspond to the exodus from Egypty. The whole Passover seder commemorates that by having three matzah's, four cups of wine and the fifth cup of Elijah...We have kiddush Friday night that commemorates the coming out of Egypt as well as the entire evening service...

So there are many things that we do that perpetuate this and it shows how G-d intervenes in history which is most important. Therefore the belief in G-d as a Jew is because is to know Him through knowledge and by a flippant I believe in G-d!

This is an important lesson we learn from the story of Eliezer finding a wife for Yitzchak. G-d runs the world and we should never forget that. We may not always understand His ways but He is there pulling the strings. We sometimes get a glimpse and when we do it makes it that much sweeter!

Shabbat Shalom