Rivka and Yitzchak

We just learned in class all about Rivka and Yizchack's first meeting. After much frustration and waiting around, Yitzchak's servant finally convinced Rivkah and her family to let her accompany him back to Yitzchak. Of course though there were "terms". Lavan wanted to make him stay for much longer than he has intended in which time he had hoped that Rivkah would decide not to go. Eliezer also gave Rivkah and her family gold, jewelry, and more. Finally Eliezer got annoyed with all the waiting. He wanted answers. If Rivkah wasn't going to come then he wanted to know so he could move on and find his master a wife. Eliezer told them to tell them a final answer because they were just leading him on. Lavan then gave him a very religious answer, which was weird because they were not very into Hashem. At this point Eliezer must have been very annoyed. He suggested that they just ask Rivkah herself. Lavan agreed because he thought she would say no and not leave her family. When asked, Rivkah agreed. Lavan was shocked. Rivkah wanted to get away from all the bad influences in her family because she wanted to be better. So they packed up the camels and they were off. Finally when they approached where Yitzchak was, he was meditating. Rivkah must have been taken aback a little. I personally do not think she was expecting her future husband to be doing this. She asked Eliezer who that was and he told her. This also surprised her and she fell off her camel. When she got up, she covered her face with her scarf. I think this is because she might have been ashamed or thought of herself as unworthy. Here she is coming from a totally irreligious background and she is about to marry not only someone who IS religious, but someone who meditates to G-d. It did not matter to Yitzchak. He brought her right into his mother's tent and married her. We then saw that she brought him comfort. It's interesting to me though that we don't see her perspective so much after they meet. Pretty much all we hear about it how he is comforted by her. That she fills a "void" almost. She takes almost a backseat in the relationship. This is how she differs from Sarah. Sarah spoke her mind. She told Yaakov to kick out Yishmael when she wanted him to. He also listened to her. I don't think Rivkah will be that assertive with Yitzchak. In a way though Rivkah and Yaakov are similar. They both came from irreligious background, which they left to better serve Hashem.

It think when Rivkah covered her face, was her realization that this was going to be her new life. I think it was almost like an epiphany to her. I don't see it as a bad thing and I don't think she did either. I think she covered her face before meeting him because she wanted to be ready. She was preparing for her new lifestyle. I think that this is what she had always wanted and now she is getting it. She fell off her horse because she was surprised to find out that her husband was on such a high level, which was only better for her. I think it was very good that Hashem has Yitzchak marry Rivkah because she needed him. She needed him to pull her towards religiosity and set her down the right path, but also help her throughout.