Chaye Sarah
In the 24th Perek in Sefer Bereshit, the Torah writes in Pasuk 53 how Eliezer, goes on behalf of Avraham, and finds a wife for Avraham’s son Yitzchak, and upon finding Rivka he gives to her jewelry and clothes. He provided her with a trousseau (a wardrobe). So there was a great Cassidic Rabbi called Rav Shalom from Belz, otherwise known as the Belzer Rabbi, and he offered an observation on this Pasuk when he attended Ketuvah signings at weddings.
The Belzer Rabbi asks why does the Torah go out of its way to tell us that Eliezer gave clothes to Rivka? Isn’t that obvious? This is something that is always done. There is a custom to provide clothes even when a lady is rich or poor. So why is the Torah going out of its way to tell us about the clothes? So he answers that Eliezer was trying to instruct Rivka as to the type of attire worn in the house of Avraham Aveenu. He wasn’t giving her clothes necessarily to wear immediately as they weren’t even tailored yet, but he gave her the clothes as an example and illustration of the modesty required when in the home of Avraham Aveenu. The rule, expectation and foundation for character from modesty was being taught and initiated.
It’s interesting to point out that the Torah writes that Rivka was covered up when she met Yitzchak for the first time. This shows that she was modest.
I point this out today because of the immodest fashions worn in the dating world today. Unfortunately, the young ladies these days are choosing to reveal more and more rather than to cover more and more. The girls today, mistakenly believe that wearing less and showing off more will lure a young man into union. We must learn the lesson from the Torah, from the first documented Swanee (gift to a birde consisting of clothing, etc.) which consisted of modest clothing. It was Avraham Aveenu who sent the clothes and set the standard of modesty. This serves as a great lesson to us, and it illustrates that modesty is a foundation for a good marriage and a good life.
