Self Sacrifice:
A Lesson from Devora to Devora
By Chaya Mushka and Nechama Krimmer
Parshas Vayishlach focuses on the adventures of Yaakov and his encampment as they leave Lavan's place to travel to Yaakov's birthplace in Eretz Cannan. Within this narrative, a new character in Yaakov's house is mentioned for the first and only time. Who is this mysterious woman introduced to us in this parsha and why does the Torah feel it is important for us to know her at this specific time in Jewish history?
The Torah says, "Devora, Rivka's nurse, then died, and she was buried below (the mountain at) Beis E-l (under an oak tree)… and Yaakov named it Alon, 'the Oak Tree of Sadness'" (Genesis 35:8).
What was so special about Devora that Yaakov felt compelled to stop, grieve, and name her burial place? Even more compelling, why did the Torah specifically mention Devora's passing, when the deaths of both Rivka and Leah, for example, are not explicitly stated in the Torah?
We can deduce, however, that Devora may have been spoken of previously in the Torah. When Avraham's servant Eliezer went to Lavan's place to find a wife for Yitzchok, Eliezer is impressed with the kindness and generosity of Rivka and her drawing of water from the well for both him and his camels.
When Rivka accepts Eliezer's request to return to Eretz Canaan to marry Yitzchok, the Torah writes, "So they (Lavan's house) sent away Rivka, their sister, and her nurse and Avraham's servant and his men'' (Genesis 24:58). This nurse, mentioned here only in passing, was none other than Devora.
Not much is known about Rivka's mother. It is clear, however, that Devora was Rivka's primary maternal figure. Not only did Devora nurse Rivka as a child but Rivka remained under Devora's wing throughout her childhood and until Rivka's marriage to Yitzchok. The Talmud explains that Devora did not just care for Rivka's physical and emotional needs but that Devora was also Rivka's teacher and her mentor.
In this juncture in the story, it's important to remember that it was Rivka who sent Yaakov to Lavan's place in Charan to escape the anger of Esau and, now, twenty years later, it is Rivka who once again is calling for Yaakov and the family he raised in Charan to return home.
The famous commentator, Rashi, explains that out of all the people in Yitzchok and Rivka's camp, Rivka chose Devora to take the long and arduous trip to Charan to convince Yaakov to bring his family back to Eretz Canaan.
On the face of it, Rivka's choice seems almost bizarre. Rivka was an elderly woman herself. Why would Rivka choose her childhood nurse, an even older woman, to make the long and difficult trip to Charan on her behalf?
Why would Rivka not choose a man in his prime who would easily be able to make the journey? Why would Rivka burden an elderly woman with the task, specifically with the dangers a woman traveling alone might face from robbers or others on the road up to no good.
Many commentators on the Torah were also baffled by Rivka's choice to send Devora in her stead. The Ramban suggests that Devora may have originally accompanied Rivka to Eretz Canaan for her wedding and then returned back to Lavan's place at a later time.
Perhaps Devora had become a member of Yaakov's house during their time in Charan, assisting in the care of the children of Rochel, Leah, and the two concubines, Zilpa and Bilha, like she had with Rivka, herself.
The prevailing opinion, however, is that Devora was living in the camp of Rivka and Yitzchok when Rivka sent Devora on the journey from Eretz Canaan back to Charan to compel her son to come home.
Yaakov had serious reservations about leaving Lavan's house. Still terrified by Esau's threats in his youth, Yaakov was afraid his family, the members of his camp, and his host of animals would be in danger on their journey back to Eretz Canaan. Yaakov did not know if Esau's hatred of Yaakov still burned within him.
It was only Devora, Rivka's nurse and life long companion, who could convince Yaakov to return home. And Devora ultimately sacrificed her life for her mission, passing away on the way back to Eretz Canaan at the place Yaakov named the "Oaktree of Sadness".
If we now fast forward from generation to generation, from Biblical times to the Industrial Revolution, we will encounter another Devora, who perhaps received strength from her Biblical namesake.
The Rebbetzin Devora Leah was the second daughter of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Rebbe of Chabad. Devora Leah was especially close with her blessed and esteemed father, who equally recognized his daughter's spiritual loftiness.
As our story unfolds, Devora Leah was a young wife and mother to a three year old son. She could sense that the life of her father, the Alter Rebbe, was in danger.
The heavens were in a tumult. Prior to the Chassidic movement, the study of Kabbala and the teachings of Jewish mysticism were reserved for a select holy few.
The Alter Rebbe, however, saw with his spiritual vision that now was the time to release the mystical teachings of Chassidus to the world. The Alter Rebbe made the spreading of Chassidus his life's work. He believed that the teachings of Chassidus would bring an influx of spiritual light into the physical world and would uplift and inspire even the simplest of souls to recognize the beauty of living a G‑dly life.
At the same time, the Alter Rebbe could sense that there was spiritual opposition in the heavens to sharing the inner secrets of the Torah to the world. The Alter Rebbe sent messengers to pray at the gravesites of the Baal Shem Tov and the gravesites of his mentors. The visions the Alter Rebbe saw made his trepidation only worse. His very life, in fact, was in danger. The Alter Rebbe was afraid that if he died, his holy mission would not come to fruition.
When the Alter Rebbe's daughter, Devora Leah, became aware of the severity of the danger her father was in, she convened a Beis Din, a Jewish court. She asked the court to promise to rule in favor of her request, which she had not yet disclosed to them. As the daughter of the Alter Rebbe, and a Tzedekas, a righteous, holy woman, they felt compelled to accept her plea.
How shocked they must have been when she declared that it was her intention to give up her own life in order that the life of the Alter Rebbe be spared so he could continue spreading Chassidus to the world.
Her final request to her father was that he would raise, teach, and guide her three year old son, Menachem Mendel. That son who grew up on the Alter Rebbe's lap went on to become the third Rebbe of Chabad known as the Tzemach Tzedek.
Next week on Yud Tes Kislev, the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, we celebrate the liberation of the Alter Rebbe from prison in Petersburg in 1798. This day is one of the biggest holidays on the Chabad calendar.
In prison, the Alter Rebbe could see that his earthly imprisonment and court case mirrored the case still waging in the heavenly court about the spreading of Chassidus.
When the Alter Rebbe was freed from prison, it was a sign that the heavenly court had ruled in his favor, that the wellsprings of Chassidus would flow to the four corners of the earth!
May we all endeavor to study Chassidus with both the joy and sacrifice that was necessary for it to be revealed in order to light up the world until the coming of Moshiach.
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Footnote:
An acknowledgment to Rabbi YY Jacobson who introduced sources on the Biblical story of Devora in his parsha shiur, Vayishlach, 2021.
