In this lesson we see, again, the various ways meanings of ratzon (favorable, favor, desire, desirable, will, willingness). Here we are presented with the contrast between God's will and our personal desires; between the experience of God's favor and its obscuration by our mindless deeds. R. Avraham sets us up with the teaching from the Or Hachayyim, and as might be expected, emphasizes what interests him. Here is the original comment:

"He said, 'YHVH etc. grant me good fortune (hakreh na lephanai) etc.". Eliezer had complete trust in his master, that his prayer would be accepted. He had prayed "[YHVH, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from my native land, who promised me on oath, saying, 'I will assign this land to your offspring'-] He will send His angel before you, [and you will get a wife for my son from there]" (Gen. 24:7). But, Eliezer prayed in addition that he be worthy that the matter come about through him. It does occur that sometimes the mechanism by which a prayer is fulfilled presents an obstacle to its being accomplished. That is why he prayed to the God of his master that God make it unfold through him (sheyikreh lephanav).

The driving issue here seems to be the verb hakreh. It seems to mean here "to make come about": cause this to happen. But, it is also related to the word that means "chance" or "happenstance" (as in Balaam's form of prophecy; cf. Num. 23:3), or event or outcome (cf. Eccl. 2:14, 9:11). So, it is ambiguous what precisely the servant meant in his prayer. The Or Hachayyim brings these two dimensions together. He distinguishes between the certitude of Abraham's prophetic prayer and the unreliable request of the servant. The servant recognizes that his imperfections might, in some manner, impeded the true unfolding of the divine plan, and he prays that he not cause such an untoward occurrence (another sense of mikreh).

The Or Hachayyim goes on:

The reason he had to do so was caution that Abraham's family not deceive him when they learned that he was deputized to take one of their daughters -- they might give him a family handmaid and claim that she was their kin. So he strategized and acted in this manner, with a critical test to determine that she would offer more than she was asked in an exemplary way. He would also know that she was of Abraham's family because she would speak in innocence, without suspecting anything more than what was asked of her. He would know to ask for this woman. And, indeed, Rebecca's first words fit this test, in that she identified herself as "Bethuel's daughter" (vs. 24).

Here we see a more naturalistic reasoning for the servant's caution. It was not only due to his inferiority to his master but because he mistrusted the people he would be dealing with. R. Avraham seems to ignore this line of explication to emphasize, instead, the servant's lowly estate, applying it to our experience.

The argument of the lesson is that we have the capacity to be like Abraham: to align our will with God's, to experience God's favor always. Yet, the distractions of daily life, our propensity to run after fleeting pleasures and material desires, alienate us from sensing God's favor. We can, like Eliezer, acknowledge our mistake, and pray for God's favor. If we do so with a pure heart, we can be assured of receiving blessing, as if through Abraham.

I have included the last section that connects this dynamic to Shabbat as it will be an ongoing theme in our study of Birkat Avraham. It is quite likely that most of the teachings we will study were delivered at the third meal, shalosh se'udot, on Shabbat afternoon. The Zohar identifies this time as ra'ava deravin, the time of deepest desire, of the greatest favor (ra'ava is the Aramaic cognate of ratzon). At this time on Shabbat afternoon, after a day of prayer, rest, study and nourishment both physical and spiritual, one might be most likely to be able to let go of a personal agenda and lean into God's will; to experience the fullness of the moment as an expression of God's favor, and not seek anything more. Rather than hear criticism in how deeply our thoughts have sunk or our prayers are self-serving, R. Avraham is inviting us to see our lives clearly, offering the promise that if we wake up, we can taste of the divine will, share in God's favor.