Lavan calls Avraham’s servant “Baruch Hashem”, “blessed of/by the Lord.” It is an odd thing to call him, isn’t it? Nobody else in the Torah is ever called that. Indeed, Lavan seems to think it is the servant’s very name!
How could Lavan have possibly got that idea?
Perhaps from Rivkah herself? After all, after the servant encounters Rivkah, he says “Blessed be the Lord (Baruch Hashem) God of my master Avraham…”
Rivkah leaves him, to run back to her home and family, and relate the story to them.
Is it possible she mis-hears the servant’s statement, and thinks it is the man’s name or description? Is there a better explanation for why Lavan echoes the very same words?
This opens up an intriguing possibility: we know that Rivkah was exceptionally kind and considerate. We know that people who tend to see things in a positive light really seem to see the world differently than those who tend to see things negatively. Was it possible Rivkah was such a person?
In other words, could Rivkah’s kindness have also meant that she did not always hear things the way they were originally meant?
After all, we know that this was not the only instance of Rivkah misunderstanding what she heard. When Rivkah overheard Isaac’s intention to give a blessing to Esau, she immediately assumed that Isaac meant to give the blessing – the blessing that “your seed shall inherit this land,” the blessing that Isaac gives to Jacob much later, just before Jacob leaves.
As a result of Rivkah’s misunderstanding of Isaac’s intentions, the family irrevocably fractures, Jacob has to flee, and Rivkah loses connection with the son she loved for the rest of her life.
Was that first mis-hearing of what Avraham’s servant was saying really a preview for Rivkah misunderstanding Isaac’s words much later? And is it possible that Rivkah also mis-heard the prophecy about the children in her womb, and acted accordingly? Is there any broader lesson we should learn from this?