Parashas Chayei Sarah - Go from being Cursed to Blessed !

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In this week's parasha, Avraham instructed Eliezer (his servant) to find a wife for Yitzchak. Avraham thought, "Yitzchak is getting old, and he still has no children. I think it's time for him to get married." Avraham demanded that Yitzchak marry only within his family, because they are blessed. [1] "Even though my relatives are idol worshipers, they still have potential for holiness and are capable of doing teshuva," Avraham told Eliezer. [2]

Eliezer got excited because he felt it would be amazing if Yitzchak married his daughter, but Avraham reminded him that he is a descendant of Canaan, whose family has been cursed and Yitzchak was blessed. "A cursed one and blessed one cannot unite," he told Eliezer. [3]

You might ask, "What was Eliezer thinking?! He was a slave, a Canaani! Did he actually think his daughter was worthy of marrying Avraham Avinu's son?!"

Truth be told, Eliezer wasn't a simpleton. He was a tzadik! He went from entering Avraham's home as a slave, to the status of Avraham's outstanding student who took his Torah and passed it on to others. He learned from Avraham and was also very big into chesed and hachnasas orchim. He was able to control his Yeitzer Hara like Avraham, and even resembled Avraham outwardly. [4]

As a matter of fact, by serving Avraham faithfully, Eliezer elevated himself from the category of being cursed to being blessed. That's why he had his daughter in mind to marry Yitzchak - because he thought she was blessed too. [5]

Having learned the above details, I couldn't help notice the chesed Hashem does for us:

Eliezer was cursed because he was a Canaani, however, after working hard and proving his faithfulness to Avraham, Hashem transformed the curse to a blessing. Let's take it up a notch: Let's say it was nigzar (decreed) upon us that something bad will happen (chas v'Shalom). Doing what Hashem wants from us and being His faithful children will surely take away this evil decree and bring a blessing upon us. I don't see a difference between being cursed and now blessed, to having a bad decree on us which can be changed to a good one.

When I was younger, I use to be a trouble-maker. I remember thinking, "My parents think I am a bad boy, so why not just continue being bad." It seemed like there was nothing I can do to change the way they viewed me. Of course, I wasn't exactly thinking very maturely then.

Sometimes a person thinks to himself, "I already have a bad decree on me, and there's probably nothing I can do to can change it, so I might as well continue misbehaving." OR "I am going to die someday anyways, so why not continue smoking?" - whatever the case is, there's always another option.

For those who think they have the worst 'luck' in the word, it can change. Everything is min hashemayim. It's up to us to do the Will of Hashem and be his faithful children. We see this from Eliezer who was cursed, but because of his hard work and loyalty, he was able to uproot the curse and replace it with a blessing.

May we always be showered with blessings and keep doing the Will of Hashem.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Nisso

[1] Bereishis Rabba 57:2
[2] Midrash HaGadol 24:3
[3] Tiferes Tzion
[4] Bereishis Rabba 59:11
[5] Tiferes Tzion