Chayeh Sarah - Being a Servant of G!d

Ha Emek Hadavar

This is prostrating at the time the time that he said "Baruch"

Shlomo Carlebach

Here Eliezer is sitting by the well, trying to underwstand how he will know who the one for Yitzchak is. All he knows from Avraham is to look for somoeneone from Avraham's family. So Eliezer is asking, "Master of the World, I need a sign. I'm going to ask the first girl who is coming to the well to give me some water. If she will say to me, 'I even have water for your camels too,' she is the one."

So when Rivkah is going down to the well with the pitcher on her shoulders, the first thing she says to Eliezer is, "Gevalt, can I also give water to your camels."

You know what happens? Eliezer mameish fell down to the ground.

Now open your hearts in the deepest depths

One of the top basic principles in Chassidus and Kabbalah is Yichuda Ili'a and Yichuda Tata'a. These are two kinds of onness between us and God, and the same goes between us and other people. Yichuda Tata'a means that as close as my connection is to you, I don't forget about my existence for one seocnd. I am where I am and you are where you are. I don't forget for one second that I might have to go out and buy apples. Nothing changed in the inside of the inside of me. Yichuda Ila'a means this high count of onness, where in a certain way I stop to exist. Im not there anymore, just God. Sometimes I love a person so much that in their presence I stop to exist.

In my shul in New York, there is a yekke, let's say his name is Mr. Fritz. Before Rosh Hashonna, Mr Fritz gives his suit to the cleaners but what is going to do when it comes to kor'im, when everyone mamesh bows down to the floor? Mr. Fritz knows what he is doing. He brought a lot of newpapers with him, I am sure he thought about the newpapers for weeks before. When he gets to shul, he is putting newspaper all over the floor around him. And the way he goes down to the floor is also a whole gesheft. He goes down on his kneese very very slowly then bends down. Now, you see what it ism while he is bowing down he remembers I'm Fritz, and there is one God. Im not knocokcing it, maybe his whole Yiddishkeit is because of this one moment. But let me tell you, I saw the Modzitzer Rebbe bwoing down. The Modzitzer Rebbe was six foot four, a very big ma, He must have weighed about three hundred pounds, a giant. When the moment comes - mamehs - Vanachnu korim umistachavim umodim, he stopped to exist. He fell to the floor, mamesh fell to the floor. At that moment he stopped to exist, there was only one God.

So by Elizer it says "So the man bowed low and prostrated himself to God" (Gen 24:26). When he saw that Rivkah was also giving water to the camels, Eliezer suddenly stopped to exist. "The Holy One Blessed be He makes matches, (Sota 2a), at that moment it was so eternally clear to him that there is only one God, there is nothing else.

Zeev Wolf of Zhitomir

Behold there are two ways in which the people of Israel serve their Creator. Every single Jew, in the way in which he prays or studies the Torah, falls into one of these two categories. The first sect are aroused to serve God with all of their hearts and souls as a result of the intensity of their awareness and the heightened nature of their realization of the immanence and providence of God even in the smallest details of this world and the extent to which He examines everyone's heart and conscience. Now this is the superior and chosen way.

The second sect as a consequence of its limited perception and understanding of the greatness of the Creator is aroused to the Torah and the service of God by means of afflictions and the like... for our eyes have seen that there is a type of man who engaged in all kinds of self mortifications and ritual immersions for the sole purpose of attaining the holy spirit or for receiving a revelation for receiving a revelation from Elijah.

I have heard that in the days of the BESHT there was such a person who engaged in self-mortifications and went to the ritual bath in order to acquire the Holy Spirit. And the BESHT said that in the world to come they are laughing at him. For the truth is that not all of this is not necessary, particularly when one's heart is lacking in the essential worship, namely devekut.

Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev

In general there are two types of servants of the Creator. One worship the creator by means of self sacrifice and the other worships Him through the commandments and good deeds. The diffrerence between them is that the former's service is the category of ayin (nothingness) . He who serves G!d trhough the mitzvot is in the category of yesh (something), i.e. the existent of substantive, because the commandmensts themselves are the category of yesh. Therefor he who worships through self-sacrifice and is in the class of ayin cannot draw G!d[s abudnant grace down upon himself. While worshp throthrough mitzvot and good deeds is in the category of yesh, it contains an element of ayin. whoever draws upon the divine abundance trhough the commandments attaches himself to both ayin and yesh. This is because through his intention to create pleasure for G!d, he places himself in the category of nothing. But perforing commandments and good deeds involves him in the reality and in substance, the yesh, through which he brings down divine abundance upon himself from God. Thus man sometimes sustains himself through good deeds.

Rebbe Pinchas of Koretz

Great miracles can be performed for a man who truly considers himself as nothing (ayin). For our Father Abraham, when he went to do battles with kingds, did not rely upon miracles. Rather he went with sword and buckler, for he was on the level of ayin and the Holy One performed miracles for him and took rocks whih He cast upon them and so he concquored them. Therefore it is stated of Nachum Ish Gam -Zu that he took of the dust of Father Abraham, the quality of ayin which is symbolized by dust for dust represents the most inferior level [of humility]. Therefore was that miraclce performed for him. A man who is on the level of ayin is worthy of having the Shechinah rest upo him. For of the Holy One we know that the whole world is full of His Glory (Isaiah 6:3);; therefore, when man is naught God can dwell within him, but when man conisiders himself to be something, God is not with him.

Old Jewish joke

Nothing During Shabbat services the Rabbi kneels and puts his forehead to the floor and says, "Before you oh Lord, I am nothing." The Cantor looks at him, thinks it couldn't hurt, and kneels, puts his forehead to the floor, and says, "Before you oh Lord, I am nothing." Ben Shapiro in the fifth row is watching this and thinking that it was a pretty good idea, so he goes in the middle of the isle, kneels and puts his forehead to the floor and says, "Before you oh Lord, I am nothing." The Rabbi nudges the Cantor. "Look who thinks he's nothing!"

Herbert Weiner's description of the Chassidim of Reb Arele Roth

'Amen,' shrieked the man next to me. He was doubled over, his face red, yelling at the top of his lungs, 'Amen - may His great name be blessed for ever and ever and ever.' For a moment I thought he was ill, but then I saw all the worshipers were carrying on in the same way. The room resounded with a cacophony of shouts. My guide noticed my bewilderment. One of Reb Arele's teachings is that the response, "Amen may his great name..." be receipted as the Talmud suggests, in an utter abandonment of soul, as if one were willing at that moment to die in the sanctification of the name.