Parenting is Forever – Parashat Chayei Sarah
״….ויקח העבד עשרה גמלים מגמלי אדוניו וילך וכל טוב אדוניו בידו…״ – בראשית כד, י
Avraham wrote a deed gifting all he owned to Yitzchak, so that they [the family of the prospective bride, ed.] would be eager to send him their daughter. —Rashi
Yitzchak was a grown man of forty when Eliezer set off to find him a wife. The strong education that he’d received from his parents had clearly left the desired impact. When, at G-d’s command, Avraham had sought to offer him as a sacrifice, Yitzchak had been equally willing to go ahead with it (see Rashi to 22:8). At this point, one would assume that Yitzchak could be left to his own devices to choose a proper wife, and would not need any parental intervention to ensure that he would end up with a good match.
But good just wasn’t good enough for Avraham. Avraham wanted to guarantee that Yitzchak would encounter no hindrance whatsoever in ending up with the person with whom he could best raise a family. Therefore, though Avraham still had many years to live, he parted with all his worldly possessions, gifting them all to Yitzchak in a bid to make him a more attractive suitor.
Avraham demonstrated that even once our children and students are grown and mature, ready to build independent lives of their own, we must never cease in our dedication to guiding them in the right direction. Our continued devotion to their guidance, even at the cost of personal sacrifice, will ensure that they build their lives in accordance with the Torah’s correct and proper path.
—Sichos Kodesh 5730 vol. 1, pp. 209-210
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