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Why did Eliezer design a test where Rivka must water all the camels while healthy men stood by? The shiur develops a fundamental distinction: chesed (חסד) is an obligation we owe ourselves to develop, but removing pain is a universal right—extending even to animals. Rivka's response reveals she understood this obligation at the deepest level, going beyond mere kindness to recognize the rights inherent in creation itself.
Rabbi Zweig analyzes the seemingly absurd test Eliezer devised to find a wife for Yitzchok in Parshas Chayei Sarah. Eliezer asks that a girl not only give him water but also water all ten camels, while healthy men stand by doing nothing. This appears to violate the halachic principle of "azov ta'azov imo" (help him with him) from the mitzvah (מצוה) of loading/unloading a donkey—one is only obligated to help when the owner participates. If the owner refuses to help, there is no obligation to assist him, and perhaps it's even wrong to cater to such self-centeredness. However, Rabbi Zweig introduces a crucial distinction found in the Rosh and Shulchan Aruch. While one need not help a person who refuses to participate in loading a donkey, there remains an obligation to unload a donkey when the animal is in pain (tza'ar ba'alei chayim), even if the owner refuses to help. This reveals two separate obligations: helping a person (which requires their participation) and removing an animal from pain (which does not). The obligation to remove pain is a universal right—everything created has the right to be free from pain. This right extends to all creatures, not just humans.
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Bereishis 24:14-20 (Parshas Chayei Sarah)
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