parshaמפרשי הפרשה

רמב"ן — ויבא האיש הביתה ויפתח הגמלים

Rashi (from Bereshit Rabba) says Eliezer unmuzzled (התיר זמם) the camels — Avraham's camels traveled muzzled so they wouldn't graze in others' fields. What does Ramban find wrong with this on two levels?

ויבא האיש הביתה - אליעזר הוא האיש הבא. ויפתח הגמלים - יחזור על לבן, שעשה עם אורחיו דרך מוסר ויפתח גמליהם, ויתן להם תבן ומספוא ונתן מים לרחוץ רגלי אליעזר... וענין ויפתח הגמלים - שפתח מוסרי צוארם כי המנהג להוליכם קשורים... וכאשר חמורו של רבי פנחס בן יאיר איננו צריך להשתמר מן הדברים האסורים לבעליו להאכילו, כל שכן גמליו של אברהם אבינו, ואין צריך לזממם, כי לא יאונה לצדיק כל און.

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רמב"ן

רמב"ן על בראשית כ״ד:ל״ב

Ramban on Genesis 24:32

Q — Rashi (from Bereshit Rabba) says Eliezer unmuzzled (התיר זמם) the camels — Avraham's camels traveled muzzled so they wouldn't graze in others' fields. What does Ramban find wrong with this on two levels?

A — First, grammatically: 'ויפתח' refers not to Eliezer but to Lavan, who as host opened the camels' restraining ropes (not muzzles) and provided food and water — 'כי רחוק הוא שיהיה אליעזר הוא הנותן מים לרחוץ רגליו ורגלי אנשיו'. Subject change mid-verse without notation is common (see Yosef's brothers pulling him from the pit, and David's speech in Shmuel II). Second, hashkafically: Avraham's camels would never need muzzling — if Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair's donkey wouldn't eat forbidden food, kal va'chomer Avraham's animals. The Midrash itself questions Rashi's reading on this ground. The principle: 'לא יאונה לצדיק כל און' — a tzaddik's domain is protected, and his animals don't even need physical restraint. (Ramban notes this leniency applies only at Avraham's spiritual level; standard השתדלות remains for everyone else, as he taught in Noach.)

ויבא האיש הביתה - אליעזר הוא האיש הבא. ויפתח הגמלים - יחזור על לבן, שעשה עם אורחיו דרך מוסר ויפתח גמליהם, ויתן להם תבן ומספוא ונתן מים לרחוץ רגלי אליעזר... וענין ויפתח הגמלים - שפתח מוסרי צוארם כי המנהג להוליכם קשורים... וכאשר חמורו של רבי פנחס בן יאיר איננו צריך להשתמר מן הדברים האסורים לבעליו להאכילו, כל שכן גמליו של אברהם אבינו, ואין צריך לזממם, כי לא יאונה לצדיק כל און.

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