פירוש על בראשית 24:60

את היי לאלפי רבבה MAYEST THOU BECOME THOUSANDS OF MYRIADS —May you and your seed receive that blessing which was promised to Abraham on Mount Moriah, (Genesis 22:17) “I will greatly multiply thy seed … [and let thy seed possess the gates of their enemies]”. May it be God’s will that that seed may proceed from you and not from another woman”.

את היי לאלפי רבבה ויירש דרעך, may all these children originate from you, as it had been said to Avraham at the time of the binding of Yitzchok: “your descendants will conquer the gates of their enemies” (22,17) according to the commentary of Rabbi Joseph Karo.

May you become. May you so please your husband that all his offspring will come through you and your descendants will inherit Hashem’s vow to Avraham

את היי לאלפי רבבה. "May you become thousands and myriads." The reason Laban stressed the word "you" was that he was aware that Isaac would continue the Abrahamitic tradition and found great nations. Although this fact itself was anathema to wicked people such as Laban, they preferred that Rebeccah would be the founding mother than any other wife Isaac might marry. We must accept the psychological fact that the wicked hate the righteous even if the latter are their own flesh and blood.

ויברכו, when they came to the end of the distance they accompanied her away from Aram Naharayim and wanted to take final leave they blessed her as was customary.

May you and your descendants receive the same blessing... Rashi said, “May it be His will that those descendants...” [but did not speak directly of her,] because the blessings were given to Yitzchok, not to Rivkah. [You might ask:] Is it not written [that they said to her, “May you become thousands of myriads,” even though she was not included in the blessings [to Yitzchok]? The answer is: If her descendants receive the blessing, it is considered as though she received it herself.

Diese Worte im Munde so gewöhnlicher Menschen, wie Laban und seine Mutter, werden nur dann verständlich, wenn wir annehmen, sie haben von der Bestimmung Rebekkas, Stammmutter eines Volkes zu werden, sowie von der Bestimmung dieses Volkes Kunde gehabt. Dass diese erwartete Zukunft des abrahamitischen Hauses bekannt war, haben wir bereits oben bei dem Besuche Abimelechs gleich nach Jizchaks Geburt gesehen.

2. "And your descendants will inherit the gate of their enemies (those who hate them)." This is a bracha that they (the descendants) will be wise men, seated at the gate (ie, a place of public prominence). Even in the gates of their enemies (those who hate them [Hebrew root Sin-Nun-Aleph]) there will be people who seek out their wisdom and advice. Earlier on in the story of the Akeida (the Binding of Isaac) there was a similar blessing "ויירש זרעך את שער אויביו" "and your descendants will inherit the gates of their enemies (those who would seek to do them harm [Hebrew root Aleph-Vav-Yud-Bet])." See Bereishit 22:17, and see Haamek Davar ad loc. In that case, the Holy One Blessed Be He who knows the thoughts [of the "enemies"] described them with the root Aleph-Vav-Yud-Bet [rather than Sin-Nun-Aleph] which describes a feeling in their hearts. But a hater enemy [Sin-Nun-Aleph] implies action as well, as in Devarim 30:7 "upon your enemies [root Sin-Nun-Aleph] who chase after you." And people do not appreciate the wonder this is that even those who actively hate us will need the wisdom of Israel.

היי, the letter ה has both the vowel patach and the semi-vowel sheva.

לאלפי רבבה ויירש זרעך, as the G’d in heaven has blessed the descendants of Avraham.

לאלפי רבבה, thousands which in due course would increase to become tens of thousands. Seeing that the largest individual number in the Holy Tongue is רבבה, i.e. 10,000, and they did not know a word for “million,” they had to express it in those terms.

וירש זרעך, it so happened that the wording of their blessing coincided with the wording used by the angel at the time of the binding of Yitzchok (22,17)

את שער שונאיו, we already explained this term in Genesis 22,16.