The Bold Yes That Changed Jewish History
One of the most powerful moments in the Torah is surprisingly quiet. A young girl named Rivka (Rebecca) is asked one simple question: Will you go with this man? (Genesis 24:58). A trusted family messenger named Eliezer had come to bring her to meet Isaac, the man she was destined to marry. This meant traveling far from home, leaving behind everything familiar—her family, her comfort, her culture—and walking into a completely unknown future.
And Rivka answered with only three words, “I will go.” These words are simple but they reveal something remarkable. Rivka didn’t say, “I guess so,” or “let me think about it.” She didn’t wait to be pushed. She responded with confidence and clarity.
Rivka’s family expected her to hesitate. They even asked the question in a way that suggested she shouldn’t go. She was young. She had just finished mourning her father. She had never met Isaac and was walking into an unfamiliar land with strangers—but she wasn’t afraid or on the run because she was moving toward something. Rivka understood that this path, even with all its unknowns, held meaning. Something inside her whispered: This is the life I am meant to build.
The question is, where did she get the confidence and boldness? When Rivka finally arrived and met Isaac, the Torah describes a beautiful scene; Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent… and he loved her. (Gen. 24:67) But then the Torah adds something unusual. Jewish tradition explains that when Rivka entered Sarah’s old tent, three special signs appeared — the same signs people remembered from Sarah herself: (1) Her Shabbat candle burned brightly all week, (2) her bread rose with a special blessing, and (3) Her home felt surrounded by a gentle, spiritual warmth. These ideas might sound mystical but their messages are practical and rooted in everyday life. A candle burning all week means a home filled with steady light, warmth, and calm energy. Bread with blessing means a kitchen filled with generosity, giving, and hospitality. A cloud of holiness means a home with values, boundaries, and spiritual depth. Rivka wasn’t just joining a family; she was stepping into a life of purpose; she sensed this even before she left home and that’s why she was able to say “yes” so clearly.
Rivka knew who she was and what she stood for even thought she grew up in a home of dishonesty and selfishness. She didn’t become like her surroundings and developed her own set of values — kindness, generosity, integrity. She learned to think for herself, even as a young girl. The ability to be true to who she was even when the environment was against her gave her the strength to take that bold step forward.
Rivka wasn’t fearless but she didn’t allow the fear to inhibit her ability to take a bold and life changing step. By doing so, she imparted a legacy: you don’t need to know the whole road in order to take the first step, you just need to know the direction. This is one of the most empowering messages in the entire Torah.
Years later, Rivka’s strength showed up again during a painful moment in her family. When she saw that her husband, Isaac, was about to give the special blessing to the wrong son, she remembered a message G-d had given her many years earlier — that Yaakov was meant to continue the family’s spiritual path. She didn’t know exactly how it would happen, but she trusted that message. When the moment came, Rivka acted quickly and confidently. She wasn’t choosing sides; she was following a truth she had carried in her heart for decades. Her strength is that she had faith in the long-term faith and combined it with courage in the short-term.
What’s the takeaway lesson we learn from this remarkable woman? Most of us will never have to leave home on a camel for a completely unknown future but we will face moments like Rivka’s in which our environment pulls us one way but our values pull us another. Moments when we know what we must do even if others don’t understand and even feel alone because others don’t see what we see.
Rivka’s message is simple—clarity + purpose = courage, which enables one to take the first step even without knowing all the answers. Here’s a challenge and a way to concretize one of the lessons of Rivka’s life. Dip your feet in the sea of Judaism. Here are some suggestions: Light Shabbat candles. Share a meal. Ask a question. Try a new mitzvah. Show kindness for no reason. You don’t have to get on a camel and leave home or change your life overnight, but you also don’t need to know the end of the story and where any given mitzvah will bring you. You just need to give yourself permission to say, “I will go.”
Good Shabbos
(Adapted from the book Alone Against the World by Rabbi Yisrael Roll)