Rebecca (Rivkah רִבְקָה)

*(Pearls) פנינים*

Rebecca (Rivkah רִבְקָה)

Rivkah(רִבְקָה) means increasing in strength and Hope

The etymology of her name can be derived from the root word Rava( רָבָה ר-ב-ה)which means increase/more and from

Kiva(קִוָּה ק - ו - ה) meaning to hope or to gather in strength.

Eliezar was given the responsibility to find a suitable bride for Yitzchak ( כד:יב-יד בְּרֵאשִׁית‎Genesis 24:12–14). Rivkah embodied kindness which was seen by Eliezer when she gave him water to drink and to his camels. 

Her struggle in her womb denotes strength and increase of a people, a hope built on the promise of God to her although there would be a bitter tussle right to the end(כו:כג בְּרֵאשִׁית‎Génesis 25:23).

Rivkah who foresaw through Ya'akov a formation of a new nation of hope and in strength of the Lord that would finally rectify the world, became the mother of the Jewish Nation. Her manipulation of the blessings seemed awfully wicked, but God turned it around.

It was the blessings she received from her family in ( כד:ס ‎בְּרֵאשִׁיתGenesis 24:60) which paved her way to become one of the founding mothers of the nation of Israel.