Our Gemara on Amud Aleph once again mentions the principle that one should not perform an action that will needlessly disadvantage others, and so a person should not spill out water collected in his cistern that he does not need when others might be in need of it.

Ha’amek Davar (Bereishis 24:20) cleverly notices that, amongst her many admirable qualities, Rivka also followed this principle. Let us study the sequence of verses to understand how he derived this idea.  (By the way, bonus idea: A good way to remember where the verses with Rivka are in the Torah, is from the chapter 24 or Kaf Dalet, which spells “Kad”, the Hebrew word for pitcher, which Rivka used to pour for Eliezer and his camels.)

וַתֹּ֖אמֶר שְׁתֵ֣ה אֲדֹנִ֑י וַתְּמַהֵ֗ר וַתֹּ֧רֶד כַּדָּ֛הּ עַל־יָדָ֖הּ וַתַּשְׁקֵֽהוּ׃

“Drink, my lord,” she said, and she quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and let him drink.

וַתְּכַ֖ל לְהַשְׁקֹת֑וֹ וַתֹּ֗אמֶר גַּ֤ם לִגְמַלֶּ֙יךָ֙ אֶשְׁאָ֔ב עַ֥ד אִם־כִּלּ֖וּ לִשְׁתֹּֽת׃

When she had let him drink his fill, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they finish drinking.”

וַתְּמַהֵ֗ר וַתְּעַ֤ר כַּדָּהּ֙ אֶל־הַשֹּׁ֔קֶת וַתָּ֥רׇץ ע֛וֹד אֶֽל־הַבְּאֵ֖ר לִשְׁאֹ֑ב וַתִּשְׁאַ֖ב לְכׇל־גְּמַלָּֽיו׃

Quickly emptying her jar into the trough, she ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.

The last verse notes that she emptied the pitcher into the trough, and then went to refill the pitcher. Even though she had to go back anyways to refill the pitcher to give the camels to drink, as the leftover water from giving Eliezer to drink was not enough, Rivka still did not waste the water in the pitcher.

I have some difficulties with this Ha’amek Davar. My first question is, who says the camels needed just one pitcher. Maybe they needed a pitcher and a half, and that is why Rivka poured from the leftovers into the trough and then got more? My Second question is even if the camels only needed one pitcher full, it made sense to empty the pitcher so it would be easier to carry. Although in that case, she could have emptied it onto the ground. The answer presumably is that the Torah did not need to offer this extraneous detail about first pouring the pitcher into the trough unless it had significance. The significance is that she was mindful not to waste. I’ll add that it still took more effort to pour the leftovers into the trough instead of spilling it on the ground where she was standing. Therefore, we do see indications of this respectful “conservationist” practice.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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