(2000/5761)
The word נערה, young girl, is used a number of times in the Torah, and each time, except for one, it is missing the feminine particle, the ending ה, and is spelled נער.
Twice, this is quite understandable; the woman in question did not act in an appropriate feminine way. One of those times is at the beginning of the story of Dinah and Shechem (34:3). Dinah went out and, the Meforshim (e.g. Rashi) say, acted unfeminine; therefore the ה, representative of modesty, femininity, and Godliness, was taken out to show that they were lacking in Dinah’s actions. The second understandable missing ה is in regard to the defamation of a married woman who is suspected of not being a virgin (Devarim 22:13-21). The specific case is when she was a virgin at the time of Kiddushin (the marriage ceremony) but at the time of Nissuin (the consummation), her husband claims that she is not a virgin. The only time in the Torah that word is written with the letter ה is in the case where she is found to be a virgin, while in the rest of the story the letter ה is missing.
In this week’s Parsha, the would-be 52nd ה (from the beginning of the Perek) is missing, but this case is not one of a girl who “went out” and was raped or someone who cheated on her betrothed. This case is that of a woman, Rivka, whose modesty and Godliness is acclaimed. The Pasuk tells us doubly that was a virgin and a man had not “known” her. Why is such language used to describe someone of Rivka’s stature? It cannot be referring to immodesty or a lack of femininity. Rav Hirsch simply says that this is how the Torah usually writes the word, with only one exception. One answer I have heard, although it is not satisfying, is that she was not yet twelve years old, and נערה refers to a girl at the age of twelve. The Torah left out the ה to say that she is a קטנה and not officially a נערה.
For now this remains a most bewildering question. Where has the ה gone? Was Rivka immodest? How could this usage possibly be used for the matriarch who the Pesukim and Meforshim say was modest? The mysteries of the Torah are many, and all we can say is: “ה 52 (24:14, and those in 24:16, 18, 55, and 57), where are you, and why are you missing?”