Genesis 23:1-25:18 – 1 Kings 1:1-31 – John 1:19-34

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Chayyei Sara
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
In Summary
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Chayyei Sarah

1. This week's Torah portion begins by recounting the death of Sarah and Abraham's mourning over her. In the Torah scroll, the Hebrew word that describes Abraham's weeping, velivkotah, is written with a small Hebrew kaf. Why is it written this way and what lesson are we meant to learn from it? The parasha closes by recounting the death of Abraham and God's subsequent blessing of Isaac. Why does the blessing of Isaac occur after Abraham's death? What lesson does teach us in relation to those that are hurting and mourners in particular?

Rabbi Jason Sobel

The recent wildfires in California underscore the unfortunate fact that loss is an inevitable part of life. Everyone experiences loss but how we respond to it is very important. In this week's Torah portion, Abraham models for us how we should ideally handle it. 

After the death of Sarah we read, "And Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to weep over her." The word "to weep/livkotah" is written with a very small kaf. One reason that the Torah uses a small kaf is to indicate that Abraham did not weep excessively over Sarah's death. Why does the Torah want to stress this fact and how was it even possible for Abraham to respond to this great loss in such a manner? In order to answer this question we must understand the picture that the Torah paints of Abraham. Above all else, he is portrayed as a great person of faith. As Scripture states,

And Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, he obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country . . .  By faith Abraham, even though he was past age -and Sarah herself was barren - was enabled to become a father . . . By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.

Hebrews 11

Abraham faced the death of Sarah like he faced all the trails in his life with great faith. He knew without a doubt that Sarah, a great person of faith in her own right, was in a better place and that he would be reunited with her again. Thus he did not grieve like his neighbors who had little certainty or hope in the future.

As Messianic Jews we also have a great hope and should take to heart Paul's words of encouragement on this matter:

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of people, who have no hope. We believe that Yeshua died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Yeshua those who have fallen asleep in him.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Mourning is a natural part of life, but if we are people of faith, we should not mourn like those who have no hope. This is especially true when the person we have lost lived a long life that was full of faith and deeds of kindness. That Abraham did not excessively mourn demonstrates his deep faith in God and God's faithfulness.

At the end of this week's Torah portion we read, "After Abraham's death, God blessed Isaac his son." Why did God directly bless Isaac after his father's passing? Commenting upon this the Talmud states:

R. Hama son said: What does this passage mean: "You shall walk after the Lord your God?" Is it possible for a human being to walk after the Shekhina; for has it not been said: "For the Lord your God is a devouring fire?" . . . The blessed Holy One visited the sick, for it is written: "And the Lord appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre," so you should also visit the sick. The blessed Holy One comforted mourners, for it is written: "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son," so you should also comfort mourners.

b. Sotah 14a

Thus we learn from this passage that we should imitate God by comforting and helping hurting people.  When confronted by the pain and tears of others, like God, we should do all we can to wipe away people's tears. For by so doing we bring healing to the hurting and attach ourselves to God by imitating his ways. In addition, comforting mourners (nichum avelim) is one practical way that we can fulfill the mitzva of "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Rambam on Leviticus 19:18). May we also live by faith and embody God's faithfulness and kindness to others.

2. Ephron offers to give the cave of Machpela as a gift so that Abraham can bury Sarah. Why then does Abraham insist on paying for it? Why did Abraham want this particular place as a burial site? 

Nick Amic

In this week's parasha, sixteen of the twenty opening verses consist solely of a lengthy legal transaction fraught with ethnic customs, description of real estate, and financial bargaining. Why all the detail? Also, what was the importance of centering all this detail on Sarah's burial? The story of Abraham's purchase has two major themes in it: one on the practical/familial level, and another on the legal/spiritual level.  Rav Elchanan Samet describes the first:

Our parsha, then, is the first to describe someone's reaction to the death of the person who is closest to him, and his subsequent behavior . . . instructing future generations as to how to deal with similar human situations.

Indeed, on one level alone, Abraham seeks to bury his wife in a dignified manner with an immediate burial, in one of the choicest of cemetery sites. From this alone, as the Gemara agrees (b. Shabbat 127a), we find the important concept of levayat hammet (escorting the dead). A 20th century German commentator in his work on Genesis states succinctly, "In the purchase of the cave to bury Sarah, Abraham expresses his love and honor for her." The detail comes to implore us of the duty to show honor to our deceased loved ones.

At a deeper level still, we still need to explain why the specific piece of real estate was chosen. First, we notice that the land was located in Hebron, which served as a future Jewish capital (2 Samuel 2:1). This city is located in the land of Canaan, and thus serves as the first property owned in the Promised Land. This is the monumental moment of the first man of Israel, stepping foot on the first piece of the land promised specifically from God. The text itself seems to hint at this; both on the level of peshat, calling it an achuza (a possession or estate; see 23:20), and on the level of remez, mentioning that the land veqayyam (lit. arose) to a higher spiritual state (see Rashi ad locum, Genesis Rabba 48:8). Sarah was the first to be interred there. The deceased belong to the land in perpetuity since they cannot be conquered and forced out, nor can they willingly leave.

Spiritually, the name of the city and the specific land come to teach us an important personal level. The name of the field, Machpela, comes from a root meaning "double." Significantly, the name Hebron can be related to the word chibur (connection). Taking these two ideas together, we see two dimensions of Abraham's life. Abraham tells the Hittites that he is a "stranger and a resident." Abraham realizes that he is in need of a practical connection to this earth, its peoples, system and physicality; yet he also realizes that he is simultaneously a "stranger" to all this as well. The details of this incident come to tell us of the importance of our conduct on earth as residents - proper treatment of fellow humans, whether deceased or living. However, the spiritual details come to tell us that we have another home - the Celestial realm - where we can spiritually make our chibur with God through Yeshua Tzidkeinu.