“And the lives of Sarah were a hundred
years and twenty years and seven years, These were
the years of the lives of Sarah. 2And Sarah died in Kiryat-Arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and
Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.” (Gen. 23:1-2)
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Rav Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin |
Up above we have a literal translation of the Hebrew text of Genesis 23:1. That sounds awfully peculiar to our ears. The name of this Torah Portion is “Chayei Sarah,” literally “lives of Sarah,” as Sarah’s life is divided into three different portions: 100 years, 20 years, and 7 years, as we see in the quotation at the top. Most translations simply state that Sarah died when she was one hundred and twenty-seven years old when she died. Therefore, most translations of Genesis 23:1 are actually paraphrases. Rashi had an interpretation that helps to explain why this rather cumbersome terminology is being used here. Rashi tells us that Sarah was as beautiful at 100 years as a young woman only 20 years old. And at 20 years old, she was as innocent as a seven-year-old girl. Each stage of her life was like a different lifetime! We can see that in ourselves. Most of us are very different people from when we were a mere seven years old.
THE passage above is the introduction to Genesis 23, as well as the parasha Chayei Sarah (literally, “The Lives of Sarah”). And as is typical of many chapters, it begins with a וָ (vav), which is translated “And.” The Rabbis tell us that the narrative of the Akeidah (Binding of Isaac in Genesis 22) is followed by the death of Sarah in Genesis 23 to indicate that she died as a result of that event. HaSatan had told her that Abraham had actually killed Isaac. She cried out in grief and died as a result. You can read about this association in Targum Yonatan,[1] as well as various Jewish commentaries, such as the Artscroll Chumash, and the Book of Jasher.
I happen to believe that this association is correct. Abraham had journeyed from Beersheva to Mount Moriah in obedience to God, in order to sacrifice his son Isaac. We learn that this was a test of Abraham’s obedience. At the last moment, as the knife was about to go down toward Isaac’s throat, the angel of the LORD called out to him, “Abraham, Abraham.” The angel said, “Lay not your hand upon the lad, neither do anything to him: for now I know that you fear God, seeing that you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” [2]
You know the story: Instead of sacrificing Isaac, Abraham sacrificed a ram. Even though God never demanded that any man ever offer his own children as a sacrifice, we find that 2000 years later, God offered His only begotten son as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.
However, Sarah wasn’t privy to all that was taking place. If you read the accounts in Midrash or in Jasher, you discover a horribly distraught Sarah, sure that Abraham had killed her only son as a sacrifice to God. She finally died from the extreme grief. Keep in mind that Sarah was 90 years old when her son Isaac was born. She was 127 years old when Isaac was taken to Mount Moriah. Therefore, Isaac was 37 years old when his dad took him to Moriah. He wasn’t the little boy that is often pictured in religious art. His father Abraham was 137 years old, a full 100 years older than his son. Jewish art correctly shows him as being a grown man being tied to the altar. It is obvious that Isaac went willingly to the altar of sacrifice. He could easily have overpowered his much older father.
Isaac voluntarily allowed himself to be bound to the altar. In much the same way, Yeshua was willingly sacrificed for our sins. Isaac was a full-grown man. He fully expected to die that day. According to Hebrews 11:17-19, Abraham fully believed that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead, because he had already been told that the covenant promise was through his son Isaac.[3]
According to the Rabbis—as well as Midrash, Targum Yonatan, and the book of Jasher—Satan had gone to Sarah and told her that Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. Sarah left Beersheva to try to stop the murder of her son. She got as far as Hebron, when Satan told her that Isaac had already been sacrificed. She died in Hebron from a broken heart.
Also,
although this Torah portion is called Chayei Sarah (“The Lives of
Sarah” – Genesis 23:1), it is more about the death and burial of Sarah.
However, the names of the parashot usually come from key words in the first
verse or two of the parasha (Torah portion).
Whatever differences they may have had, Abraham continued to love Sarah. As a final tribute to his beloved wife, he sought to purchase a grave for her proper burial:
"And
Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth,
saying, 4'I am a stranger and a sojourner with you:
give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out
of my sight.' 5And the children of Heth answered Abraham,
saying to him, 6 'Hear
us, my lord: you are a mighty prince among us: in the choicest of
our sepulchers bury your dead; none of us shall withhold from you his
sepulcher, but that you may bury your dead.' 7And Abraham stood
up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the
children of Heth (lit., Chet). 8And he communed with them,
saying, 'If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear
me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, 9that he may
give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of
his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a
possession of a burying place amongst you.' 10And Ephron dwelt
among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the
audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the
gate of his city, saying, 11
'Nay, my lord, hear me: I will give the field to you, and the cave
that is therein, I give it to you; in the presence of the sons of
my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.' 12And Abraham
bowed down himself before the people of the land. 13And he
spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, 'But if
you will give it, I pray, hear me: I will give you money for the
field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.' 14And
Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 'My lord, hearken to me: the land is
worth 400 shekels of silver; what is that between me and thee?
Bury therefore your dead.”' (Gen. 23:3-15.)
Even though God promised that the seed of Abraham would inherit all the land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18), here we find Abraham purchasing land at an exorbitant price to bury his wife. It is also interesting to note that our very first acquisition in the Promised Land is a grave! We also have the contract for the purchase of this land written in the Scriptures. There should be no dispute about who this piece of land in Hebron (Chevron in Hebrew) belongs to. Jews continued to live in Hebron for many centuries, only to be thrown out by the British after the Islamic pogrom against the Jews of Hebron in 1929. Israel re-conquered Hebron in the Six-Day War of 1967. Once again, Jews are living in Hebron. J
We had the opportunity to go to Machpelah. Inside this building, there are doors leading to the burial chambers for the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and the Matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah).[4] We were surprised to see that there were also burial chambers for Adam and Chava (Eve)! We can’t verify the authenticity of the burial chambers of Adam and Chava, but we also can’t prove that they weren’t buried there! The following paragraphs are quoted directly from Wikipedia:
"Judaism, and Islam agree that entombed within are the Biblical and Qur'anic patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) as well as three matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah).
"In Judaism, the Tomb of the Patriarchs is the second most sacred site in the world, after the Temple Mount. The Book of Genesis relates that Abraham specifically purchased the land as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite, making it the first material purchase of real estate in the Land of Canaan (the "Promised Land"). According to Jewish tradition, four biblical couples mentioned in the Book of Genesis are buried there:
Adam and Eve (Chava in the Hebrew text)
Yitzchak and Rivka (Isaac & Rebecca)
"An early Jewish text, the Genesis Rabba, states that this site is one of three that enemies of Judaism cannot taunt the Jews by saying 'you have stolen them,' as it was purchased 'for its full price' by Abraham.
"According to the Midrash, the Patriarchs were buried in the cave because the cave is the threshold to the Garden of Eden. The Patriarchs are said not to be dead but 'sleeping.' They rise to beg mercy for their children throughout the generations. According to the Zohar, this tomb is the gateway through which souls enter into Gan Eden—heaven.
"There is a Jewish tradition that praying at the Tomb will bring good fortune in finding a proper spouse. There are Hebrew prayers of supplication for marriage on the walls of the Sarah cenotaph.
"The Lubavitcher Rebbe declared that the Tomb of the Patriarchs ought to be in exclusively Jewish control, because 1) most Arabs today are descended from Ishmael; 2) Ishmael, although the biological son of Abraham did not inherit from him, as Ishmael was the progeny of a maidservant (Hagar)."