Rav Richard 'Aharon' Chaimberlin |
The passage above is the introduction to
Genesis 23, as well as the parasha Chayei Sarah
(lit., “The Lives of Sarah”). And as is typical of many chapters, it begins
with a e (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 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 coming down toward Isaac’s throat, an angel 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. 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. It is obvious that Isaac went willingly to
Moriah. He could easily have overpowered his father. Isaac allowed himself to
be bound to the altar as a sacrifice. 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]
An
accurate translation of the Hebrew of Genesis 23:1 would read, “ And these were lives of Sarah: one hundred years, twenty years,
and seven years, the years of Sarah’s lives.” That’s a very curious way of calculating
the lifetime of Sarah. According to the Rabbis, it is to show us that at 100
years, Sarah had the beauty of a woman of 20 years, and at the age of 20, Sarah
had the innocence of a 7-year-old girl.
We
should also note that Abraham was living in Beer Sheva (Gen. 22:19). Sarah died
in Hebron (Gen. 23:2). It seems entirely possible that Abraham and Sarah were
separated at the time of her death. Also, although this Torah portion is called
Chayei Sarah (lit., “The Lives of Sarah”), it is more about the
death and burial of Sarah. The names of the parashot usually come from key
words in the first verse or two of each parasha.
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. 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 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. When Muslims controlled Hebron, Jews were not allowed to pray at
Machpelah. Once again, Jews are living in Hebron. J Israel allows Jews, Muslims, and Christians to pray
there.
We had the opportunity to go to the Cave at Machpelah in 1998. Inside the cave, there are 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 next column is 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
"Pro-mised 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)
Yaakov and Leah - Jacob's
other wife, Rachel,
being buried near Bethlehem.
"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 not 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)."
[1] Targum
Yonatan is an Aramaic paraphrase of the Tanakh
(O.T.). “Targum” means translation, but the Aramaic Targums are part translation,
and part commentary.
[2] Genesis
22:12.
[3] It
is curious to note that the Muslims believe that Abraham offered up Ishmael,
not Isaac. Of course, we reject this story from the Koran.
[4]
Rachel was buried in Bethlehem.