The Eulogy of Sarah
In this week’s Parashat we find death and life following each other closely. Dor vah Dor, generation and generation, in the form of Sarah and eventually Abraham’s demise and the start of the next generation between Yitzhak and Rivka. What is interesting is that the Torah takes the time to express real emotion. Abraham mourns. In fact, this Parashat honors Sarah simply by opening with the words Chayei Sarah or “Sarah lives”. One could take that as “Sarah lives on…” We are made aware of the importance of the Jewish woman in two ways. One, is that Sarah played such an important supporting role in the life of Abraham – why else does a great man mourn? And two, Abraham challenges women to a test in order to find the best suitable woman with the best character, worthy to further the generations.
This is clearly a testament that women are equal or at least have their own important role in the development of the (Jewish) people. This is the only time in the Torah that the death of a person is recorded in age, time and place. We also know that Abraham was reminded by HaShem to “listen to her advice…” (Bereshit 21:12). She is the only woman whose name was changed by HaShem (Bereshit 17:15) and the Prophet Isiah writes about her in name equally to Abraham: “Look back to Abraham your father and to Sarah who brought you forth” (51:2). One could read part of this Torah section as a eulogy to Sarah, with the buying of her burial ground as a testament to how important she was. Why else specify in great details the buying of The Cave of Machpelah? Some Sages have understood this as proof that we never stole these lands but rather bought them. As Rabbi Yudan ben Simon points out: …”the Cave of Machpelah, the Temple and the burial place of Joseph (Shechem)….three places of which the world cannot say these are stolen lands.” (Bereshit Rabah, 97, 7)
Ibn Ezra has two opinions why the purchase and its details play such an important role. One is that the purchase cements the first stone in “our country” and two is that this is the first fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham of Eretz Israel. It is interesting to see how Abraham lives on only to fulfill certain important tasks to connect his generation with the next. The choosing of where to find a bride for Yitzhak is perhaps the most important last task Abraham commands. The comment to ‘…not choose from the daughters of the Canaanite in whose midst I dwell’, has kept the Sages very busy over the centuries. Various answers have been given, from political reasons to corruption. Rashi comments that because it’s written that: …you (Yitzhak) shall not dwell among the Egyptians… nor the Canaanites, according to their deeds.’ With which he implied that the deeds of both nations were more corrupt than others. Rabbi Hirsh, centuries later, believed that Yithak would assimilate if he would take a Canaanite woman from nearby, because of her families and surrounding people. After all, Sarah was not to be buried among these people.
How beautiful is it to read later that after Yithak discovers Rivka, that he loves her. How important is it to see the connection between the mourning of Abraham, which clearly indicates his deep love for Sarah, and the necessity for Yithak to love Rivka. Here, the Torah teaches us that character is very important in a person, but that only love is the necessary foundation of building a lasting generation.
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