Chaya Sara: life after death

Chaya Sara: life after death

 

Chaya Sarah opens with the death of Sara.  The consequence of Sara's death is the need for a burial plot... in the land.  The parsha ends ( before the coda of the descendants of Ismael) with Avraham's burial ( by both Yitzchok and Ishamel) in that same burial plot. 

The Me'orath Hamachpeilah is the first purchase of the JNF.  It establishes a foothold in the (occupied) promised land and it enshrines the relationship between Avraham and Sarah, establishing the position of Yitzchok as heir.  

Sarah's role in establishing Yitzchok as heir is not only a consequence of bearing him, but also that she was a paradigm for wifing. When Rivkah arrives, Yitzchok is comforted for the loss of Sarah.  When Rivkah's relatives bless her, they use the word chaya (24:60) וַיְבָרְכוּ אֶת-רִבְקָה וַיֹּאמְרוּ לָהּ אֲחֹתֵנוּ אַתְּ הֲיִי לְאַלְפֵי רְבָבָה . 

 

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The test

Eliezer imagines an exchange between himself and the dream girl. He (leading 10 camels of riches and a retinue) will ask her  ( 3 year old) for a drink of water.  She will not say," why don't you just get it yourself" or,"have one of  your servants get it."  She will give him  the drink, put aside what ever she had to do, offer to water his camels and proceed to do that.

Eliezer generates an unrealistic expectation  and it is fulfilled.  Rebecca's relatives call this and act of Gd.

What could she have been thinking?
She could have thought that she would be rewarded for her fulfillment of the request of this obviously wealthy man...which she was.  There may have been an economic motive ( look at her brother, Lavan, who was excessively motivated by wealth)

Or she could have thought that even the wealthy may need kindness and riches should not exclude a person from unthinking benevolence.  Even if she did not understand the circumstances that prompted the request, it was an opportunity for her to help.

Or maybe both, or neither.

Who knows what a 3 year old thinks about?

 

 

 

 

VAyerah: negotions

Vayerah: negotiations

One of the themes in Vayera is negotiations, both active negotiations and episodes of their notable absence ( the Akeidah).

Avraham convinces the angels to turn aside to his place.

Avraham negotiates with Gd about Sodom.

Lot convinces the angels to come to his place; Lot negotiates with the people of Sodom, including a very unsavory offer of his daughters ( do with them as you will)

Lot ( successfully [cf Avraham] ) negotiates the rescue of one of the 5 towns, Zoar.

Avimelech negotiates two contracts with Avraham: cover up for Sarah and ceding Be'er Sheva.

there is no negotiations about the expulsion of  Hagar and Ishmael. 

There is no negotiation about the binding of Yitzchok.  Has Avraham seen the futility of negotiating with Gd when Sodom was destroyed?  Is Avraham a Jewish liberal who will fight for to the death for strangers but does not attempt to save his own people from death? Never again!

 

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Pasacaglia elements

 

1. 
   
   expulsions:  paradigms: Eden; Avram from Ur
   
   
   
   
   1. 
      
      Lot from Sodom
      
      
      
      
      1. 
         
         out of a place that was like the  garden of Gd
         
         
      2. 
         
         complete with fiery furnace
      
      
   2. 
      
      Hagar and Ishmael
      
      
      
      
      1. 
         
         into the wilderness
         
         
         
         
         1. 
            
            that Israel ascends form
         
         
      2. 
         
         out of the "Eden" of Avraham's household
      
      
   3. 
      
        akeidah
      
      
      
      
      1. 
         
         lech lecha is used again
   
   
2. 
   
   Noach
   
   
   
   
   1. 
      
      Lot and his family as the sole survivors  of the destruction
      
      
   2. 
      
      subsequent drunkenness
      
      
      
      
      1. 
         
         with ill consequences for the offspring
      
      
   3. 
      
      the bow  of Ishmael ( the rainbow)

 

 

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The four "sons"

 

 In Lech Lecha and Vayera 4 potential heirs are identified and dispatched in different ways

 

1. Lot is granted whatever he wants.  He ends up becoming a Sodomite ( the Rasah?)


2. Eliezer is sent to war. ( Tom?)


3. Ishmael is left to his own devices in the wilderness ( tough love, Ayno Yodea Lishol?)


4. Yitzchok is sacrificed on the alter ... almost (Hacham?)

Lech Lecha: Sarah's story

Lech Lecha: Sarah's story

lech: for Sara; Lecha for Avram 

 

The story is hidden.  Why does Avram stay with Sara? She is incapable of having a child ( end of Noach)  and having a child is a very important thing for Avram. He won't even be with another woman until Sara invites it.  This is not the male dominant society that I would have imagined prevailed in the Middle East  4000 yeras ago!

This loyalty to Sara must be in the essence of Avram's righteousness. Otherwise, it is inexplicable. 

Ultimately, even after Avram has Yishmael, he is promised a son by Sarah.  She must have had some powerful genes and/or child rearing skills.

One can also propose that the Brith Milah was for Sara's sake, moreso than for Avraham's

And when Avraham is told that Sarah will bear a son he  וַיִּצְחָק (laughed?). [ This is the same activity that informed Avimelech that Yitzchok was married to Rivkah. ] Thus, Sarah became pregnant. 

 

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there  is a minor re-enactment of the stories that have occurred up to this time, a kind of passacaglia. 

1. 
   
   the instructions that are to be followed ( Lech Lecha)
   
   
2. 
   
   exile form the homeland ( Eden)
   
   
3. 
   
   battle over cattle ( Cain and Abel)
   
   
4. 
   
   world war ( the tower of Babel)
   
   
5. 
   
   the insistance that the associate come from one's own flesh ( Eve)
   
   
6. 
   
   the anesthesia experience [tardema] ( Eve)