Chaya Sarah: Brothers

 

This week's parsha starts with the death of Sarah and ends with the descendants of Ishmael. The son that Sarah insisted on banishing spawns 12 princes.  This is the son that Sarah was supposed to raise after his birth to the surrogate Hagar.  After the birth of her miraculous biological son, Sarah insisted that Ishmael be exiled.  He becomes the symbol of the outcast, but resurgent child, the forefather of Mohamed. Call me Ishmael. It is comforting to me that Sarah's  command did  not result in the death of Ishmael.  Perhaps she was instrumental in his rise.  His banishment led to the angel of Lechi Roie who blessed him.  Those kinds of blessings, the ones that come through tolerating injustice, may have a better chance of coming true ( cf Chana).

Perhaps listing the descendants of Ishmael is a coda,  an addendum of left over facts, appended to the parsha for chronology.  In that case, the last story is the parsha is the burial of Abraham by Isaac... and Ishmael,  After listing the offspring his third wife, Keturah, all of whom are sent off with gifts, but no claim to the legacy, Abraham dies.  Isaac and Ishmael know where to bury him - in the cave, next to Sarah.  Sarah was Ishmael's mother, too. 

The bulk of the parsha ,between the burials of the founding couple,  is the story of finding Isaac's bride, Rebecca. In my family, when something unexpected and good happened, my father would exclaim: "das ist a gt zach" this is a thing from Gd. That is not a religious statement.  It is closest to the statement of Rebecca's brother and father, after they hear the servant's tale 

יַּ֨עַן לָבָ֤ן וּבְתוּאֵל֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מֵ   יָצָ֣א הַדָּבָ֑ר לֹ֥א נוּכַ֛ל דַּבֵּ֥ר אֵלֶ֖יךָ רַ֥ע אוֹ־טֽוֹב׃

Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter was decreed by the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good.

They have heard how the servant concocted a "test" to identify the appropriate mate for Isaac , and along comes this girl, beautiful and from the right family, and immediately passes the test. Such a coincidence of events is taken as a sign from heaven.  This is the deity of pleasant surprises, and the recognition of divine intervention is used to ease momentous decisions.  It is most closely related to luck or fate. 

When Efron sells the Machpelah burial site to Abraham for the interment of Sarah ( and eventually Abraham, followed  by Isaac and Rebecca, etc.), the recognition of Abraham as a  נְשִׂ֨יא אֱ, a prince of E, facilitates the deal.  Abraham uses his status only to obtain an introduction to the Efron, the owner of the field and cave.  Abraham insists on buying the field with currency.  He wants to leave no doubt about ownership

The overarching theme of the parsha is legacy.  The haftarah for Chayei Sarah deals with the establishment of Shlomo as the royal heir to king David, over the attempted usurpation of Adonia.  Shlomo's mother, Bathsheva,  is crucial in driving David to the public declaration of Shlomo as his successor.   Sarah tried to assure that Ishmael would have no claim as Avraham's heir. Our tradition chooses  Isaac as the successor. 

It is poignant  that Isaac and Ishmael bury father Abraham together. They cooperated for a common cause, they did an act that comforted each other.  Would that the progeny of Ishmael had welcomed the beleaguered children of Isaac in their moment of need... and they could live in harmony.  That is too much of an ask. All we can do is, like the servant of Abraham and Nathan the prophet,  repeat the story again and again.