Chaye Sarah: Twice Told Tales

I once wrote a letter that was published in the  New York Times book review. The letter corrected a comment about the disguise that Jacob wore when he obtained the blessing of his father, Isaac.  Esau, Isaac’s  preferred recipient, was out hunting for a feast to celebrate his selection. The article attributed the idea of appropriating the blessing by guile to Jacob.  My letter corrected that misconception.  It was Rebecca, their mother (who favored Jacob) who hatched the ruse. I generally do not have the courage to write such letters.  But it was just after I had returned from burying my mother in Israel. [Tomorrow, Shabbat, is her Yahrzeit].  The grief cancelled my inhibitions.  Unfortunately, that sorrow-bravery faded. Now, I can just remember the story.

I think that Abraham may have used some of this sorrow-induced boldness when he purchased the cave of the Machpela, the burial plot, for Sarah.  Her death necessitated and facilitated the procurement.

Abraham  identified a burial plot. Cemeteries are usually on land that has little utility. Perhaps that is why the people of the place, who did not own the desired area, invite Abraham to simply take it. Abraham insists on negotiating with the owner, Efron the Hitite.  The root of this man’s name is efer – dry earth, dust. This is the stuff of the body and what it becomes in death.  As Gd said to Adam

כִּֽי־עָפָ֣ר אַ֔תָּה וְאֶל־עָפָ֖ר תָּשֽׁוּב׃

 

For you are dust (efer) and to dust ( efer) you will return.

Efron states an asking price. Abraham publicly gives him every penny in certified currency. He buries Sarah.  This is the first land purchase recorded in the Torah. It is  the  title deed to  a small piece of the Promised Land. A deed claimed by all who assert their heritage as  Abrahamic.

At the end of the parsha, Isaac and Ishmael, the acknowledged sons, bury Abraham together, next to Sarah, in the cave of the Machpela. The text reiterates:

וַיִּקְבְּר֨וּ אֹת֜וֹ יִצְחָ֤ק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל֙ בָּנָ֔יו אֶל־מְעָרַ֖ת הַמַּכְפֵּלָ֑ה אֶל־שְׂדֵ֞ה עֶפְרֹ֤ן בֶּן־צֹ֙חַר֙ הַֽחִתִּ֔י אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י מַמְרֵֽא׃

His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,

הַשָּׂדֶ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־קָנָ֥ה אַבְרָהָ֖ם מֵאֵ֣ת בְּנֵי־חֵ֑ת שָׁ֛מָּה קֻבַּ֥ר אַבְרָהָ֖ם וְשָׂרָ֥ה אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃

the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; there Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.

 

Rav Hirch addressed the repetition

The title of purchase is repeated over and over again because in this purchase, humanly speaking, the children were given the only guarantee that their fathers recognized this country as their country and had therefore made their permanent resting place there. ( translation from German by Google)

 

I am not sure what  Rav Hirch means, but I take away the idea that despite the publicly recorded valid transaction, the world at large was not certain about who owned the land. Abraham’s purchase must be repeated.

It is not clear to me that land can ever be purchased. I live on land that was taken from an indigenous people.  Everyone does. The trades and valuations (true and fraudulent) are a game played on legal sand that can give way.

The Talmud looks at land as the ultimate entity of lasting value.  Land is always incumbered to debts. The sale of land does not relieve that piece of earth from its role as ultimate collateral for any loans made prior to its sale.

The story of the sale must be repeated for all the trouble that it causes. There is no end to forgetting or re-interpreting.

The other repeated story is the identification of Rebecca as the bride for Isaac. The loyal servant concocts a “test.” The woman who, when asked for some water, delivers the water and then volunteers to water the camels too – she will be the choice. Rebecca does just that.

One can interpret Rebecca’s actions.  She may have been showing kindness. It would have been excessive kindness. She sees this servant heading a caravan with a retinue of men asking her for water.  Why can’t they get their own water? Why does she volunteer to water the camels, too? This is radical acceptance. A wonderful quality. She does not make a judgement based upon the situation.  

Alternatively, she fully expected to be rewarded. Her services were delivered on credit.  In fact, she was rewarded with gold and a wedding proposal.

Or maybe, Rebecca’s angel spoke with the servant’s angel and she just knew to do what she did. The story had to happen.

The servant had to tell Lavan and the rest of Rebecca’s family the story.  The story turns an accidental meeting into a Divine intervention:

וַיַּ֨עַן לָבָ֤ן וּבְתוּאֵל֙ וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מֵיְ יָצָ֣א הַדָּבָ֑ר לֹ֥א נוּכַ֛ל דַּבֵּ֥ר אֵלֶ֖יךָ רַ֥ע אוֹ־טֽוֹב׃

Then Lavan and Betu᾽el answered and said, The thing comes from the Lrd: we cannot speak to thee bad or good.

The verdict is Divine, human reasoning has no role. Lavan tries to control the details, but the ultimate decision is left to Rebecca. She either wants to leave her current circumstances, or she does not want to delay her fate, or she sees a brighter future in leaving … and she goes immediately. Rebecca and Isaac will spawn another eternal conflict: between the clever and the deceived; between Jacob and Esau.

It is all in how you tell the story.

How do I tell myself the story of Oct 7, 2023 and the aftermath? Antonio Guterres said that the events did not occur in a vacuum. What filled the space? Which tradition is continued? Is it the 20^th century Nazi goal of death to all Jews? The medieval idea that Jews are disposable aliens everywhere? Are Jews in Israel European invaders on Islamic land? Are the Jews mercilessly imposing their religious fantasy on an indigenous people with deadly force? Are the Israelis purposely, or carelessly, murdering civilians, especially children? Did the people who remained in Gaza, after being informed that it would become a battle ground, vote for murderous antisemitism with their feet and become collaborators? What am I supporting with my silence?