Parashat Chaye Sarah
11/17/2022 12:00:00 PM
Nov17
Chayei Sarah, presents us with an opportunity to learn more about our ancestors and also delve into the Jewish view of family. Sarah, Abraham's wife, dies and Abraham, now alone, seeks to ensure that the next generation will continue the Jewish traditions which he and Sarah have established. To that end, Abraham sends his servant Eliezer to find a wife for his son Isaac from among his kin. Eliezer travels to the land of Abraham's birth and returns with Rebecca, kin to Abraham and considered an appropriate wife. At the close of this portion, Abraham dies. We read:
And Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good ripe age, old and contented; and he was gathered to his kin. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah..." (Genesis 25:8-9)
Isaac and Ishmael are Abraham's two sons - Ishmael, the elder is son of Hagar; Isaac the younger is the son of Sarah. This portion depicts the first time that we see the two (now) men being brothers and working together. Theirs has not been an easy relationship. Ishmael and his mother Hagar were sent from their home when Sarah grew concerned about Ishmael's behavior toward Isaac. What little we know from the text and later from commentary on the Torah, Isaac and Ishmael had either no relationship or one filled with anger. But there are midrashim that suggest that, drawn together to bury their father, they reconciled.
I can only imagine what happened when the brothers met up at the grave. I can imagine this because I have been present with family members who are estranged and reunite at a funeral. Almost always, standing in the face of death, everyone realizes that at the center of our lives are our relationships. There are often tears of loss - both for the person who died, and the family time, important events and meaningful moments missed as a result of a long-forgotten slight or offense.
I might suggest that this portion's conclusion at Abraham's grave invites us to think about our family relationships that might need repair. Families need to be whole, and Chayei Sarah encourages us to act sooner rather than later to make that so.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Amy Schwartzman
Sun, July 27 2025 2 Av 5785