This Sidra focuses on Abraham’s private life. It mentions three funerals and two marriages. The funerals are those of Abraham, Sarah and Ishmael. The marriages are those of Isaac who married Rebecca and Abraham who married his second wife, Keturah, who, some rabbis thought, was Hagar.
The Sidra begins with Sarah’s death at the age of 127 years. Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age is given at the time of her death. It has been suggested that perhaps this is in order to tell us that, in addition to Isaac’s miraculous birth, when she was 90, the second miracle was that she was given the blessing of bringing him up and seeing him reach the age of 37.
We are told that Sarah died in Kiryat Arbah, which later became the city of Hebron. The name Kiryat Arba means: The city which belongs to 4 tribes, who were united by a treaty. Later the name changed to Hebron, which means a united confederation. The name Hebron is connected with the word Chaver, which means a friend. Hebron is one of the most ancient cities of Judah and is situated on the way from Jerusalem to Beersheba. It is one of the oldest cities in Judah and for many centuries it has been recognised as one of the four holy cities in the Land of Israel. The cave which Abraham bought in order to bury Sarah had an enormous pulling power for the Jewish people throughout the ages.
In verse 2 we learn that Abraham came to eulogise Sarah in weep for her. The Torah does not say from where he came. There are two possibilities. Either he came from Beersheba, where he had settled after the Binding of Isaac or he was living in Hebron as well, but, since he lived in a separate tent, he went to Sarah’s tent.
The word VELIVKOTA in verse two, meaning, to weep for her, is written, in the Torah, with a small KAF. From time to time, we do come across small letters. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner explains that the reason for its small size is to emphasise that he wept in his heart, quietly, privately. On the other hand, for the eulogy he gathered around him everyone he knew, and sang Sarah’s praises. To this very day, this is the purpose of the eulogy. When friends or members of the community pass away, we try to describe their qualities in the best way we can.
Abraham began his negotiations with the Hittites by introducing himself as both a stranger and a citizen. This is strange. It means either that he was explaining to them that he had settled in their town as a stranger, but now he felt like a citizen or his intention was to give them the choice to regard him either as a stranger or as citizen with equal rights. He received at the right response. The Hittites replied that they regarded him as a very important man in their midst and suggested that he could choose a burial place in one of their own cemeteries, where ever he liked. They reassured him that no one would prevent him burying his wife in any of their cemeteries. Abraham was very grateful for their polite offer, but asked them to help him to approach Ephron son of Zochar, who was one of their leaders. Abraham had set his eyes on the Cave of the Machpelah, which was situated on the edge of his field. Abraham offered to pay him the full price. In the meantime, Ephron gathered all the citizens of Hebron to a special meeting and, in front of all of them, he declared that he did not want to sell the cave, but was willing to give it to Abram as a gift. Again, Abraham was extremely grateful and prostrated in front of Ephron. But he insisted that Ephron should accept payment. Abraham wanted that cave to belong for ever to his family and descendants, which could be achieved only through a properly constituted legal purchase. Ephron was very pleased with Abraham’s offer and said: “Listen to me, sir! What are 400 talents of silver amongst rich and respected people like us! It really isn’t very much money.” With these flamboyant words, Ephron demanded his price to which Abraham agreed. Our rabbis were very critical of Ephron’s conduct. They regarded him as dishonest and greedy. At first, he offered Abraham a generous gift only to withdraw it as soon as he could, demanding an extravagant sum of money.
Many commentators have pointed out that this story is very important in Jewish history. The Torah foresaw the future difficulties which the Jewish people would have in establishing and defending their rights to their holy sites in the land of Israel. Therefore, the Torah devotes an entire chapter to give us the precise details of this complicated deal.
Chapter 24 is extremely long and tells us the remarkable devotion of Abraham’s servant in his long journey to find a wife for Isaac. He travelled to Haran and met Rebecca outside the town at the well. He and his 10 camels were very thirsty. He asked her for water and was impressed by her kindness and by the speed in which she brought the water to him. When all the camels had drunk plenty of water, he saw that she was not asking for anything in return, so he decided that she was the right wife for his master’s son. His choice proved right because the Torah tells us that when Isaac brought Rebecca to his mother’s tent, he loved her very much. She gave him comfort for his mother.
The other two funerals are mentioned in the last portion. The second funeral is that of Abraham, who lived for another 38 years after Sarah’s death and passed away at the age of 175. The remarkable aspect of his funeral was that both his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, participated in it. Our rabbis had a tradition that the fact that Isaac and Ishmael were both present shows that Ishmael repented and returned to the family fold. For this reason, his death, at the age of 137, is also mentioned at length. Also, for this reason, his name was perpetuated and used later in Jewish history. One of the greatest teachers of the Mishnah bore the name, Rabbi Ishmael. He was Rabbi Akiva’s contemporary and his teachings are recited every day in the first part of morning service.