Shalom Friends;
This week, our Parshat HaShevua Chayei Sarah is being sponsored by Zev and Sarit Schonberg and family of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated as a Zechus for the success of their children, Aryeh, Akiva, Adina, Rachel and Yehuda. To the Schonberg family, many thanks for your sponsorship and your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
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The sefer “The Jewish Time Line Encyclopedia, by Mattis Kantor relates that Sarah was born in the year 1958 from creation and passed in the year 2084, equaling one hundred and twenty-six years. We learn, however, that Sarah Imeinu lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years. (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 23, posuk 1) The sefer goes on to say (page 17):
Yitzchak was 36, or 37 depending on the day in Nissan that the Akeida took place….
Sarah heard that Avraham had taken Yitzchak to offer him as a sacrifice [korban], and she traveled to search for them. When she reached Hevron, she was informed that he had not been sacrificed. The good news was too overwhelming for her, and she died. (citing Breish’t, Perek 23, posukim 1-2, Rashi/Mid.Rab.Br.58.4)
This latter account of Sarah’s passing was similar to one this author heard from a tour guide during his first trip to Israel some forty-three years ago.
So, after Torah provides account of Avraham’s purchase from Ephron the Hittite of a burial place for Sarah, and for the patriarchal family (the Cave = Ma’arat HaMachpeila ), next comes account of finding a wife for Yitzchak.
As an introduction, Torah records at the end of Parshat Vayeira, after recounting the Akeidah:
“And it happened after these matters, that Avraham was told, saying: Behold, Milcah, she… has borne children to Nahor, your brother: Uz, his firstborn…. and Betuel. And Betuel begot Rivka.” (Sefer Breish’t, Perek 22, posukim 20-23 as rendered to English in The Sapirstein Edition, The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary)
Rabbi Shmuel Goldin summarizes the posukim regarding sending his servant, Eliezer, to travel to his (Avraham’s) former homeland seeking a wife for Yitzchak in his sefer “Unlocking The Torah Text” (Volume One, Sefer Breish’t, pages 107-110):
As Avraham’s life draws near its end, he turns to his trusted servant, Eliezer, and instructs him to return to his homeland, Aram Naharaim, in order to find a wife for Yitzchak. He specifies that he does not want Yitzchak to marry a woman from the Canaanite nations…(citing Sefer Breish’t, Perek 24, posukim 1-9) …. Padan Aram, mentioned in the text as the birthplace of Rivka and the home of her extended family, (ibid, Perek 25, posuk 20) refers to a specific region within Aram Naharaim.
This vort has been titled: Why does Avraham seek a wife for Yitzchak from his homeland — Aram Naharaim, not Canaan?
Rav Goldin provides background and commentary regarding Avraham’s decision (“Unlocking The Torah Text”, Volume One, Sefer Breish’t, pages 107-110):
After all, isn’t this the very land that Avraham himself was commanded [by Hashem] to leave… to separate himself from… his birthplace and the home of his father? What possible reason could there be now to return to that land?
Complicating matters is the fact that there seem to be no difference between the inhabitants of Canaan and the inhabitants of Aram Naharaim. Both locations were populated by idol [avodah zora] worshipers.
Some classical commentators suggest that Avraham specifically wanted a wife chosen for Yitzchak from his own family.
The Midrash HaGadol suggests two reasons for this preference. Firstly, Avraham reasoned… “The people I should first convert to Judaism are the members of my family.” Secondly, Avraham believed that… his family were “closer to repentance.” (Midrash HaGadol, Sefer Breish’t, 24:4)
…Commentaries, among them Rabbeinu Nissim ben Reuven (the Ran)… suggest a fundamental moral contrast between inhabitants of Canaan and those of Aram Naharaim. While both cultures were idolatrous, Canaan society was particularly marked by its evil practices. (Drashot HaRan 5) ….Rashi states, “The nations [of Canaan] conquered by B’nei Yisrael were more corrupt than any other.” (Rashi, Sefer Vayikra, Perek 18, posuk 3)
Perhaps, however, a totally different explanation for Avraham’s decision to send Eliezer back to Aram Naharaim might be proposed…. Beneath the surface… lies an… important narrative: Avraham’s dramatic negotiation for self-definition as a ger v’toshav, a stranger and a citizen.
Avraham, through this two-word phrase [ger v’toshav], not only describes himself but also delineates the place his descendants will take in society throughout the ages. To survive and succeed the Jew must be both a stranger and a citizen in any country where he lives, participating in the culture which surrounds him while maintaining his own unique identity.
Having arrived at his own self-definition, perhaps Avraham… begins to fear [for the future]: “… I began in this land as a stranger. I came from a foreign land, and have always been able to maintain my distance from those within Canaan. Yitzchak, however, is different. My son was born here. He is too close to those around him. He is familiar only with this culture, with this population and with this land. How do I know that he will learn to discern the dangers that surround him…. that he will be able to distance himself from the elements of society counterproductive to his spiritual development? How do I know that he will maintain the appropriate balance and truly be a ger v’toshav?”
Avraham then sets about guaranteeing the continuation of his legacy…. Yitzchak’s wife will, it is to be hoped, be able to see herself as a ger v’toshav. She will begin with a natural distance from the Canaanites surrounding her. Given her foreign background, she will have a head start in maintaining the perspective needed to discern and confront the dangers around them.
The Patriarch hopes that his son’s wife will ensure the survival of the Jews by maintaining the delicate balance of self-definition that he himself has achieved.
It comes as no surprise, therefore, that as the story of the second patriarchal generation unfolds, Rivka emerges as the more perceptive parent. She alone sees their two children, Yaakov and Esav, for who they really are, and she alone acts with strength to perpetuate Avraham’s legacy through Yaakov. (Rav Goldin citing Sefer Breish’t , Perek 27, posukim 1-46)
In this author’s view, it seems that Rav Goldin’s concept of a Jew’s self-definition as a ger v’toshav, as an important point of Avraham’s concern in seeking Yitzchak’s wife from his former land, would provide lessons for we olim today. We live in Eretz Yisrael with native-born Israelis, yet there is importance in maintaining our own self-definition, positive morals and midos — the attributes of ger v’toshav that we acquired in our previous abodes, knowing that by our self-definition we have much positive to add to society in Israel.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them and that the twice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes, at government expense; both due to alt-leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized Yassamnik gunpoint. May our dear brother Jonathan Pollard be liberated and truly free — only upon his return home to Israel, and that the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of four years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt is an Oleh, writer and commentator on news and events in Eretz Yisrael. He is the founder and director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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