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Torah Portion -
chayeisarah
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Written by d fine
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In parshas Vayera we pointed out that the Avos were called Yesharim due to their kind treatment of all people. There is another great example of this trait in our sedra. The psukim clearly illustrate that Avraham treats Efron with the utmost respect; he does not pressurise Efron nor lose his cool with him due to Efron’s incessant changing the price of a burial plot for Sarah Imeinu. But if one looks below the surface, Avraham’s attitude is even more amazing to witness. Not only did Avraham want to bury his wife as soon as possible, he was originally told that he would be given the ma’aras hamachpelah for free. However, Efron soon changed his mind and insisted on selling it to Avraham for a rather steep price. Not only that, but Efron insisted on having Avraham buy the field adjacent to the cave as well, refusing to give Avraham access to the cave without it (see the psukim). Moreover, Efron and Avraham were opposites. Avraham was the ‘say little, do much’ person, whilst Efron was the ‘say a lot, do little’ character - which meant that Avraham was full of humility
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Torah Portion -
chayeisarah
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Written by d fine
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The opening pasuk of our sedra notes that Sarah Imeinu was 127 years old when she died. Now there’s another appearance of the number 127 in Tanach. The Megillah tells us that Achashveirosh ruled over 127 countries; and (unsurprisingly) there is a link between these two appearances of the number 127. Chazal tell us that Rabbi Akiva was once giving a shiur, and several students were dozing off (this seems to be an old minhag!). Rabbi Akiva remarked ‘in the merit of Sarah Imeinu’s 127 years, the Jewish People in the 127 countries in the Purim story were saved.’ Suddenly, the students stopped dozing off and began fully concentrating on the shiur. Why; what changed? The explanation I heard was that Rabbi Akiva’s words caused the students to realise the value of time. How? For Sarah’s spiritually wholesome 127 years saving 127 countries meant that each year that Sarah used productively to perform mitzvos saw another country saved. So each month meant another town saved, each week a neighbourhood saved, each day a block, each minute a road, and each second a family (etc.). Thus, the students of Rabbi Akiva realised the importance of making use of every second of their time; using it for constructive purposes. As Rav Sheinberg stressed, when David HaMelech said ‘who is the man who desires life?
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Torah Portion -
chayeisarah
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Written by D Fine
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If you asked Eliezer, Avraham's servant, what his proudest moment in life was, he probably would have told you at length the story about how he went to find a wife for Yitzchak. However, throughout this entire episode Eliezer's name is not mentioned once; he is referred to as 'the servant' (and occasionally 'the man'). Why is his name ommitted from his greatest achievement in life? The idea is that just the opposite is true. The word servant (eved) is the greatest accolade one can get when it is in reference to someone like Avraham Avinu. A servant is someone who is willing to
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Torah Portion -
chayeisarah
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Written by Administrator
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We would love to read your vort. Click "Submit your Vort" to send us your vort.
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Torah Portion -
chayeisarah
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Written by Rabbi Benji Landau
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וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה, מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים--שְׁנֵי, חַיֵּי שָׂרָה
וַתָּמָת שָׂרָה, בְּקִרְיַת אַרְבַּע הִוא חֶבְרוֹן--בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן; וַיָּבֹא אַבְרָהָם, לִסְפֹּד לְשָׂרָה, וְלִבְכֹּתָהּ
(23:1,2)
The Parsha begins with the death of Sarah and Avraham’s subsequent purchase of a burial plot for her, the first acquisition of land in Eretz Yisrael. There are a few questions on the plain meaning of the opening p’sukim and Rashi’s commentary.
1. Why does the posuk use the double expression of שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה? 2. Why does the Torah
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