From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-intparsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       INTPARSHA -05: Parashat Chayei Sara


                     YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
        ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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              INTRODUCTION TO PARASHAT HASHAVUA
                             
                    PARASHAT CHAYEI SARA
                             
                             
            The Purchase of the Cave of Machpelah


Introduction

     This  week's  Parasha, which opens with the  death   and
burial  of  Sarah, continues with the travels  of  Avraham's
servant  to his birthplace in search of a wife for Yitzchak,
and closes with the death of Avraham, is very much about the
ceaseless  cycles of life.  The exalted spiritual revolution
wrought  by  Avraham and Sarah is assured of its  continuity
through  the  marriage  of  Yitzchak  and  Rivka,  who   will
ultimately show themselves to be fitting successors.   Death
followed  by  marriage, life's final act supervened  by  the
potential  of  new  progeny committed to  the  cause,  is   a
juxtaposition  that undeniably indicates the  attainment  by
Avraham  and Sarah of their life's objective.   And  in  the
background of that mission, always present and palpable,  is
the  Land.   The  land of Canaan, seven times  promised  and
seven  times  sealed, is the fertile ground upon  which  the
pageant of these productive lives is played out.

     The   acquisition   of  the  Cave   of   Machpelah,   so
painstakingly  portrayed  at the  opening  of  the  Parasha,
raises  many  questions.   In order  to  fully  analyze   the
incident,  it will first be necessary to acquaint  ourselves
with  a protracted section of verses. I would therefore  ask
the  reader to kindly turn to Bereishit 23:1-20 and to  scan
the contents so that the running quotation of such a lengthy
passage can be avoided.

     We  may  conveniently  divide the twenty-verse   section
     into five separate segments, marked by repeating motifs
     and phrasing:

1)   1  -  2: an introductory passage which recounts Sarah's
     life span, and records her death in Kiryat Arba, known as
     Chevron.  Avraham mourns and eulogizes her.

2)   3  -  7:  Avraham, expressing interest  in   securing  a
     burial  plot, approaches the Hittite inhabitants.  They
     respond  with an offer of the finest plot  gratis,   and
     Avraham, in a mark of deference, bows.

3)   8  -  12:  Avraham  requests of them  to   approach  and
     convince Efron the Hittite to allow him to secure the Cave
     of Machpelah, situated at the edge of Efron's field, at full
     price.  Efron, who is present, offers the site as a gift and
     again, Avraham bows in respect.

4)   13 - 16: Avraham insists on payment, Efron suggests the
     sum of 400 shekels of silver, and Avraham complies.

5)   17 - 20: The Torah narrates that the field of Efron and
     the cave within it are purchased by Avraham, who then buries
     his wife Sarah.  The plot becomes the family sepulchre.

The Securing of Land

     Taken  at  face value, this passage does not appear   to
provide  any  penetrating insights.   The  ongoing  dialogue
between Avraham and the Hittites seems loquacious and overly
formal.    The rational for Avraham's reluctance  to  accept
their repeated offers of a complimentary plot is not readily
apparent.   Nor  can we easily reconcile Efron's  successive
displays   of   generosity  with  the  singularly    negative
portrayal  of  the  man  and his  motives  afforded  by   the
traditional sources.

     One  thing, however, is striking.  Sarah at her   death,
we  are  told,  is  127 years old.  As we outlined  in   last
week's  discussion, this indicates that  Avraham  and  Sarah
have  been  in the land of Canaan for more than sixty  years
(excepting  the  brief  sojourn in  Egypt  recorded  at   the
beginning of Parashat Lekh Lekha).  How unusual that  during
the  course  of all this time, during which Avraham  amasses
herds,  flocks, servants and precious metals (see  Bereishit
12:15;  13:2; 20:14-16; 24:1), the acquisition of a plot  of
land  for  burial is overlooked.  Only after  the  death  of
Sarah  does  Avraham tardily undertake the task.    Why  has
Avraham been remiss in not securing it earlier?

     In  the Talmudic and Midrashic sources, the incident of
Sarah's burial is understood as a further trial of Avraham's
spiritual mettle. In a homiletic passage in Bava Batra  15a,
the  Satan himself is forced to acknowledge Avraham's  great
trust  in  God:   ".the  Satan  exclaimed:  Master   of   the
Universe, I have traversed the whole earth and have found no
servant of Yours as faithful as Avraham.  Did you not enjoin
upon him to "arise and travel the length and breadth of  the
land, for to you shall I give it"?  Nevertheless, though  he
was not able to secure a place to bury his wife Sarah except
for  the exorbitant sum of 400 shekels of silver, he did not
doubt  Your  words.  "  In a parallel passage  in   Sanhedrin
101a,  the  trust  that Avraham displays in  this  difficult
circumstance,  is  regarded  as  being  superior   to    that
displayed by Moses under less trying conditions.  How are we
to understand the nature of this trial?

The Semi-Nomadic Life

     Although they resided within the borders of Canaan, the
lives  of  Avraham  and Sarah seem to have  been  singularly
unsettled.  Thus, we find the two pitching their  tents  all
along  the central hill country, the Negev, and the lowlands
east  of the coastal plain.  The place names associated with
their  journeys include Shechem, Elon Moreh, Bet El, Shalem,
Chevron, Elonei Mamreh (all located along the crest  of  the
central  hills of "Judea and Samaria"), Gerar (a  Philistine
region)  and  Be'er Sheva in the arid south.  There  are  no
indications  in  the  text  that  Avraham  is    engaged   in
agriculture which would tend to connect him to a  particular
region of land (in contrast to Yitzchak who is described  in
Bereishit  26:12  as  "planting in the  land  of  Gerar   and
harvesting  a  hundred  fold").   His  wealth,   rather,   is
concentrated  in  flocks  of  sheep,  cattle,  camels,    and
donkeys.  His life is therefore the life of the semi-nomadic
tribesman,  who grazes his flocks in an area of pasture  and
then  moves on.  Or as Rashi (11th century, France)  phrases
it:  "Avraham's dwelling patterns were transitory.  He would
remain  in a particular location for a period of a month  or
so,  and  then  move on and pitch his tent  elsewhere"  (see
Bereishit 12:9).  A careful study of these place names on  a
map  indicates,  in fact, that Avraham and Sarah  tended  to
avoid  the  well-populated coastal and northern plains,  and
were  instead  associated  with the more  sparsely-populated
hills.

     This  fact  seems doubly strange, for Avraham  and   his
ancestors hail from Ur, a major urban and commercial  center
situated  along  the  southern extremity  of  the  Euphrates
River.   Having followed God's command to forsake  homeland,
birthplace   and   family,  why  has  Avraham    additionally
renounced  the  life of the city to become  a  wanderer  and
migrant in his new home?

     The  answer  to  this  question  is   abundantly  clear.
Avraham   and  Sarah  are  semi-nomadic  herdsmen    because,
notwithstanding Divine promises to the contrary, there is as
of   yet  no  Hebrew  nation  to  settle  the   land.   While
associated with Canaan, their direct connection to the  land
is  tenuous and fragile, because Avraham and Sarah personify
the  earliest stages of a new nation being born.   Only  one
thing  anchors them to this place, and that is the  word  of
God.  Actual possession and settlement, the true possibility
of a national destiny being realized, is for them far off in
the future.  For now, the land is firmly in the hands of the
indigenous inhabitants, the Canaanites.

Understanding the Trial

     It  will  be recalled that as soon as Avram enters   the
land, God appears to him promising that "to your descendants
shall  I  give  this  land," and indeed variations  of   this
promise  appear  in almost every exchange that  takes  place
between  them.   The  twin promises of offspring  and  land,
which form the two critical components of a national destiny
and  mission,  constitute for most  of  Avraham's  lifetime,
empty and hollow words.  A child is denied him until late in
life,  and the land so lovingly proffered remains a  distant
dream.  Thus, there is a disquieting dichotomy between  what
God has promised him, and the reality that Avraham sees with
his  own  eyes.   His wife Sarah is dead, and Avraham  lacks
even a plot of land within which to bury her!

     Avraham, however, forever resolute in steadfast  trust,
possesses the far-reaching perspective of the visionary.  He
can  continue to believe in the Divine oath because  he  can
see a future in which his descendants will constitute a with
a  land.   He is not perturbed by his lack of even a  burial
ground,  because  he  knows that one-day  his  progeny  will
checker   the  land  with  cities  and  fields.    The   true
revolutionary, who is absolutely convinced of the inevitable
success  of  his  cause,  can bear  even  the  pain   of  not
witnessing its accomplishment during his lifetime.


Overtures

     With  this  introductory analysis in mind,  it   is  now
possible to appreciate the exchange that takes place between
Avraham  and the Hittites. Following the death of  his  wife
and  the  performance of the customary  rites  of  mourning,
Avraham approaches the inhabitants of the land.  The ensuing
exchange  is  actually full of legal terms and  formularies,
for  as  we shall see, this narrative actually describes  an
official  transaction  carried out at  the  level  of  local
government.

"I  am  a stranger (Ger) and a sojourner (Toshav) with  you.
Provide me with a burial plot (Achuza) among you so  that  I
might bury my dead."  Introducing himself as a "ger" and   a
"toshav"  Avraham spells out the nature of his  predicament.
These  terms are indicative of one who is not an  indigenous
inhabitant  of  a place but rather has come to  dwell  there
from another locale.

     In  a  brilliant observation, R. Avraham Ibn Ezra (11th
century,  Spain) remarks that the Torah frequently  compares
the  "Ezrach"  or  citizen, with the "Ger"  or   convert:  "A
single  law shall apply to all, whether citizen or  convert,
for  I  am  the Lord your God" (VaYikra 24:22).  In  another
context,  in which the word "Ezrach" signifies a species  of
tree,  David  sees  the flourishing success  of  the  wicked
wither away: "I perceived the powerful wicked ones, who were
firmly  rooted  as a leafy tree ("ezrach  ra'anan").    In  a
moment,  they  had  disappeared." (Tehillim  37:35-36).    In
other  words, explains Ibn Ezra, the citizen is compared  to
the rooted tree, for he is firmly connected to a place.   He
has  the  advantage  of  family, friends  and  the   extended
network  of community, which conceptually much resemble  the
spreading branches and leaves of the "ezrach."

     The "ger" or convert, in contrast, comes from somewhere
else.   He has consciously uprooted himself from his kindred
in  order to join a new society.  Conceptually, he  is  like
the "gargir" (from which is derived "ger"), the single berry
or kernel that has fallen from the cluster, for he initially
lacks the benefit of a firm attachment to people or place.


Securing a Family Sepulchre

     "I  possess no land of my own here," says Avraham, "for
I have come from another place.  Kindly allow me to secure a
burial plot for my dead."  A piece of land that serves as  a
family crypt is perhaps the strongest notion of being linked
to   a  place  that  human  beings  recognize.    The  family
sepulchre  expresses  in  very  tangible  form  the   intense
connection to a land, a clan, and even a way of life.  To be
buried in a place is to be part of that place.  What Avraham
seeks  to establish is not simply a cemetery, but rather  an
undisputed and irreversible foothold in the land of  Canaan.
The Divine promise might take generations to be realized  in
its   entirety,  but  the  progenitor  of  the    people   is
ideologically  driven  to initiate the  process  during  his
lifetime.  Avraham's goal is to effect a fundamental  change
in  his  status and, more significantly, the status  of  his
posterity.  They are to cease being considered as aliens and
to  begin  being  regarded  as citizens.   As  Ramban   (13th
century,  Spain) explains: "the prevailing  custom  was  for
each family to have its own cemetery, and for the foreigners
to  be  buried in a common plot.  Avraham explained  to  the
Hittites  that  having come from another land,  he  did  not
inherit  a  family  sepulchre in Canaan.   His  intent   now,
however,  was  to become a permanent dweller  in  the  land.
Therefore,  he  wanted to secure a burial  plot  for  future
generations,  so that he might be considered  an  inhabitant
like them."  (Verse 4)

     The   Hittites,   genuinely  courteous   and   generous,
seemingly respond in the affirmative.  "You are a prince  of
God  among us," they exclaim, "choose the best of our burial
plots  ("bemivchar kevareinu") for your own."   The   careful
reader  might  already  detect a foreboding  tone  to  their
words, which is borne out by Efron's subsequent offer: "Sir,
hear  me,"  he exclaims to Avraham, "I hereby give  you  the
field  and the cave.  In sight of all assembled here I  give
it  to you, so that you may bury your dead."  How can we not
but  be  impressed by these munificent words in which  Efron
echoes  the sentiments of his kinfolk and offers the desired
land  free  of  charge?   Why then is Avraham  reluctant   to
accept  such  a benevolent offer?  Has he not  in  the  past
accepted  gifts from Pharaoh (Bereishit 12:16) and Avimelech
(Bereishit 20:14-16)?

     Avraham's aversion, I believe, stems from the fact that
he  realizes  (as  do  the Hittites)  that  legal   ownership
secured  through  purchase,  differs  markedly  from    legal
ownership that is the result of a gift.  The former  entails
no  ongoing  relationship with the seller  and  involves  no
necessity  of  acknowledging favors.  A gift, on  the  other
hand,  creates  a  dependence on the benefactor,  and  often
involves the imposition of conditions on the recipient which
tend  to  lessen  the latter's absolute and incontrovertible
claim to ownership.

     The Hittites and Efron are more than willing to provide
Avraham  with  the  burial plot that  he  desires,  free   of
charge.  Although this offer can certainly be interpreted as
a  magnanimous  gesture  on their  part,  it  simultaneously
contains  a  threatening undercurrent.  This is because  the
provision  of  the  burial  plot   (indicative  of   official
status)  as a gift will actually undermine Avraham's attempt
to  secure undisputed legal deed to the land as well as  the
status  as a citizen that goes with it.  Therefore,  Avraham
refuses.

     Efron finally relents and agrees to Avraham's desire to
buy  the cave.  By attaching such an outrageous price to it,
though, he is in effect again attempting to dissuade Avraham
from trying to attain deed through purchase.  But Avraham is
undeterred and immediately agrees to the terms of the  sale,
thus  succeeding in establishing an eternal connection  with
the land that can never be severed.

     The  lessons  of this passage are clear.    The  abiding
faith  and  foresight  demonstrated  by  Avraham  Avinu    in
securing  the cave of Machpelah, teaches us much  about  our
own  connection to the Land of Israel.  It is  a  link  that
exists  primarily  as function of God's everlasting  promise
but  also  because  of  our own investments  of  effort   and
capital.  At the same time, our mission in this land has not
changed  since Avraham and Sarah's day: to build  a  society
founded  upon  the  ideals  of justice,  righteousness,  and
truth,   and   predicated  on  an   intense    and   intimate
relationship with God.

Shabbat Shalom

For  further study: See the portentous Midrash in  Bereishit
Rabbah  79:7 in which three purchases of land in Israel  are
singled  out:  the Cave of Machpelah, the plot  of  land  at
Shechem,  and  the  site of the Temple.  How  do  the   above
themes  apply to these cases as well?  Compare  the  Midrash
with  the  account of land purchase described  in  Yirmiyahu
Chapter 32.

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved

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