- Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah in order to bury his wife Sarah. (23:1-20)
- Abraham sends his servant to find a bride for Isaac. (24:1-9)
- Rebekah shows her kindness by offering to draw water for the servant's camels at the well. (24:15-20)
- The servant meets Rebekah's family and then takes Rebekah to Isaac, who marries her. (24:23-67)
- Abraham takes another wife, named Keturah. At the age of one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham dies, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah. (25:1-11)
(1) Sarah’s lifetime—the span of Sarah’s life—came to one hundred and twenty-seven years. (2) Sarah died in Kiriath-arba—now Hebron—in the land of Canaan; and Abraham proceeded to mourn for Sarah and to bewail her.
The name of this week’s Torah reading is Chayei Sarah, “the life of Sarah.” This raises an obvious question. The Torah reading talks of Sarah’s death and her burial, why should its name be associated with “her life”?
With this name, the Torah is teaching us that every person can gain an aspect of immortality. We are not speaking of the afterlife in the spiritual realms where every soul is granted an eternal existence, but rather a continuous posterity in this material world.
The Torah reading focuses on three events: Abraham’s purchase of a burial place for Sarah in Hebron, his first acquisition of a portion of the Land of Israel, the mission to find a wife for Isaac, and Abraham’s granting Isaac his inheritance.
All of these events reflect Sarah’s lifework. Firstly, as a woman she endeavoured that the pledge God gave to Abraham, that the land of Israel become the heritage of the Jewish people, not remain merely an abstract promise, but be translated into actual fact. This transpired with the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah. From that point on, the Jews owned a portion of the Holy Land, and that ownership was recognized by all the nations of the world. (Menachem Mendel Schneerson)
The text reminds the reader that Sarah was 127 when she died (Genesis 23:1) while Abraham lived to be 175 (Genesis 25:7). Both Sarah and Abraham accomplished their most significant achievements in the latter part of their lives, well past the age that would be considered feasible today. Abraham set out on his fateful journey at God’s command from Haran (in northwest Mesopotamia — modern-day Iraq) to “the land that I will show you” at age 75 (Genesis 12:1, 4). When Abraham reached age 90, God revealed Himself to Abraham and promised to make his descendants exceedingly numerous (Genesis 17:4-6). At age 99, Abraham was commanded to circumcise himself (Genesis 17:24). Although, Sarah, at age 90, and Abraham, at age 100, were well past normal child-bearing years, nevertheless, Isaac was born (Genesis 21:2-3). Thus, for Sarah and Abraham, age provided no barrier to accomplishment. (Rabbi Dr Stephen S Pearce)
In parashat Chayei Sarah, Abraham begins to secure God’s promises of offspring and land. The central events in parashat Chayei Sarah—the death of one matriarch and the introduction of another— emphasize how profoundly the fulfillment of these promises is connected to women. To secure a burial place for Sarah, whose death opens the parashah, Abraham purchases land that provides a legitimate foothold in Canaan, one recognized by the inhabitants of the land. As other family members die and are buried there, this burial site will become a concrete fulfillment of God’s pledge to give the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendants. The search for a suitable wife for Abraham’s son Isaac—culminating in the betrothal of Rebekah— demonstrates Abraham’s desire to ensure the continuity of the covenant through progeny. Both Abraham’s careful negotiations with the Hittites for the burial plot and his desire that Isaac’s wife come from family in a distant land draw attention to Abraham’s position as an outsider in the Promised Land. These two narratives highlight the tension throughout the biblical text between separation from other nations and openness to the stranger (Rabbi Stephanie Bernstein in A Women's Torah Commentary ed Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, Dr. Lisa D. Grant, Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D.)
(4) “I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.”
The term is enigmatic. Ger means alien while toshav means resident. How could Avraham be both when those terms seem to be the opposite of one another?
Halakha awards a formal status to a person who comes to live amongst Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael: they are known as a ger toshav (literally, and somewhat paradoxically, "resident stranger"). Later commentary teaches that the ger toshav living among Israelites had to accept the seven Noahide laws, though not convert.
The term תושב (toshav) appears in the Bible fourteen times, mostly in passages associated with the Holiness Code (H). It is typically interpreted as referring to an alien who resides in a foreign country on a long-term basis. I propose, instead, that it had an economic meaning, referring to “a rent-paying (farming) tenant,” that is, someone who cultivates land that he does not own and pays rent to the landlord." (Yoram Mayshar)
Biblical verses on the GER TOSHAV
“You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:20) The rabbis interpreted this to mean that you may not oppress a ger toshav either verbally or monetarily (Maimonides, Hilchot Mechirah 14:15-16; Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 228:2).
Gerim must rest on Shabbat, exactly like Jews (Exodus 20:10; 23:12).
Gerim may collect the gleanings (leket) from the field, alongside of poor Israelites (Lev. 23:22).
Gerim must be treated equally in a court of law (Deut. 1:16 and cf. Lev. 24:22; Numbers 35:15).
Gerim may eat from the tithe exactly like the widow and the orphan (Deut. 14:29).
Gerim who are day labourers may not be abused. You must pay them their wages on the same day (Deut. 24:14-15).
Requirements of Gerim:
Gerim must not eat hametz during Pesach (Exodus 12:19).
Gerim must “afflict their souls” and refrain from work on Yom Kippur (Lev. 16:29).
Gerim must not worship other gods (Lev. 17:8-9).
Gerim must not eat blood, just like Israelites (Lev. 17:10).
Leviticus 18 lists the sexual prohibitions and concludes that they apply both to the citizen and to the ger (Lev. 18:26).
Gerim may not sacrifice their children to Molech (Lev. 20:1-5).
Gerim may not curse God (Lev. 24:16).
Gerim who become ritually impure must be purified (Numbers 19:10).
Gerim may not commit murder (Numbers 35:15 ff.)
questions:
Read Genesis 23:3–9, which describes Abraham’s desire to purchase a burial place for Sarah.
a. How does Abraham present himself to the Hittites in verse 4? What does this reflect about Abraham’s position? Why do you think Abraham asks to buy land to “bury my dead,” rather than asking to purchase a gravesite just for his wife?
b. How would you characterize the type of language the Hittites use in verse 6 in response to Abraham’s request? How does this compare with the tone of the negotiations when Abraham states his request in verses 7–9?
c. What specific requests does Abraham make regarding the burial place in verses 7–9? In your view, why does Abraham want an “inalienable gravesite”?
Read Genesis 23:10–18, which describes the terms under which Abraham wants to buy the burial site.
a. According to verse 10, the negotiations regarding the burial site take place “in the hearing of all the Hittites and all the town leaders” (literally, “those who entered the gate of the city”). What is the significance of where and before whom these negotiations take place?
b. In verse 11 Ephron offers the cave to Abraham as a gift. How does Abraham respond to this offer in verses 12–13? Why do you think Abraham is so insistent on paying?
c. Verses 16–18 describe Abraham’s payment for the land—an exorbitant sum. In your view, why does Abraham agree to pay this amount?
Read Genesis 23:19–20, which describes Sarah’s burial.
a. What do we learn about Sarah’s burial in these verses? Why do you think the text devotes so little attention to Sarah’s burial in comparison with the discussion of her burial site? How do these two verses connect back to verses 1–2?
b. Both verse 20 and verses 17–18 describe the precise location of the burial site. Why are these details included twice? What is the significance of the land Abraham purchases, beyond its use as a burial site?
(From WTC)