Parshat Chayei Sara 5775 (Zev Ross)

Parshat Chayei Sarah begins with the passing of Sarah, at the age of 127 years. Avraham secures a burial site for Sarah by purchasing Maarat Hamachpelah from Ephron the Hittite. The text explicitly mentions that Avraham paid 400 silver shekels. The Gemara (Bava Metzia 87a) notes that each of Avraham’s shekels was actually 2500 ordinary shekels - and thus Avraham actually paid one million shekels to Ephron for the burial site. Immediately following the burial of Sarah, Avraham dispatches his loyal servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer establishes criteria for finding a wife for Yitzchak. When Eliezer goes to the well outside the city of Nachor, and Rivka offers him water and offers water to his camels, Eliezer is confident that Hashem has intervened to bring him the future wife of Yitzchak. He brings Rivka to meet Yitzchak and they fall in love and get married. Meanwhile, Avraham marries Ketura (or as Reb Yehuda explains - remarries Hagar) and has six more kids. Eventually he dies at age 175 years and is buried in Maarat Hamachpelah next to Sarah by Yishmael and Yitzchak.

Getting back to what happens by the well; Rivkah draws water for herself, her camels, Eliezer, and all ten of his camels. That's a lot of water and an extraordinary task for Rivka, and she eagerly performs these acts of chesed. While she performs these tasks so well, it is interesting to note that when Eliezer takes her to meet Yitzchak, she practically falls off her camel - vatipol me’al hagamal (Bereishit 24:64). If you read the English translation of Rashi for that pasuk, it says that she fell off her camel toward the ground, but didn't touch the ground. Wait, what? It turns out that she slipped on her camel, but stayed on. Doesn't that make more sense? Why would the same woman who so capably gave water to Eliezer and all his camels suddenly fall off her camel when she sees Yitzchak for the first time? Since Rashi didn't answer it for me, I had to figure it out for myself (what did I ever do to you, Rashi? :'( ). I think that Rivka found Yitzchak to be so handsome and attractive, that when she looked at him, she practically fell of her camel. Perhaps even more important however, was Yitzchak’s impression of Rivka. We read in the text that when Yitzchak brought Rivka into Sarah’s tent and loved Rivka, vayinachem Yitzchak acharei imo (Bereishit 24:67) - he was consoled/comforted regarding the loss of his mother. Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch in his commentary on this pasuk remarks that ‘nothing more glorious has ever been said’. Ramban maintains that Yitzchak loved Rivka for her righteousness and good deeds and that these are the criteria on which the Torah bases the love between husband and wife.

May our acts of chesed and the righteousness of the Jewish people continue to enhance our relationships with each other and with HaShem.

Shabbat shalom!

Zev Ross