Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat Haye SaraRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Chayei Sara · חיי שרה · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:04Parashat Chayei Sarah.0:06This week's parashah has 1050:10pesukim, and the theme of the parashah is death and marriage.0:14We find the death of the older generation, the generation of Abraham and Sarah,0:19and we find the marriage also in this week's parashah of Yitzhak and Rivka.0:23It's basically this parashah serves as the bridge between the old generation of Abraham Avinu to the new generation of Yitzhak Avinu.0:32Parashah is very simple. This week's parashah is very simple to see, to break up.0:36There's only four parts of this week's0:38parashah. The first part of the parashah Torah tells us about the death of Sarah Imenu and her burial.0:43The second part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about finding the wife for Yitzhak Avinu,0:50and the third part of this week's parashah, the Torah tells us about the last few days of Abraham Avinu,0:55and finally Torah concludes with the death of Yishmael and his family.0:59No mitzvot in this week's parashah, like we mentioned, the mitzvot will come back,1:05בעזרת השם, parashat Vayishlach. Let's get to the1:07parashah and death. The first part of the parashah, the Torah tells us about the death of Sarah Imenu and her burial.1:11We begin the parashah with the words of how long Sarah Imenu lived.1:16Sarah Imenu lived 127 years,1:21and the Chachamim explain that these years were years which were full of service of Hashem.1:27She hasn't sinned. She remained a perfect tzaddeket throughout all her years.1:30It wasn't just that she lived those years, but that she lived the days,1:34she lived every moment of these years.1:37And the Gemara explains the connection between this week's parashah and last week's1:42parashah. We finished last week's parashah with the story of Akedah,1:45and we begin this week's parashah with the death of Sarah1:49Imenu. And Chachamim explain because they were linked.1:52It's because of the news that Sarah Imeinu heard about the Akedah,1:55that her son was almost sacrificed, that it seems like that she died.2:01And Avraham Avinu now sets out to do the mitzvah of kevurat hamet, of burying the dead,2:06and he goes over to a land that belonged to the Chittim, the nation of2:11Chittim, and more specifically it belonged to a man named Ephron,2:14and he wants to purchase this land.2:16Why this specific land? So the Zohar explains2:18that in Parashat Vayera, in the beginning when Avraham Avinu had three guests,2:21it says that he ran to get a cow.2:25V'el habakar רץ אברהם, and the Zohar explains that that cow started running away from him,2:28and it was running away, and Avraham Avinu, with the pain of the brit milah, ran after the cow,2:32and he kept on running and running and running until the cow entered a cave,2:36and Avraham Avinu chased it into the2:37cave. When he went inside the cave, he smelled a very, very strong smell,2:42a beautiful and strong smell,2:46and Avraham Avinu knew that this smell must have come only because of2:50Gan Eden, and he realized actually that that cave was the entrance to the doors of2:56Gan Eden, and that's exactly where Adam Harishon and Chavah were buried,3:00because they wanted to get back as close as possible to the place where they were born from.3:04So therefore, Avraham Avinu knew this part of land,3:07and he knew that he wanted to be buried in this part of land,3:09and that's why in this week's parashah, Avraham goes and he asks specifically to speak to Ephron,3:16and the Torah tells us how he speaks to Ephron.3:19Ephron all of a sudden became a very important person amongst his people,3:23because Avraham Avinu was an important person.3:25As the Torah tells us,3:28Nesi Elokim atah. The goyim referred to him as the leader; he was the greatest man.3:31And just the mere fact that he wanted to speak, to have a conversation with Ephron,3:36Ephron also all of a sudden was promoted to become a great person.3:41And— Avraham Avinu requests the purchase of3:45Me'arat HaMachpelah, which seems like Efron was ready to give it,3:48but really, Chachamim tell us that really he wanted full value for it,3:51and Avraham Avinu paid him full value for it.3:53How much did he pay him?3:54In their money at the time, 400 shekel kesef,3:58over la-socher, which means it is a currency that must be accepted everywhere.4:02It was a very, very high price for a land that, on the surface,4:07at least for a person who doesn't understand spirituality,4:10it wasn't worth that much;4:12it wasn't even worth close to it.4:13Avraham Avinu obviously understood that it had much more greater worth.4:18It was an4:19interest again, and therefore he paid full price for it.4:21And this is the first property in Eretz Yisrael4:24that was purchased by the Jewish people, by Avraham Avinu.4:27And finally, Avraham Avinu goes and he buries his wife4:30Sarah, and Chachamim point out that it wasn't only Sarah Imenu that he buried,4:34but he reburied Adam and4:36Chavah because they didn't want to be buried next to the4:38tzaddiket Sarah. They felt that they were not as righteous as4:43Sarah Imenu, and therefore Avraham Avinu had to bury them once again.4:45And we move on now to the second and the main chunk of this week's4:49parashah, 67 pesukim, where the Torah tells us about finding the wife of Yitzchak Avinu,4:55and this again is also a first.4:57Here we find in the Torah the first time the Torah speaks about looking for a wife,5:01and Torah goes into great detail depicting every part of the story.5:06In fact, the Torah repeats the story. Seemingly,5:10we don't have to have it repeated,5:13but Torah repeats also the story of how we found the wife of Yitzchak Avinu.5:18And it begins with Avraham calling over Eliezer.5:21Avraham tells Eliezer,5:22I want you to go and find a wife for my son,5:25and I'm giving you a few conditions,5:27three conditions.5:28Number one, she should be from my family;5:31she should be from Avraham Avinu's family.5:32Number two, do not choose a girl from the nation of Canaan.5:37And number three is, do not take my son out of5:41Eretz Yisrael. Yitzchak Avinu has to be able to stay to live in5:45Eretz Yisrael. Only if these conditions are not met,5:47you cannot find a girl from my family,5:50then you could go to the next one.5:52But Yitzchak Avinu, under no conditions is he allowed to leave5:54Eretz Yisrael because he was brought up as a korban;5:56he was like a korban olah, and he was kadosh.5:58He was not allowed to leave the land of6:01Eretz Yisrael. And the Chachamim tell us that Eliezer himself had a daughter,6:04and he recommended to her6:06that she should be maybe the wife of Abraham Avinu's son,6:10Yitzchak. But Abraham Avinu rejected the6:12idea and explained to him that they will not be able to be a match.6:15Abraham is from a nation that's baruch, that's blessed,6:19and Eliezer came from a nation of Canaan, which was arur,6:21and therefore it's not a match.6:22So Eliezer sets out as a faithful servant that he was.6:26He sets out to go to the land of Abraham Avinu's family, to Aram,6:31and over there he comes to the well and he prays.6:34And he prays to Hashem and he tells Him,6:36Please, Hashem, in the merit of my master Abraham Avinu,6:39please allow the girl that's destined to be his wife to appear in front of me,6:44and please let her have the following sign.6:47The sign is that she should have the trait of chesed,6:49that when I ask her to drink,6:52she should want to not only give me to drink,6:54but she should offer all my camels to drink as well.6:57And by the way, camels drink a lot.6:59Camels go on for many, many weeks without drinking.7:02So over here, if she's going to offer on her own7:04that the camels should drink,7:05obviously she has this wonderful trait of chesed.7:07And right after he finishes his prayer7:09and the Torah tells us7:11that who comes to the well?7:12None other than Rivka.7:14Rivka, at the time she was very, very young.7:16According to some opinions she was three years old.7:18According to some she was7:19fifteen. However you want to resolve that,7:20in any case she comes to the well7:22and the water all of a sudden rises up to greet her.7:24So right away it catches Eliezer's attention.7:26This is a special girl over here.7:27And he comes and he asks her,7:30Is it okay if I could drink?7:31And she gives him to drink.7:33After he finishes drinking,7:34Rivka tells him,7:35You know, I see you have camels.7:36Can I offer your camels a drink as well?7:39He says, Yeah, sure.7:40And he couldn't believe it.7:42He just prayed for this sign7:43and all of a sudden Rivka appeared7:45and she gave him the exact sign.7:46She gave him the code word:7:48I'm going to give your camels to drink.7:50And he was watching in bewilderment.7:53Eliezer is watching as Rivka goes and back and forth to the well.7:56Here's a young girl going back and forth to the well7:58to give, to supply water.8:00For all the camels, he realizes this was a special girl. Right after she was done with her job, he goes over to her and he gives her a little bit of jewelry, which was worth a lot at that time, and he asks her afterwards which family she's from.8:13And guess what? She's the daughter of Betuel, and Betuel is the son of Nachor, and Nachor is the brother of8:18Avraham. It turns out to be that's exactly the family of Avraham Avinu, exactly as Avraham Avinu wanted. And Eliezer cannot believe himself. He thanks Hashem. He's full of gratitude to Hashem, who was able to prepare his journey, and he's able to make him successful in8:34his journey. So now Eliezer gets up. He goes with Rivka to meet the in-laws, or the prospective in-laws, and he goes over to meet the family of Rivka8:45Imenu. And the Torah tells us that when Rivka walked in and she related part of the story, Lavan saw all the expensive jewelry, and he realized we have a rich man coming.8:53So he went out and he ran to greet Eliezer. Why? Because he didn't know it was Eliezer. He thought somebody very rich, and maybe he could get some money out of him.9:01And when he goes out, he sees Eliezer, and Eliezer introduces himself not as Avraham Avinu, but as a servant of9:11Avraham Avinu. And Eliezer is invited into the house, and when he sits down, he served the meal.9:16And Rashi tells us that really the meal was poisoned. They wanted to kill Eliezer, the family of Rivka, not Rivka, chas v'shalom, but the family of Rivka wanted to kill Eliezer and take his money.9:26However, a malach came and switched the plates around, and it turned out that the dish that was served to Eliezer was switched with the dish of Rivka's father, Betuel,9:37and Betuel ends up eating from the dish and dying that night, that evening he ends up dying.9:42In any case, Eliezer doesn't eat until he relates the whole story.9:46And again here, the Torah does something that the Torah doesn't usually do.9:50It repeats the whole story from beginning to the end of how Eliezer was able to find Rivka.9:57And finally, at the end, the essay explains, I must go back, and I found what I believe the right mate for10:06Yitzchak Avinu. I need you to let me know: are you ready to come back? Is she ready to come back to become the wife of10:12Yitzchak Avinu? And to that, the family says no. She needs a year of preparation, and she needs to wait.10:18So Eliezer says, I need to go back now. If she doesn't want to come, then fine, we'll look somewhere else.10:24And they ask Rivka, and Rivka says, I'm ready to go to become the wife of10:31Yitzchak Avinu. And here, Torah tells us, as they go back on the way home, they're greeted by10:36Yitzchak. Right when they get back home, they see Yitzchak coming back from10:39Tefilat Mincha. The Chachamim explain Masechet Berachot that Yitzchak Avinu just came back from instituting the10:44Tefilah Mincha. Up till now we had Shacharit, and now Yitzchak Avinu instituted10:48Tefilah Mincha. And Yitzchak marries Rivka. Rivka takes the house of10:54Sarah Imenu, and the Shechinah's presence, which was missing from the time Sarah Imenu passed away,10:59comes back now, and is back because Rivka Imenu brings back the11:05Shechinah. We move on now to the end of the parashah, the third part of the parashah,11:10Toldot, about the last days of Avraham11:12Avinu. Toldot says Avraham Avinu married a woman called11:17Keturah. Who was this woman?11:18So Rashi brings an explanation, the famous explanation, that this was really none other than Hagar.11:23Hagar, after being dismissed, she was thrown out of the house.11:27She went back home to Mitzrayim, and she went back to her old ways of11:31Avodah Zarah. However, she did teshuvah, and now she's back.11:33However, the other11:35opinion is, Seder HaDorot, he brings, he says that Avraham Avinu ended up marrying three women from the three children of11:43Noach. Sarah he married; she was a descendant of Shem ben11:47Noach. Hagar, she was a descendant of Ham, because Mitzrayim, the nation of Mitzrayim, came from Ham.11:55And the last one, Keturah, was the daughter, descendant of Yefet.12:00This is how Seder HaDorot explains. So we have two opinions who Keturah was really.12:06And the Toldot says that he had six children from12:08Keturah, and they were Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbak, and Shuach.12:13These are the six children Avraham Avinu has. After he remarries,12:18so altogether Abraham Avinu gave birth to eight children, to eight boys,12:22and according to some opinions even a girl.12:25In any case, the Torah tells us that at the end of Abraham Avinu's life,12:28he distributed his wealth, his possessions, to the children,12:32to the bnei pilagshim, the children he had more recently.12:36He gave them all the gifts that he received on behalf of12:40Sarah. When Pharaoh gave him gifts and when Avimelech gave him gifts,12:42all the money that he took, he didn't want to have any benefit from that.12:45He gave that to the bnei pilagshim, he gave that to these children,12:48and he also gave them the shem12:51hatumah, basically a supernatural power, but it was not the shem of12:55kedushah, and he sent them out to the far east.12:58On the other hand, to Yitzchak, he gave him all the rest of his wealth,13:02and he gave him also the power of blessing, which was given to13:06Abraham Avinu, like the Hashem promised in Parashat Lech Lecha,13:09to be able to give blessings; that was passed over to13:12Yitzchak Avinu. And finally, the Torah tells us about the death of this great man,13:16Abraham Avinu. He died at 175 years old,13:19b'seivah tovah, as Hashem promised, meaning13:21really he was supposed to die at 180 years old.13:23Hashem took him away five years earlier13:25so he shouldn't see his grandchildren,13:29more specifically Esav, going off the derech,13:32not being religious. So Hashem made him pass away five years earlier,13:36and Yishmael also was able to do teshuvah in the life of13:40Abraham Avinu. So therefore Abraham Avinu died as a happy man,13:42knowing that his children and his descendants were going in the ways of13:46God. Yishmael and Yitzchak buried Abraham in13:49Me'arat HaMachpelah, and afterwards Hashem comes to console and bless13:52Yitzchak Avinu. Finally, the last part of this week's13:54parashah tells us about Yishmael and his family.13:56Torah says that Yishmael had13:58twelve nesi'im, the Torah lists over there,14:00and Yishmael also dies as a14:02tzaddik. He did teshuvah at the age of 137 years old.14:06And now we move on to the lesson of the14:08parashah. What can we learn from this week's14:10parashah? Torah says,14:13Ve'Avraham zaken ba bayamim, Hashem... Tells us Abraham was older.14:16He came in his days.14:19V'Adonai berach et Avraham bakol. Hashem blessed Abraham with everything.14:21What's this bakol?14:22What's this everything that Hashem blessed him with?14:24We find six opinions in the Midrash,14:26and let's do a few of them.14:29Number one, it says14:31that Abraham Avinu was sitting down and learning Torah. Another opinion says that he had a daughter.14:34Bakol means he had a daughter.14:36Another opinion says14:40bakol is gematria of 52, which is gematria of ben; he had a son. Another one says14:45that he had a special jewel that he was able to heal everybody. Another one says14:52what does mean Hashem blessed Abraham with everything? That his children were faithful to the Torah. Eisav did not go off the derech in his times.14:55Another one says14:58bakol means Abraham Avinu died happy because Yishmael, his son, also did teshuvah. What can we learn out of all this?15:03We could perhaps learn a lesson15:05that the Torah is telling us15:07what the real blessing in life is.15:12Hashem berach et Avraham bakol, He blessed him with everything. What was everything?15:14The answer is15:15when you have family,15:16when you have children,15:18when they're all going in the ways of God,15:21that is the greatest blessing.15:23Bakol is not just to have children,15:25a boy and a girl.15:26Besides that, you've done the15:28mitzvah, but that your children are faithful15:29to the ways of the Torah,15:30that's the greatest blessing15:31that any parent could have.15:33And the Midrash concludes,15:34what was the zechut15:36that he was able to have everything?15:38Because the pasuk says,15:41Vayiten lo ma'aser mikol, because Abraham Avinu separated15:42ma'aser. When a person cares for others to give.