B"H
Thursday, Mar-Cheshvan 23, 5776 / November 5, 2015
The name of this week’s Parsha, Chayei Sarah literally means, The life of Sarah.
Yet, the Parsha begins with the passing of Sarah and how Abraham went about to purchase a burial plot for her. Although, they wanted to give him the land as a gift, Abraham insists that he wants to purchase it.
Later in the Parsha, the Torah relates in great length how Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, travelled to find a wife for Abraham and Sarah’s son, Yitzchak. He chose Rivkah based on her extraordinary qualities of caring and kindness. Yitzchak also recognized her great virtues of kindness. He married her and was comforted on the loss of his mother. The void which Sarah left by her passing, was filled by Rivkah.
Q. Why did Abraham insist on purchasing the plot of land and not accepting it as a gift?
A. Abraham wanted to buy it and paid more than it’s value so that no one can ever argue that it doesn’t belong to his descendants (as many unfortunately claim today).
Q, Parshat Chayei Sarah literally means, "the life of Sarah," How can the Parsha be called, “life of Sarah,” when we read about her physical death and burial?
A. The Torah tells us that when Yitzchak brought Rivkah into his mother's tent, "He was comforted after his mother." For it was as if Sarah was still alive. Sarah continued living through the good deeds and kindness of Rivkah.
The following was told by a survivor of Auschwitz:“I was a kid, just a teenager at the time. We were on the train, in a boxcar, being taken to Auschwitz.
“Night came and it was freezing, deathly cold, in that boxcar. The Germans would leave the cars on the side of the tracks overnight, sometimes for days on end without any food, and of course, no blankets to keep us warm. Sitting next to me was an older Jew from my hometown. He was shivering from head to toe, and looked terrible. So I wrapped my arms around him and began rubbing him, to warm him up. I rubbed his arms, his legs, his face, his neck. I begged him to hang on.
“All night long I kept the man warm this way. I was tired, I was freezing cold myself, my fingers were numb, but I didn’t stop rubbing the heat on to this man’s body. Hours and hours went by this way. Finally, night passed, morning came, and the sun began to shine. There was some warmth in the cabin, and then I looked around the car to see some of the other Jews in the car. To my horror, all I could see were frozen bodies, and all I could hear was a deathly silence.
Nobody else in that boxcar made it through the night - they died from the frost. Only two people survived: the old man and me. The old man survived because I kept him warm; I lived because I was busy keeping him alive.”
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
.B"H
Tuesday, Mar-Cheshvan 21, 5776 / November 3, 2015
This week’s Parsha, Chayei Sarah, begins with the passing of our first matriarch, Sarah.
Abraham wasn’t there when Sarah passed away in Hebron. He was in Be’er Sheva where he went after returning from Mount Moriah, where he intended to bring his son, Yitzchak, as a sacrifice. Upon hearing of his wife’s passing he went to Hebron to arrange for her burial and in the words of the Parsha, “To eulogise and weep for her.” Abraham’s passing, at the age of 175 is also in this Parsha.
Every year, on Shabbat Chayei Sarah, when we read in the Torah about Sarah and Abraham’s passing, thousands of people gather in Hebron. They spend this Shabbat close to Abraham and Sarah’s grave site in order to pray there and commemorate their holy memories.
The following are some high points of Sarah’s 127 years of life.
Sarah and Abraham were the first patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people. But unlike the others, they came to the realization and belief in G-d, completely on their own. They were both born into idol worshipping families and found G-d by themselves later in life.
Abraham and Sarah were the first converts.
Upon G-d’s commandment, Abraham at age 75 and Sarah at age 65, leave their homeland and travel to the land of Canaan. G-d promises to give them that land as an everlasting inheritance.
Sarah’s name was originally Sarai. At age89 G-d changed her name to Sarah.
Although until she was 90 she was still childless and she also experienced many trials and tribulations throughout her life, the Torah tells us that her faith in G-d was so strong that she considered all her years as good years.
The Talmud tells us that Sarah was one of the most beautiful women that ever lived.
The Talmud tells us that Sarah was one of seven women prophetesses the Jewish people had.
When Sarah gave birth to Yitzchak, at age 90, people didn’t believe it. They said, “She must have adopted this baby.” To prove that she did in fact give birth, G-d made a miracle and she had so much milk that mothers brought their babies to her and she was able to breast feed them.
The Midrash says that the famous chapter in Proverbs which begins, “A woman of valour who can find,” was said by King Solomon with reference to Sarah.
Three miracles were always present in Sarah’s tent: 1) A cloud hovered all the time over her tent; 2) There was a special blessing in the bread she baked; 3) The candles she lit before Shabbat would burn all week long until next Shabbat.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
.B"H
Monday, Mar-Cheshvan 20, 5776 / November 2, 2015
The city of Hebron is famous today for the Me’arat HaMachpeilah, in which our patriarchs and matriarchs are buried. Hebron is one of the most ancient cities in the Torah. It is mentioned in this week’s Parsha, Chayei Sarah, in connection with Abraham purchasing a parcel of land there which included a double cave, in order to bury his wife Sarah and to be used as the future family burial plot.
The Torah tells us that Sarah was 127 years old when she passed away. Her passing is related to the story of the binding of her only son, Yitzchak (Isaac), which is told at the end of the previous Parsha. Upon hearing that her son was about to be brought as a sacrifice, the thought of the possibility of losing her only son, affected her greatly and she passed away.
Q. How long did Abraham live after Sarah’s passing?
A. Sarah passed away at the age of 127 and Abraham at the age of 175. Abraham was ten years older than Sarah. Thus, Abraham lived 38 years after his wife’s passing.
Q. Did Abraham have a daughter?
A. In this Parsha the Torah tells us, “And Abraham was old and advanced in age [days] and G-d blessed Abraham with everything [bakol].” The Torah uses the expression “Bakol.” According to an opinion in the Talmud it means that G-d blessed him with a daughter and her name was Bakol.
Q. Why did Abraham want this particular place as the family burial plot? Who else of his family would eventually be buried in the Me’arat HaMachpeila?
A. He wanted this cave because Adam & Eve were already buried there. In total there are four couples buried there: Adam & Eve; Abraham & Sarah; Yitzchak & Rivkah; Yaakov & Leah.
Q. Why, according to Jewish custom, is the deceased buried in simple shrouds?
A. The Talmud tells that at one time they would dress the deceased in expensive garments. But this practice caused great pressure on many families. In many cases, where families couldn’t afford the burial, they would just leave the body at the cemetery and depart. The Talmudic sage, Rabbi Gamliel, instructed that he be buried in simple shrouds. It was then instituted that simple shrouds should be used for everyone. It also shows that rich or poor are all equal in the eyes of G-d.
Our sages say, “When a person departs from this world, neither silver nor gold, nor precious stones, nor pearls accompany him. Only the good deeds the person performed while alive, accompany them into the World-to-Come.”
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY
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Dedicated in loving memory of Hymie Busgang- Chaim ben Moshe Halevi - z"l - of blessed memory.
Yartzeit was Cheshvan 18. May his soul rest in peace in Gan Eden.
From his family
.B"H
Friday, Mar-Cheshvan 17, 5776 / October 30, 2015
The following two stories from the Midrash illustrate that in Judaism it is not about who does more; who gives more; who knows more or who performs mitzvot more. It’s all about effort. It’s about performing to the best of our ability, which is how our accomplishments are measured.
First Story: During the time of the Holy Temple, a wealthy man was leading his ox to be offered as a sacrifice in the Holy Temple. Suddenly the ox refused to continue. Nothing worked and the ox stubbornly stood there and refused to move.
A poor man, holding a bundle of grass, saw all this and decided to help. He offered the ox his bundle of hay and as the ox was eating the hay he was led toward the Temple.
That night, the rich man had a dream, in which he was told, “The bundle of grass which the poor man sacrificed was appreciated in heaven even more than your sacrifice.”
Another Midrash story: The three great Talmudic sages, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva traveled to a suburb of Antioch to collect for the support of the sages. In that suburb there lived a man by the name of Abba Yuden, who used to give the rabbis a considerable amount and always gave it happily. But this time, unbeknown to the rabbis, he had lost everything and was poor.
When he saw the rabbis and knowing that he had nothing to give, he felt terrible. His wife asked if he was sick and Abba Yuden told her that he feels awful because he has nothing to contribute.
His wife, who was even more pious than he (these are the words of the Midrash), said to him: “We have only one field left. Sell half of it and give the money to the rabbis. He did so. When he gave the money to them they said to him, “May G-d make up what you’re lacking.”
A while later, Abba Yuden went to plow the half-field he still owned. As he plowed the ground opened up beneath him and his heifer fell into the hole and broke a leg. When he went down to lift up the animal, he noticed a treasure hidden. Abba Yuden said, “It was for my benefit that my animal fell into the hole.”
Some time later, when the rabbis came back, they inquired about Abba Yuden. People told them, “Abba Yuden is very wealthy, he owns servants, he possesses goats, donkeys and oxen.”
When Abba Yuden heard that the rabbis were there he came to see them. They asked him how he was doing. He replied, “Your prayers had produced fruit and the fruits have also produced fruits!”
The rabbis, who realized his difficulty when he gave them the contribution, said to him, “We want you to know that even though others gave more than you, we wrote down your contribution at the top of the list!” There are many stories in the Talmud which illustrate that effort is what counts most.
SHABBAT SHALOM
Montrealcandle lighting time: 5:26 / Shabbat ends: 6:29
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