Chayyei Sarah: Genesis 23:1-25:18
Parsha Summary:
Our parsha begins this week with the death of Sarah. These are the years of Sarah’s life. Sarah was one hundred year and twenty years and seven years and Sarah died. In Kiryat Arba, now Hebron, a far distance from Beer Sheva where last we saw Abraham. How did she get there? Why? Abraham comes to Hebron, buys a cave to bury Sarah, mourns and wails for her and eulogizes her. Much of our Jewish mourning customs can be learned from this week’s parsha.
Then Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant takes 10 camels and goes to the land of Abraham’s birth. Rebecca shows up at the well and offers to draw water for the servant and for the camels. That act of kindness, no small feat, earns her the right to be Isaac’s wife. The servant makes sure that Rebecca herself approves. She must consent herself to the engagement and marriage, After a lavish meal they set off for Abraham.
The next part reads like a Hollywood script. Isaac is meditating (or something, meaning of Hebrew uncertain), in the field. He lifted his eyes. He spies Rebecca on a camel. Raising her eyes, Rebecca saw Isaac. She “alighted” from the camel.
Raising her eyes, Rebekah saw Isaac. She alighted from the camel . “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” The servant answered and she covered herseld and the servant told Isaac all the things he had done. So Isaac takes Rebecca to the tent of his mother Sarah, and he took Rebecca as his wife. And he loved her. (First mention of love in the Bible) and he found comfort after his mother’s death.
Shortly thereafter Abraham dies. Seemingly alone. And Isaac and Ishmael come back to bury him, together, in the Cave of Machpelah with Sarah. This is the first time, and perhaps the only time, they are together after the trauma their own father causes for each of them. Shortly thereafter Ishmael dies and we are given his lineage.
Table Topics
- Why is it important that Abraham buys the burial cave?
- How much water would you need to fully water 10 camels?
- Why is Isaac in Beer La Ha Roi—isn’t that where Hagar first encountered G-d?
- What comforts you after someone dies?
Labs at Home:
Design a math equation to figure out how much water those camels need, how much the water weighed and how long it would take for Rebecca to complete this task. Explain your work. How you decided how much a camel drinks. How much does a gallon of water weigh… You may have to do some internet research to figure out what the values would be.
For example:
x=number of camels
y=amount a camel drinks
z- weight of a gallon of water
Song:
Eifo Hem Avoteinu
https://www.letras.com/chava-alberstein/1528260/
Act of Kindness:
Offer to feed someone’s animals. Don’t forget the water. The Talmud teaches we should feed animals before we sit down to our own dinner.