The great people we have met in the Book of Genesis up until now, Avraham and Sarah, pass away in this week's Torah portion of Chayei Sarah (B'reshit 23,1-25,19).  The portion begins with Avraham's quest for a burial plot in which to bury Sarah, and recounts in detail the negotiations with Ephron the Hittite for its purchase. This technical matter could have been told in a single verse, without fanfare. Yet we see not only that the discussion about Machpelah Cave is described in great detail, but also that our Sages view this acquisition as a Halakhic archetype for all acquisitions in Jewish Law. Even the laws of the Kiddushin (betrothal) acquisition, which creates a binding relationship between human beings, are derived from the details of this purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs.

Why is this acquisition so important?

Land is a foremost component of human society. The entire development of civilized human society began with the original Agricultural Revolution. Before that, humans were hunter-gatherers who wandered from place to place to obtain their food. They therefore remained few in number, for the ability to subsist on hunting animals is limited. They also migrated frequently, with the changing of the seasons, and thus did not form organized communities. Only when they began to work the land did every family reside in a specific location, where the land they worked or owned was located – and then humanity began to multiply. Sources of livelihood increased, since a single wheat field could sustain several families, and, most significantly, social organization began. People organized into families and tribes, and thus began various human cultures in different places. Since then, the world's population has skyrocketed from one million people to eight billion (!). 

In sum: Land, the foundation of human development, is the prerequisite for civilization.   

Burial Plot, of All Things

What is the first piece of the land promised to Avraham that he takes hold of? A burial site! This is his choice for his first stable, permanent connection to the land. Unlike Lot, who chose the high-quality, fertile soil of the Jordan Plain as his share of the Land of Israel, Avraham begins to take root in a cemetery. The place is the city of Hevron, of the root meaning connection (hibur). It is here that Avraham’s tangible connection with the Holy Land begins. 

Hevron is not a particularly high-quality asset. Our Sages say, "No area in the entire Land of Israel is rockier than Hevron." The people living there are also not those one would ideally choose for neighbors, as the Torah tells us when Moshe sent the Twelve Spies to scout out the Land: "They ascended from the Negev to Hevron, where were Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, descendants of the giant" (Bamidbar 13,22). Instead of choosing a parcel of land with high economic potential, Avraham picks a rocky plot surrounded by threatening neighbors. 

Avraham is thus making an important statement: "Our hold in Eretz Yisrael has nothing to do with a real estate opportunity. Our ties to the Land and to its Divinity are based on our pursuit of eternity. The cradle of our culture is not the physical, but the spirit."

A cemetery is a place where everyone is equal. It doesn't matter what status a person had in his lifetime; once he reaches the grave, he is no different than anyone else. A cemetery is the place of connection to eternity. 

In the prophecy of Zecharia about Gog and Magog (Armageddon), the enemy is depicted as standing on the Mt. of Olives, which will then split under him: "[It] shall split in the midst thereof, toward the east and toward the west, a very great valley. And half the mountain shall move to the north, and half of it to the south." The Kabbalists explain that the Mt. of Olives is the Nation of Israel's national cemetery, the treasury of souls of all Israel, past and future. It is this that will pull the rug out from under the feet of the cultures of the nations. The grip of the People of Israel is upon eternity, and that is the most durable and stable ground of all. 

This is manifest in various stages of life. When we form permanent bonds with our life-mate in marriage, as seen above, the groom says to his bride, "Harei at - I hereby betroth you in accordance with the laws of Moshe and Israel." That is, "Our union is based not only the human love between us, but mainly in order to 'establish a faithful home in Israel.'" 

This principle is also fulfilled in relation to death, where we no longer have physical or material needs, but where we connect to eternity. This is why Jews throughout the generations wanted to be buried in the Land of Israel, understanding that even if during their lifetimes they had to live in Exile, their eternal bonds are with the Land. It is there that the Resurrection of the Dead will begin, and that is our place in the World of Eternity.

Rivka and Sarah

The Medrash teaches that when the Matriarch Sarah was alive, "a candle was lit in her home all week, from one Sabbath eve until the next, and the dough she kneaded was filled with blessing, and a cloud continually hovered above her tent." However, upon her death, all these disappeared – and then returned when the Matriarch Rivka came on the scene as Yitzchak's wife. The light, the material blessing, and the Divine Presence in the physical home – they have returned to the House of Avraham forever.

Before his death, even though the Medrash teaches that Hagar returned as Avraham's new-old wife Keturah, Avraham distinguishes between Yitzchak and his other offspring ("the sons of the concubines"). Yitzchak is the primary continuance of Avraham's seed, the inner essence. That is, the others receive gifts (B'reshit 25,6), and have importance and beget nations, but only Yitzchak truly inherits Avraham, spiritually and materially. 

Yishmael Too

Upon Avraham's death, his two sons Yitzchak and Yishmael bury him - naturally, in Hevron, in the Cave of Machpelah. The text mentions Yitzchak before his older brother Yishmael, showing that Yishmael repented and showed deference to Yitzchak by letting him walk ahead. Yishmael's power is indeed great, and he is destined to bring great blessing to the world [as long as he continues to defer to Yitzchak]. This is the image that seals Avraham's journey: even the most negative force that emerged from him ultimately returns to its source. 

Everyone meets at the cemetery; in the end, everyone hears God.

Translated by Hillel Fendel

In order to get Shiurim like this every week directly to your Inbox, click here