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From the Rabbi:
Parashat VaYeara ends with the Akeida, the binding of Isaac, which of course took place on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The narration closes with, (Gen 22:23) “and they rose up and went together to Be᾽er-sheva; and Avraham dwelt at Be᾽er-sheva.” Yet, at the beginning of Parshat Chayei Sarah, we immediately cut scene to Hebron where Avraham Avinu is looking to buy the Maarat HaMachpela from Efron the Hittite. He could have buried Sarah in Be’er Sheva where she lived and died, but no, only Hebron would do. But why?
Hebron, and specifically the Maarat HaMachpela which Avraham purchases is not just any old grave. Avraham specifically wanted that exact place because it was known to be the final resting place of Adam and Eve. If you recall, we discussed a few weeks ago that Jerusalem was the place of Adam’s origin, the very spot where (Gen 2:7) “The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”. What ground? The Foundation Stone, currently residing under a Golden Dome. That's where Adam was given life, where his time began.
When Adam repented of his sin he returned to Jerusalem. That’s also why the Akeida took place specifically there. Abraham mistakenly thought the intention of sacrificing Isaac was to make an offering that would atone for the sin of Adam. That’s also why Jerusalem is the perfect place for the Beit Hamikdash, a place which facilitates teshuvah, return. Jerusalem is the place we always come back to.
Jerusalem marks the holiness of time. Time is dynamic, changing and cyclical, and by always returning to Jerusalem, it becomes the living calendar of the Torah. There we offered the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly sacrifices. We read the Akeida every year on Rosh Hashanah, symbolically returning to that place to mark the passage of time. The very word for year, שנה Shannah literally means change. We mark the agricultural cycle with the Three Pilgrimage Festivals celebrating the change of seasons. In the Temple, Different Kohanim would serve every week and each shabbat there would be a 'changing of the guard'. We pray towards Jerusalem signifying that the exalted experience of prayer is like a visit to Jerusalem, but then we take three steps back and return to our place. Much like the heart, Jerusalem is the place to which we always return in order to be reinvigorated and then sent back out to do God’s work. Jerusalem is the beating heart of our People.
Our macro-cycles of exile and return are also centered in Jerusalem. With the destruction of the Temple, we were exiled from Jerusalem. When do we celebrate our return there? Not from when we were given permission to go back to Jerusalem and build the Second Temple, but at Chanukah, the time when we rededicated the Temple and the miracle we celebrate is also about time - the flame that lasted eight days. Throughout our time in exile, we waited for the time when we could return. It’s ironic that Zionism in a way has been about time. The end of exile and the beginning of the sprouting of redemption. A time when we would return to self-rule and sovereignty in Jerusalem.
The thing about time is that it’s exclusive. Exclusivity of time is what makes it meaningful. It can only be one time at a time. We mark holidays as different times. Shabbat itself is so special because it is a time which we sanctify exclusively to God. It’s not time for anything else. Jerusalem too seems to be exclusive. Not only can sacrifices not be offered anywhere else, the rulership of Jerusaelm has always been seen as exclusive. Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Muslims, Christian Crusaders, Ottomans, the British... To this day, "final status of Jerusalem" continues to halt any peace process. While we may disagree on everything else, it seems for the time being, everyone is in agreement that only one religion can control Jerusalem.
Hebron is different. Hebron is not a beating heart, it’s a cemetery. Death is not cyclical, it’s final, static and unchanging. It's also universal. In death we exit time and enter into space. Tumat met, the halachic impurity that comes from contact with a corpse takes up space, and time can never change it. In death, we exit time and become entrenched in space, and so when we comfort mourners we say “Hamakom yenachem etchem” may The Place comfort you. We refer to Hashem as “The Place”, and somehow that brings comfort to those who mourn Jerusalem. Time comes and goes. Place remains.
The Ma'arat Hamachpela where Abraham buried Sarah is the one place which Avraham Avinu purchased in order to establish our eternal, unchanging bond with Eretz Yisrael. It's not that it's ours because we are sovereign now. It doesn't matter who rules in Jerusalem at this moment. It's not time-bound. Hebron doesn't weep for us in exile like Jerusalem does. Even when we are away, Avraham Avinu remains in Hebron. Nobody can take it away from us, ever. It's there for us even if we aren't there. The Place where the ebb and flow of time, change of regimes, exile and return are all irrelevant. There's nothing temporary about Hebron. And there's nothing temporary about our identity with Eretz Yisrael.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo
Classes This Week
NOTE: The Thursday evening class is paused until further notice.
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