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✡︎ Shalom and Good Shabbos, Friends ✡︎
Parshas Chayei Sarah: May Her Memory be a Blessing
Parshas Chayei Sarah honors Sarah as the pinnacle of Jewish womanhood. Devoted to God, life, family and posterity, Jewish women can emulate her example with confidence.
This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah: Bereishit (Genesis) 23:1 - 25:18, illuminates our leading matriarch’s influence on Jewish destiny. She dies. Isaac, her son, marries Rebecca. Abraham, her widowed husband, remarries her handmaid, Hagar. Abraham dies.
Sarah's Life Affirming Legacy
The portion opens with Sarah's death at age 127, often attributed to traumatic stress due to her son Isaac’s near death experience on Mount Moriah.
Abraham purchases the Field of the Machpelah as the family burial site. Located in the heart of Hebron, the field includes “the cave of the couples,” the resting place of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah.
After Sarah’s burial, Abraham turns his attention to Isaac’s future. Now 38 years old and ready to inherit his father’s wealth and reputation, Isaac must have a worthy partner, a woman associated with the family. Abraham himself is too old to travel the 10 days distance by camel to where his brother, Nachor, lives.
He sends Eliezer, his estate manager. Eliezer prays to God for guidance selecting the perfect wife for Isaac. The answer to prayer, Nachor’s daughter, Rebecca. She returns to Canaan, where she assumes the household responsibilities that lapsed after Sarah’s death. Rebecca and Issac wed.
Sarah dies when Abraham is 135 years old. He marries Hagar, Ishmael’s mother. Now known as Ketura, she has remained faithful to Abraham since she left his household when Ishmael was 14 years old. During the next 40 years they have six more sons.
When Abraham dies, Isaac and Ishmael oversee the burial together, having reconciled their differences. Isaac lives on to fulfill his destiny as the father of Jacob, whose 12 sons become the Jewish nation. Ishmael has 12 sons who become the Arab nation.
Sarah a Paragon of Jewish Virtue
Sarah represents the pinnacle of Jewish womanhood. Dedicated to God and life, her husband and children, posterity and community, we can emulate her example with confidence.
Sarah has a full and rewarding life. She introduces many pagan women to God. She maintains a holy home and models virtuousness. Daily reminders of God’s presence in her life sustain her faith through decades of barrenness.
God then blesses her with renewed youth and she becomes pregnant and gives birth to Isaac nine months later. She delights in her role as mother to a son and a future nation.
Sarah’s close relationship with God bestows upon her the gift of prophecy, giving her the wisdom and courage to protect and nurture Isaac’s growth and development. She prepares him well for a successful home and marriage. She passes with a full heart and a peaceful soul, knowing she fulfilled her Divine destiny.
Mothers and Sons
Our Haftarah portion, Melachim I (I Kings) 1:1-31, spotlights another sibling rivalry and a Mother's destined intervention. Solomon and Adoniahu compete for an aging King David's throne.The King wants Solomon to sit on the throne, while Adoniahu attempts to seat himself.
Just as Sarah protects Isaac from the threat that Ishmael poses, Bet Sheva (Bathsheba) protects Solomon from the threat that Adoniahu poses. Divine destiny is once again fulfilled.
Divine Destiny vs Personal Ambition
Today, Sarah still holds a position of respect in the minds of many Jewish women. Sadly, however, numerous others now find example in women whose godless outlook and secular approach to life dishonor Sarah’s memory.
Instead of serving God they serve themselves, fulfilling personal ambition rather than divine destiny. These women threaten Jewish culture and longevity by celebrating and practicing abortion, the modern day ritual of child sacrifice.
They enable and support the destruction of millions of unborn children every year through political action and abortion funding. They abdicate their role as Jewish women and interfere with Divine destiny on an unimaginable scale.
Sarah wants children desperately. She waits a very long time to conceive. While she waits she demonstrates to other women complete trust in God. She delivers women from the ravages of pagan ideology and child sacrifice by helping them raise their children in holiness and wholesomeness.
We know from Sarah’s legacy that the current practice of pre-born child sacrifice would break her heart. She would grieve the loss of each child. She would lament the lack of joy and happiness that children bring to their parents. Our return to the pagan practices from which she saved so many women would horrify her.
Rest assured, dear Sarah. Your efforts to enlighten suffering souls continues with our mission to reach out to educate Jewish women and men about the miracle of life and the Miracle Worker who gives life. If they suffer after an abortion experience, we help them heal with our Tikvat Rachel Healing Program. The great nation that you helped start will one day be redeemed.
Your memory is a blessing. You will always be a blessing.
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