Merkaz Anash, Beis Hamedrash L’shluchim and COLlive.com present The Chassidic Perspective with Rabbi Yoel Kahn, a weekly short webcast on topics that are timely and relevant.
Rabbi Kahn, often referred to as “Reb Yoel,” is the most preeminent authority on Chabad-chassidic teachings and was the chief reviewer and transcriber of the discourses of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Rabbi Kahn is also the lead editor of Sefer Ha’erechim, a multi-volume encyclopedia of abstruse chassidic and mystical concepts and the head Mashpia at the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY.
This webcast is delivered in Yiddish and a transcription in English, prepared by Rabbi Shraga Dovid Homnick, appears below or can be printed in a PDF format.
VIDEO:
It’s a well-established principle that the name of a parsha encapsulates the entirety of that particular parsha’s content.
Yet “Chayei Sarah,” ‘the life of Sarah,’ seems to share no common theme with the three components which comprise this parsha – Avraham purchasing the cave of machpela from Efron, Eliezer’s journey to Charan to seek a wife for Yitzchak, and Avraham’s children from Ketura. In fact, the cave was purchased precisely because Sarah had passed away, Yitzchak got married after the akeida which triggered Sarah’s death, and it’s unlikely that Avraham would have married Ketura were Sarah, who demanded that Hagar be banished, still alive. How then is a title like “Chayei Sarah” appropriate?
Different Roles
The Rebbe solves this question by redefining the true meaning of life. As long as someone lives, no matter how influential they are, it’s difficult to gauge their true impact; only upon their death, when their legacy endures or even flourishes, leaving an eternal mark, can they truly be said to be ‘alive.’
Avraham spread G-dliness indiscriminately, without differentiating between Jew and gentile, while Sarah demanded that Yitzchak and Yishmael be treated differently and kept apart.
This isn’t to weigh one’s greatness versus the other’s. Although Hashem told Avraham to heed Sarah because her prophecy was greater, the Rebbe explains that ruach ha’kodesh doesn’t depend on a tzadik’s level, but rather to what degree they’re involved with the world. Avraham wasn’t discerning, and was bothered by the thought of expelling Yishmael because he was removed from the world in a sense. It was specifically Sarah’s role to engage the ‘outside’ and influence Avraham to act accordingly, even if he resisted.
Sara’s Legacy
It was this aspect of Sarah that became even more apparent after she passed away, and thus this became the true era of “Chayei Sarah.” The cave of machpela, before being purchased by Avraham, contained the remains of Adam and Chava, who encompass all of humanity. The transferral of the property, turning it into the exclusive burial plot for the Avos and Imahos, emphasized the centrality of the Jewish people. And unlike Avraham whose act of mila only impacted him and his household, Sarah posthumously established that Jews are the focal point of the entire world.
Eliezer’s journey to find a mate for Yitzchak from Avraham’s family was also a direct testament to Sarah’s legacy, since it indicated that no Canaanite, no matter how refined, was appropriate for their family. Even Eliezer, who had a distinguished role in spreading Avraham’s teachings, was deemed ‘accursed’ compared to Yitzchak.
Finally, Avraham bestowed ‘gifts,’ said to be the secrets of casting evil spells, upon the sons of Ketura. Yet he declared Yitzchak his true and sole inheritor, heir to “everything he possessed,” to the extent that even Yishmael ultimately acknowledged Yitzchak’s priority over him.
All of this underscores the concept that a Jew must view himself as the focus of creation, even in terms of physical things like who deserves control over the cave of machpela, or in the realization that even the most spiritually advanced non-Jew cannot compare to ‘family,’ and can only, at most, offer a supporting role.
The Single Heir
The lesson here is to apply the same perspective to the Jew and gentile within – the G-dly and animal souls. Even when we engage in everyday activities like eating or business, we must deem these the throwaway ‘gifts’ to our inner non-Jew, and give ‘everything we possess’ to ‘Yitzchak,’ our spiritual pursuits. Mundane matters might be proportionally greater in number than our religious obligations, yet Yitzchak too was Avraham’s only rightful heir.
For further learning see לקוטי שיחות חלק ט”ו חיי שרה א’, ש”פ חיי שרה תשכ”ה – חלק ה’ בהוספות.