Parashat Chayei Sara
Parsha Overview
Sarah, the mother of the Jewish People, passes on at age 127. After mourning and eulogizing her, Avraham seeks to bury her in the Cave of Machpela. As this is the burial place of Adam and Chava, Avraham pays its owner, Ephron the Hittite, an exorbitant sum.
Avraham sends his faithful servant Eliezer to find a suitable wife for his son, Yitzchak, making him swear to choose a wife only from among Avraham's family. Eliezer travels to Aram Naharaim and prays for a sign. Providentially, Rivka appears. Eliezer asks for water. Not only does she give him water, but she draws water for all 10 of his thirsty camels (some 140 gallons)! This extreme kindness marks her as the right wife for Yitzchak and a suitable mother of the Jewish People. Negotiations with Rivka's father and her brother, Lavan, result in her leaving with Eliezer. Yitzchak brings Rivka into his mother Sarah's tent, marries her and loves her. He is then consoled for the loss of his mother.
Avraham remarries Hagar, who is renamed Ketura to indicate her improved ways. Six children are born to them. After giving them gifts, Avraham sends them to the East. Avraham passes away at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah in the Cave of Machpela.
Parsha Insights
True Life Stories
“And these are the ‘lives’ of Sarah” (23:1)
In Parshat Chayei Sarah the Torah turns our attention to the transition between generations. The Parsha begins with the passing of the righteous and proceeds to the establishment of the next stage of the covenantal mission. At first glance, the parsha’s opening seems paradoxical: “And the life of Sarah was…” followed immediately by an account of her passing. The Torah teaches us that true life is not measured by duration, but by connection to the eternal. A life bound to Hashem does not end; it merely changes form. What appears as an ending is, in truth, a revelation of what life always was — attachment to eternity.
Avraham rises from mourning and engages in the purchase of the Machpelah. This is the first acquisition of Eretz Yisrael recorded in Torah. It is remarkable that the first foothold in the Promised Land is not a palace, not a field of planting, not a place of commerce or governance — but a burial place. The connection to the Land of Israel is not anchored in transient success or human power, but in the eternal destiny of a people whose root lies beyond death. Machpelah becomes the gateway between worlds, a testimony that for those who attach themselves to Hashem, the boundary between this world and the next is not a barrier but a passage.
Avraham then turns to the future, sending his trusted servant to seek the continuation of the Divine mission through the next generation. The transition from one stage to the next is not natural; it is guided, intentional, bound to holiness. Destiny does not unfold by accident — it is sought, prayed for, and pursued with devotion. The Torah emphasizes that the journey is guided by chesed and Divine providence, reflecting that the covenant is carried not by force but by fidelity to Hashem’s will and kindness in the world.
There is a deep pattern here. First, the Torah instructs us how to confront the end of a life anchored in holiness; then it shows us how the future is built. Mourning and renewal; memory and continuity; loss and emergence. In the Torah view, these are not contradictions but parts of a single movement — the revelation that life under the covenant is not broken by mortality. What appears to be an end is the beginning of a new ascent.
Lifemeans connection to the source of life. The moment the soul cleaves to the eternal, mortality no longer defines it. Parshat Chayei Sarah is not about departure — it is about permanence. The righteous do not cease; they endure. The mission does not falter; it deepens. The land is held, not politically, but spiritually. And the Jewish future is a product, not of nature, but of covenant.
May we merit to live lives whose every moment participates in eternity, and thereby merit to see the fullness of Hashem’s promise revealed!
