Parashat Chayei Sara 5782 / פָּרָשַׁת חַיֵּי שָֹרָה
Read on 30 October 2021 / 24 Cheshvan 5782.
Parashat Chayei Sara is the 5th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.
Torah Portion: Genesis 23:1-25:18 https://tikkun.io/#/r/1-23-1
Parashat Chayei Sara tells the stories of Abraham's negotiations to purchase a burial place for his wife Sarah and his servant's mission to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac. [1]
Triennial year 3
1: 24:53-58 · 6 p’sukim ·
2: 24:59-61 · 3 p’sukim ·
3: 24:62-67 · 6 p’sukim ·
4: 25:1-6 · 6 p’sukim ·
5: 25:7-11 · 5 p’sukim ·
6: 25:12-15 · 4 p’sukim ·
7: 25:16-18 · 3 p’sukim ·
maf: 25:16-18 · 3 p’sukim ·
Haftarah: I Kings 1:1 - 1:31 · 31 p’sukim
This parashat begins by announcing Sarah’s death at 127 years old. Some say that it was because Abraham also sacrificing Isaac, her only son of her old age,since it appears almost immediately after that. Abraham buys the cave of Machpelah as a burial site for Sarah from Ephron, a Hittite, in whose land he’s staying. Abraham also plans to have that cave as a burial site for himself and his family.
Abraham is old now and wants to make sure his family line continues. He sends his senior servant (Eliezer?) with some men back to his clan in the land of his birth to find a wife. He tells his servant that he does not want Isaac to marry a Canaanite, who are idolators. The servant arrives and he prays that the maiden who would marry Isaac offers him and his camels water. Rebekah comes to the well and does just that. The servant explains that he is Abraham’s servant and offers her a gold nosering and bracelets. Rebekah offers to give them lodging for the night and takes him home. Her brother, Laban, and her father Bethuel come out to greet them.
Laban sees Rebekah wearing the gold and offers him hospitality. But first, the servant tells him why he is there, and presents gifts to Rebekah’s family, perhaps as a dowry. He asks permission to take Rebekah with him to be a wife for Isaac, and Laban and Bethuel ask Rebekah for her consent, which she gives. The servant takes Rebekah and her maid back to where Isaac had settled, as Isaac is going to the field for afternoon prayers (Isaac is said to have instituted Minchah). Isaac and Rebekah become married and Isaac finds comfort after his mother’s death.
Abraham’s final years are now recorded. He marries Keturah, who bears him six sons. Abraham makes Isaac his designated only spiritual heir to carry on Hashem’s teachings, and he gives gifts to his other sons. Abraham was 175 years old when he died. Both Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave at Machpelah. Hashem then blessed Isaac. Ishmael’s sons are named as twelve chieftains of their own tribes, and Ishmael dies when he was 137 years old.
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