5: Chayei Sara
Welcome to TLDR Torah: a synopsis of the weekly parsha based on Robert Alter’s translation, plus a question to spur your Shabbat dinner (or any!) conversation.
Parsha Chayei Sara (Genesis 23:1 - 25:18)
TLDR:
After Sarah passes away, Abraham tries to purchase the cave of Machpelah as a burial site, but is upsold the cave and the land beside it by Ephron the Hittite.
Abraham directs his senior servant (Eliezer) to return to Abraham’s homeland to find a wife for his son Isaac.
Eliezer departs with ten camels (did he really?), arrives outside the city Nahor, and asks God for a sign of Isaac’s future wife…
… and immediately after, God delivers. Rebekah quickly comes out with her water jar, and hurriedly provides water to Eliezer and his camels. Eliezer knows.
Laban, Rebekah’s brother, comes out to greet Eliezer, eyes the bracelets Eliezer has gifted to her, and invites him in.
Before eating, Eliezer repeats Abraham’s mission to him and how he met Rebekah. But it’s a curiously selective retelling.
Laban tells Eliezer to leave with Rebekah. But following a night of drinking, Laban reneges and asks that she stay another ten months.
Rebekah finally gets a say in the matter, and agrees to leave immediately with Eliezer. When they return to Canaan, Rebekah spots Isaac and “alights” from her camel. We’re told that Isaac loves her.
Abraham marries Keturah and has more children, but gives a trust fund to Isaac. Abraham dies, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in Machpelah.
Question:
Recall in the last parsha Abraham nearly kills his own child Isaac. And shortly after (literary speaking), he haggles over a cave and plot of land for 400 shekels. It’s a distant cry from being the progenitor of a great nation and the entire land! The bible scholar Meir Sternberg writes “land” and “seed” are “both promised only to be long withheld and finally given in the shortest measure, except for pain.” How does Abraham keep from being dispirited? How do you stay motivated when your goal seems so far out of reach, and what can we learn from Abraham?