Parshat Chayei Sarah

2007

A Trip for the Future

Genesis 23:1-25:18

Traveling is part of life. We journey from stage to stage and place to place. We may vacation, move from one city to another, or travel between home and college. Packing for an overnight visit or move prompts us to think of the purpose of the journey. What will we need and why? Sometimes it is not clear precisely what we need and so we pack for possibilities. This week, our Torah portion contains such a journey.

To fully appreciate the text, we need a bit of the context of the portion, Chayyei Sarah. Opening with the sad news of Sarah’s death at age 127, the portion first details Abraham’s diligent efforts to obtain a burial site for Sarah. Abraham negotiates with the Hittites to bury her in the cave of Machpelah. Abraham’s focus then turns toward the future and the pressing need to find a wife for Isaac. He commissions his senior servant to return to Abraham’s homeland to choose a wife for Isaac from among Abraham’s family. The portion concludes with the marriage of Abraham to Keturah, a listing of Abraham’s lineage with Sarah, Hagar and Keturah and the death of Abraham at age 175. Chayyei Sarah is one of a number of portions filled with transitions, travels and changes.

Immediately after burying Sarah, Abraham begins to search for a wife for Isaac. He wants to make sure that this new Israelite religion will continue. Realizing that Isaac’s wife will also have a role in continuing Judaism, he wants her to come from his family back home rather than from the people immediately around them. However, Abraham is too aged to make the journey. Thus, he commissions his senior servant (identified by Rashi and others as Eliezer) to trek back along the path they trod coming from his homeland to Israel, returning to Aram-Naharayim and the city of Nachor. Abraham provides Eliezer with provisions for the trip as well as gifts for the future daughter-in-law and her family, and he asks Eliezer to swear an oath that he will return with an appropriate wife for Isaac. Thus, Abraham cares for the traveler’s physical necessities and confirms that he has a clear understanding of the goal.

Eliezer successfully arrives in Nachor and goes to the well. In Genesis 24 he prays to God for a sign in order to know the identity of Isaac’s intended. “If I say to a girl, 'Tip over your jug and let me have a drink,' and she replies, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels,' she will be the one whom You have designated for Your servant Isaac. [If there is such a girl,] I will know that You have granted a favor for my master.'” As soon as he utters the words of his prayer, Rebecca approached, offered water at Eliezer’s request and cared for his camels. His prayer was answered, and Eliezer knew that she was the one for Isaac. He goes to Rebecca’s family, gains both their permission and her own for the marriage. Rebecca leaves home with her ears ringing with words of blessing from her family. “O, sister! May you grow into thousands of myriads; may your offspring seize the gates of your foes.” (Genesis 24:60)

What would you do in Eliezer’s place? Would you travel on an arduous journey at the request of your boss? What if the journey was for yourself? What if the mission was a goal and not a trip, would you accept the challenge? How are you accomplishing the goals in your life? Perhaps you are facilitating goals for others? Dreams simultaneously encourage and challenge. It is up to each one of us to have the courage to embrace a dream – to complete a difficult assignment, to go to college, to find a way in the world, to enable others to achieve goals, to take journeys and by doing so, to embolden, enhance and enrich our lives. May we be inspired by Eliezer’s dedicated service, by Rebecca’s openness to opportunity and by Abraham’s foresight to further his dreams as we journey through life.

Prepared by Amy Greenbaum, Executive Director, Hillel Foundation at Miami University

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Additional commentaries and text studies on Parshat Chayei Sarah at MyJewishLearning.com.