Page 18 - HaMizrachiChayei Sarah AUS 2020

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald

The Secrets of

Machpelah

arah died in Kiryat Arba, location of that site. On the day Avra- may stem from the fact the Almighty
which is Chevron, in the land ham was informed by the angel that is said to have folded the very tall
“Sof Canaan, and Avraham Sarah would give birth to Yitzchak, corpse of Adam in half, so it could fit
came to eulogize Sarah and bewail her” he went out to his herd to select ani- into the cave. Even though the cave
(Bereishit 23:2). mals to prepare a feast for his guests. was always known as Machpelah, the
According to the Midrash, one of the local Hittite people were unaware of
Despite the fact that the Torah por- calves ran away into a cave. When the name’s significance, or that there
tion informs us of Sarah’s death, the Avraham followed the calf, he found were graves in the cave. That may also
name of the portion means the life Adam and Eve resting on their beds be the reason why the local people
of Sarah. From this, our Rabbis learn and a spiritual light of incredible bril- refer to the entire area as Machpelah,
(Kohelet Rabbah 9:5) that Tzaddikim, whereas Avraham refers only to the
the righteous, are considered “alive” liance burning above them. The entire cave as Machpelah.
scene was enveloped in incense-like
even after their deaths. It is also fas-
cinating to note that Avraham had fragrance. This place was the Cave of The Rashbam claims the entire valley
Machpelah, in the field of Efron, the
no burial place prepared for Sarah, was known by the name Machpelah,
indicating that he never expected his Hittite. which included the field and the
wife, or any other family member, to As residents of Be’er Sheva, Avraham cave. Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842,
die at so young an age, or perhaps it and Sarah were concerned the Hittites German Hebrew grammarian), main-
suggests that he already knew exactly would not allow them to purchase the tains the name is of Ethiopian origin,
where he was going to bury her. burial plot in Chevron. So when Sarah and means a portion or district.
Actually, Chevron was Avraham and was 115 years old, Sarah and Avraham According to the Zohar, both Avra-
Sarah’s first permanent home in the moved back to Chevron, to establish ham and Yitzchak recognized the
land of Canaan. They lived there for permanent residency there, enabling special nature of the Machpelah
some 25 years, relocating to Be’er them to purchase the plot. cave. The Zohar submits that when
Sheva only after the destruction of Rashi states (Bereishit 23:2) that the Avraham first entered the cave,
Sodom and Gomorrah and the inces- city of Chevron was also known as he came upon the entrance to the
tuous behavior of Lot and his daugh- Kiryat-Arba, which means the village Garden of Eden. The cave was filled
ters. In Be’er Sheva, Avraham pro- of four, because of the four couples with fragrant smells and a piercing
claimed G-d’s teachings and (Bereishit who were eventually buried there: light shone out of the cave. Simi-
21:33), maintained an Eshel, which Adam and Eve, Avraham and Sarah, larly, when Yitzchak blessed his son
the Midrash interprets to mean a Yitzchak and Rivka and Ya’akov and Ya’akov, thinking it was Esav, saying
food pantry or an inn for wayfarers. Leah. Rashi further states (Bereishit “Behold the fragrance of my son is
Even when living elsewhere, Avra- 23:9) the burial place was also known as the fragrance of a field, which G-d
ham apparently visited Be’er Sheva has blessed,” he too was referring to
frequently. as “Ma’arat HaMachpelah,” the Cave the fragrance of the Garden of Eden
of Machpelah, meaning the double and to the primordial light of creation
We now find that Avraham and Sarah cave, because it consisted of a “bayit,“ emanating from Machpelah.
have moved back to Chevron and a lower floor with an upper floor
have been living there for approxi- on top. An alternative explanation
mately 12 years. Why did they return cited by Rashi explains the cave was
to Chevron? “doubled,” with only married couples
buried there.
The Midrash states that Abraham
and Sarah had longed to be buried The Ramban cites the Midrash in Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald is Director of
where Adam and Eve had been laid to Bereishit Rabbah 55:10, which claims NJOP and Rabbi of the Beginners Service
rest. However, no one knew the exact the origin of the name Machpelah at Lincoln Square Synagogue.

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