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Orchard of Delights
Sarah, as the matriarch of the Jewish people and the first Jew to
die, quite literally, paved the way between these two worlds, which
the Sages describe in the following way: “This world is like a lobby
before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you
may enter the banquet hall” (Pirkei Avot 4:21). The Torah alludes
to Sarah’s feat by reporting that she was buried in Hebron, a word
whose Hebrew root means “to connect.” Although she was no longer
present in this world, she remained connected to Abraham from a
new dimension of life and Abraham remained connected to her.
Indeed, Sarah’s burial in the Cave of Machpelah, which means
the “double” or “twin” cave, supports the notion of an afterlife. On
a peshat level Rashi explains that the cave had two chambers: an
upper one and a lower one. He then adds a deeper Midrashic insight:
the cave was referred to as doubled because four significant couples
were buried there: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and
Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. The Torah also refers to Hebron
as Kiryat Arba, the “City of Four” (Genesis 23:2), for this reason.
However, on a sod level, the cave’s structure alludes to the “two
lifetimes of Sarah”: one in this world and one in the World to Come.
Many of Judaism’s burial and mourning practices reflect Sarah’s
burial. They too adopt a paradoxical attitude towards life, death,
and the deceased. On the one hand, these practices keep the memory
of and connection with the deceased very much alive, while, on the
other, they recognize the finality of death and help us accept that life
goes on and so must we. Judaism teaches us that we should honor
both approaches and strive for a balance between them. The Talmud
affirms this balance when it teaches that when the Torah words of a
deceased scholar are repeated in his name, his lips move in the grave
(Yevamot 97a). At that moment the connection to the deceased
transcends time as well as the veil between this world and the World
to Come, even though no one doubts that the scholar is dead
Jewish tradition even teaches that after a righteous person passes
away his or her spiritual influence in this world actually increases.
Free from the physical restraints of the material world, the deceased
are able to more easily permeate and influence reality. This principle
is amply demonstrated by the number of great men and women whose
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3 Va’eira
The Midrash commenting on the verse, “I [God] have found David
my servant [an allusion to the Mashiach]” asks the question: “Where
did He find him?” The startling answer in the Midrash is: “I found
him in Sodom” (Bereishit Rabbah 41:5, commenting on Psalms 89:21).
Abraham’s prayers and the courage he possessed to confront God and
seek justice were the spark of Mashiach that God found in Sodom.
The same spark was aroused in Judah when he not only pleaded for
his brother but offered to take his place (as will be explained more
fully in the portion of Vayigash). That offer is what moves Joseph to
finally reveal himself to his brothers. The willingness to give one’s all
for others, as exemplified by Abraham and Judah, will finally cause
the Mashiach to come.
£The Ten Tests of Abraham –£The Ten Tests of Abraham –The Ten Tests of Abraham –
£
The Ten Tests of Goden Tests of Goden Tests of God
The T
The T
In Abraham’s tenth, and final test, God commanded him to take
his son Isaac and sacrifice him to God. Echoing the first test, this
command also contains the words lech lecha (go out) and instructs
Abraham to journey to the place God will reveal to him: “and He
said: Take your son … and go out (lech lecha) … and bring him up as
an offering on one of the mountains that I will show you” (Genesis
22:2). The parallels between Abraham’s first and last test must have
created a sense of closure for Abraham, yet they also raise certain
questions. Perhaps, the most significant among these is, given that
the tests seem to focus on Abraham, what do they have to do with
future generations?
Part of the answer may be discovered later in Jewish history, when
the Jewish people in the desert echo God’s testing of Abraham by
testing God ten times. Astonishingly, God Himself “complains” after
the sin of the ten spies that despite all the miracles he has performed
for the Jews in Egypt and in the desert, they have still tested him
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