Because many of us are not able to attend shul in person, the Rabbi has agreed to share his shabbat morning drashah in advance. Here is the first half of it. To read the full drashah, click here and it will take you to what will become a rich archive of all of Rabbi Staller's drashot.
Those of you who tuned in to our first Parashah Shiur of the year (Tuesday nights at 7 pm on Zoom!) will have heard our discussion this week about the various themes surrounding the story of Avraham’s burial of his wife Sarah. The Torah goes into unusual detail surrounding the logistics, preparations, and specificities of Avraham’s acquisition of a burial plot for Sarah. Ultimately, the Torah spends nearly an entire chapter describing Avraham’s haggling with the Hittites and Efron– their local council member– before telling us that Avraham finalized the purchase and buried Sarah in Ma’arat HaMachpeilah. Why does the Torah need an entire chapter to convey these mundane details? When Racheil dies, we aren’t given any elaborate details about Yaakov’s acquisition and burial of her in Kever Rachel? Why is this story of Sarah’s burial so important?
In the Parashah Shiur, we identified two major themes that emerged in this section of burying Sarah. On one level, this story is a testament to Avraham and Sarah’s relationship. As a couple, Avraham and Sarah have been through the world together. They were together before God ever spoke to Avraham, and remained together through famine, familial struggles, barrenness, war, wandering, and much more. They forged an exceptionally deep bond as a couple– as reflected in the various Midrashim about the pivotal role Sarah played in creating the unique spirituality of Avraham’s tent, and in helping him preach to and convert the masses. Chazal tell us that Avraham converted the men and Sarah converted the women– a statement of how closely they worked together, merging their mission and purpose in life with the powerful emotional connection that bonded them.
Indeed, we quoted the commentary of Benno Jacob who sees the burial of Sarah as a story giving us insight into the deep personal relationship between Avraham and Sarah. Sarah is the first major biblical character to have a death and post-death fall out. Whereas, until now, biblical characters merely died in the background, with their years of death mentioned in long lists of genealogies, Sarah’s death exists in the foreground of the story, as the Torah’s focus and message here is about how to properly deal with the death of a beloved. Indeed, it’s unsurprising that Chazal reference this story in their discussion of a spouse’s burial responsibilities, and Rabbi Avraham, the son of the Rambam, views this story as the earliest source for our mourning customs. Clearly, one major theme in this story is the personal and intimate nature of Avraham and Sarah’s relationship, and the moving outpouring of emotion triggered within Avraham by the loss of his beloved wife.
Click HERE to read the Rabbi's full Drasha
