The Torah this week is all about the rivalry and tension between Yaakov and Esav. They were twins but completely different in appearance, temperament and mentality. The competition between them fills these chapters. As the tension gets worse Rivkah decides she must part the brothers and wants to send Yaakov off to her family to build his life in another…
Sefer Bereishit
Mourning
This week’s reading from the Torah starts off by recording Sarah’s death and then goes on to say that “Avraham came to mourn her and to cry over her.” In general, there are two very different processes involved when someone dies. First comes the shock of the loss, the numbness. And then comes the adjustment. The integration of one’s memory…
Laws of Mourning
Surprisingly there are no actual laws in the Torah about mourning. There are references to death, burial and periods of mourning. But none specified in the lists of laws. Our forefathers and mothers died, were buried and in an ambiguous and difficult phrase that might have been referring either to an afterlife or an ossuary “were gathered to their people.”…
A Hittite
Avraham decides he wants to acquire the Cave of Mahpela as a family burial location. It belongs to Efron the Hittite. The Hittite empire was based in central Turkey. Which illustrates that Avraham and his family were not the only migrants then. Relations with the Hittites seems to have been good. Yet the convoluted formal negotiations strike us as strange.…
Looking for a Wife
Avraham sends his manager, Eliezer of Damascus, to go back to his home town to find a wife for Isaac. The Torah actually gives three significantly different versions of what happened. It’s a bit like “She said” “He said.” First of all, Avraham calls in Eliezer and gives him instructions. Avraham does not want to take a wife for Isaac…
Rivkah
Let me try to illustrate why Rivkah was such a special person. Imagine a modern day Rivkah living in any large Jewish community anywhere in the world. She goes to the door and there’s a strange man who says his car has run out if gas and asks if she can she help. And she says “Sure, let me grab…