D'var for Chayei Sarah!

This week's d'var was written by Sarah Winn.

The name if this week’s torah portion “Chayei Sarah” is translated to the life of Sarah. The torah portion begins with the death of Sarah after she lived a long and fruitful life of 127 years. Sarah is buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron by Abraham. Abraham then sends his servant to Chanan baring gifts to find a wife for his son Yitzhack. When Abraham’s servant, Eliezer,  arrives in Chanan he asks god for a sign; when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well shall be the one destined for his master’s son. Rebekah appears at the well and passes Eliezer’s test and he is then invited into her home. She then returns with Eliezer to the land of Canaan where they find Yitzhack praying in the field. Yitzhack loves Rebekah so much that he marries her and she comforts him in his time of mourning. Abraham soon marries a new woman named Keturah and has 6 more sons, although Yitzhak is his only true heir. Abraham dies at the age of 175  is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Yitzhak and Ishmael.

This torah portion teaches us about boundless chessed or loving kindness.

When Abraham sent Eliezer to find a suitable wife for his son he found it of utmost importance that the woman he finds must be loving and kind, that she must not only offer Eliezer water when asked but she must offer to provide water for his camels as well. Because Rebekah’s chessed showed right away and Eliezer knew that she was the one for Yitzhack.

Chessed, in relationship to Abraham, was unique because not only did he welcome guests in the most generous manner, but he searched for the opportunity to do such deeds. Rebekah did not question or consider whether she was really needed; instead, she energetically continued filling multiple troughs with water, until the job of satisfying a whole herd of thirsty camels was completed. She had one motivation: to give to someone else with kindness. The immense desire to jump at the opportunity to help others aided the prospect of being of service matched the profile of Abraham’s family. Rebekah teaches us that we must commit ourselves to partake in acts of boundless loving kindness, or chessed, and challenge ourselves with real selfless commitment. She teaches us to be initiators, to be proactive and useful in times of need, to look for times, and places, where we can be of service to others.

Now this torah portion is near and dear to my heart because it is the only torah portion where both Sarah and Rebekah are mentioned. Now this might not be of importance to many people, though since my sister and I are named after these important female figures in Torah, it is meaningful to me to see them together, especially this week when it falls on my sister Rebekah’s Birthday, and my half birthday.