Summary:
To start this portion, Sarah died and Abraham buried her. Then, Abraham asked his servant to go to the land that Abraham was from to get Isaac a wife, but not to bring Isaac there and to bring the woman to Isaac. The servant went to the city of Nahor, Abraham’s birthplace, and found a spot to try to find a good wife for Isaac. He encountered a woman, Rebekah, who offered him and his camels water, and then allowed them to spend the night at her house. The servant told Rebekah and his family his story, and they allowed him to take Rebekah with him. They went back to Isaac, and Isaac loved Rebekah. After this, Abraham died, and his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him together, and Ishmael also died at the end of the portion.
Commentary:
After Sarah died and Abraham was mourning, the Torah says, “Then Abraham rose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying, ‘I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial’” (Genesis 23:3-4). I think this is a really interesting quote because it shows how Abraham is really feeling. He used the specific words “resident alien” not because he was from outer space, and also not just because he was unfamiliar/unrelated to the Hittites- I think this word choice also represents how Abraham feels lost now that Sarah died, and he feels like he is a foreigner to the world since he lost his wife. It was a big moment in the Torah that Sarah died, and unfortunately, Abraham had to live the rest of his life (which only lasted until the end of this portion anyway) without her.
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