Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” The Parsha in a Nutshell “

Sarah dies at age 127 and is buried in the Machpeilah Cave in Chevron, which Avraham purchases from Ephron the Hittite for 400 shekels of silver.
Avraham’s servant, Eliezer, is sent with gifts to Charan, Avraham’s hometown, to find a wife for Isaac. At the village well, Eliezer asks G-d 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.
Rebecca, the daughter of Avraham’s nephew, appears at the well and passes the “test”. Rebecca returns with Eliezer to the land of Canaan, where they encounter Isaac. Isaac marries Rebecca, loves her, and is comforted over the loss of his mother.
Avraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar) and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Avraham dies at age 175 and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael.
” Dvar Torah “
This week’s Parsha, Chayei Sarah, starts off by saying that the years of Sarah’s life was one hundred twenty seven. And Sarah dies in Chevron. Then it talks about Avraham buying a burial spot for Sarah and buries her. And the rest of the Parsha is about Isaac. Avraham sends his servant Eliezer to find him a wife from his birthplace. He finds Rebecca and brings her back to Isaac and she gets married to him.
The Chachamim ask an interesting question. Why does Parashat Chayei Sarah, which means “The Life of Sarah”, talks about Sarah’s death?! Shouldn’t it about Sarah’s “life”?! Usually the name of the Parsha reflects the topic discussed in the Parsha. For example, Parashat Bereshit, “in the beginning”, is about the beginning of creation. Parashat Noah is about Noah. Parashat Balak is about a King called Balak, and so on…… So why isn’t Parashat Chayei Sarah about the life of Sarah?!
But this is not the only time that the Torah connects life to death. A few Parashiot later, Parashat Vayechi, which means “and (Jacob) lived”, also talks about Jacob’s death. It talks about Jacob blessing his children on his deathbed and then he dies. Again the Torah discusses someone’s life by telling us about his death. But why?! What’s the connection between life and death?!
Rabbi Wizman from Orthodox Union organization gives the following interesting explanation. He says that a person’s life can be seen through his or her achievements. And Sarah’s greatest achievement in life was to bear Isaac. Sarah, raised a son who would continue going in the path of G-d, and would willfully sacrifice his life for the sake of G-d. Sarah did not just raise a child, she raised a future Patriarch for the Jewish nation. The story of Isaac’s life is, in essence, the story of Sarah’s life. And that’s why Parashat Chayei Sarah talks about Sarah’s death rather than her life, because Sarah’s death reflects the accomplishments of her life! Now we can understand why the main topic of discussion in the parsha is about Isaac, and not about Sarah. Because Sarah’s legacy lives through Isaac. The same can be said about Jacob. Jacob’s greatest accomplishment in life was his children. He raised 12 children who followed in his footsteps and formed the 12 tribes of Israel. And that’s why the Torah connects Sarah and Jacob’s lives to their death. Because Sadikim never die! Their legacy lives on through their children. The Talmud says “The righteous, even in death, are regarded as though they are still alive” because the righteous leave a living trace in those who come after them.
Yes my friends, our greatest accomplishments in life are not the trophies that we’ve won, nor the college degrees we’ve obtained or all the fortune that we have accumulated over the years, but rather, our greatest accomplishment in life is our children. We all live a relatively short period of time in this world and then, sooner or later, we all have to die and kiss the world goodbye. Our legacy, however, lives on through our children. How we raise them and present them to the society is the reflection of our own beliefs and behaviors. Avraham’s name never died, since he taught his children to follow in his footstep by believing in G-d and doing act of kindness to others. And if we continue on his journey, then until the day we stop, he’s not dead…… his name is still alive!
So my friends, the Torah is teaching us an important lesson here. It’s teaching us the secret to immortality! All we need to do is to follow G-d’s commandments and then teach them to our children. If they can follow in our footsteps and teach their children to follow in their footsteps, then you’ll never know………. our legacy may live forever!!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin