ר"ע תיתד תונויצל ינויערה גוחה ,םולשו זוע

"My lord – hear me! A piece of land worth four hundred silver weight, what is that between me and you! You may bury your dead!" (Bereishit 23;14-15)

The Cave of Makhpela – Rav and Shmuel (debated). One said – two rooms, one within the other, and the other said – a room and an attic above it [Trans. note – both Rav and Shmuel see the word "Makhpela" based upon the root k'f'l', which means "double"). We have no difficulty understanding the sage who said "one within the other" – it suits the name "Makhpela". But he who explained "a room and an attic above it" - why call it Makhpela? (In what sense is it "double?") Because it holds multiple couples. "Kiryat Arba" ("Town of the Four") – Said Rabi Yitzhak: The Town of the Four Couples: Adam and Eve, Avraham and Sara, Yitzhak and Rivka, Yaakov and Leah. (Bavli, Eruvin 53a)

It is important to reflect upon this parasha which suggests that even if Man should grow in stature until the universe is his, and all that it contains is his, all he really possesses is his four-cubit grave. All the land (of Canaan) was given Avraham as a gift, and his first purchase there was the Cave of Makhpela which was in Kiryat Arba, "The Town of Four", which is Hevron. (Rabeinu Bahya, Bereishit 23:20)

This is every man's portion in his world. . . that he is buried in the town of his four cubits, an allusion to those four cubits which remained Avraham's after he had been given the entire land as a gift. Actually, this is all that remains of man's greatness and possessions which he acquires during his lifetime.

(Midrash Mishlei 31)

Many parshiot are named after individuals; righteous ones and wicked ones, sons of the covenant and those not of the covenant. Thus Noach,Yitro, Korach, Balak, and Pinchas. Our parasha is unique in that it is named after a woman.

The name of the parasha seems tell us nothing about its content. It is derived technically from the parasha's opening sentence. The parasha tells us nothing about Sara's life – we are told only about events subsequent to her death. Even so, there is a point in asking how the events in the parasha are related to Sara's life.

The main portion of the parasha, both qualitatively and quantitatively, is the story of the bringing of Rivka to Yitzhak. The objective of the episode and its conclusion are to be found in the verse: "Yitzhak brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, he took Rivka and she became his wife, and he loved her. Thus was he comforted after his mother." (24;67)

The closing subjects of the parasha -- the flourishing family which Avraham raises with Ketura and the birth of Yishmael's twelve tribes – are acts of restoration and rehabilitation of people who had been hurt. In these parshiot, the names of Avraham's additional wives stand out: Ketura and Hagar, with allusions to other concubines.

The men in our parasha – Yitzhak and Avraham, are vulnerable and imperfect. Following Sara's interment, Avraham attends to finding a match for his son, and he attempts to connect the son with his lost and distant family in Haran. By this act, Avraham tries to renew the ties with his far away family which he forsake in his youth when he married Sara (but without renouncing the destiny and the dream of Eretz Yisrael).

After this, Avraham leaves the stage of public and religious activity, and confines himself to his home where, together with Ketura, he applies himself to raising a new family. He does save the destined ties with the Land for Yitzhak, but it is doubtful that the two met again; Sara's tent, in which Yitzhak lived and to which he returned to live his final years, is located in Kiryat Arba; Avraham dwelt in Beer Sheva.

Yitzhak, who lived neither in his father's tent nor in his mother's deserted tent, but "in the field", "on the way to " . . . where you come to the Well of the Living-One Who-Sees-Me" (home of his stepmother Hagar), enters the tent only after he has succeeded in perfecting himself by taking a suitable wife. Rivka and the love she arouses in Yitzhak are the means of coping with the mourning and filling the vacuum created in the beginning of the parasha, (and perhaps even in the preceding parasha, in which Avraham's two sons are hurt by what they might have considered paternal

renunciation).

It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the death of Sara is indeed the pivotal force moving the events in our parasha; the filling of the vacuum by Rivka, Hagar, and Ketura concludes the parasha.

With this understanding of the parasha, we now proceed to examine the story of Avraham's servant and Rivka, which transpires in Haran. In accordance with the above description, this story is supposed to present Rivka's exceptional qualities, qualities which will enable her to comfort Yitzhak. Among all woman awaiting marriage, Rivka seems to the only one who is subjected to – and successfully passes - tests which reveal her character. Rivka's personality seems to be that which the Torah depicts as the ideal female personality.

Rivka's attributes of lovingkindness, diligence, and persistence are detailed in the parasha. Let us sum them up in the words of Nechama Leibovitz, z"l:

In these words, Nechama attacks the current term 'freiyer' [Translator's note – Israeli derogatory term for the goody-goody who always does the right thing]. Rivka's naiveté and her burning altruism, which seem to make her a target for exploitation, are considered by Nechama (who follows the Malbim here) to be worthy of all praise.

Rivka is depicted as one who devotes all her strength and effort to the other, to a total stranger who arrives with ten camels and does not even bother to introduce himself. Later she endangers her life and falls off the camel when she sees "that man" - Yitzhak. Still later she will take upon herself the risk of a curse as she navigates Yaakov to his status as the chosen son.

Rivka's passing is wrapped in mystery. In contrast to Sara and Rachel, the Torah tells us nothing about her death. The Midrash (Pesikta Rabati 2) fills in:

Rivka's devotion, in contrast to current prevalent interpretation, is not a manisfestation of weak character. Rivka continues to be active throughout the narrative, and even when presented by her brother and father with the option of avoiding the immediate departure from home, she decides – to their surprise – to go with "this man." With this decision Rivka demonstrates independence and aptitude for decision which are not typical of passive persons. This independence reveals itself later on , when we meet Rivka as one who reads reality with open eyes – in contrast to her blind husband – and becomes the only woman in the Bible who dares to openly contradict her husband. Social convention denies her the right to bless her son herself, but she succeeds in bypassing this barrier and expressing her preferences and her iapproach.

Rivka's unstinting service to the servant of Avraham, to Yitzhak and to Yaakov, are an expression of independence and generosity, not of weakness and passivity. But these characteristics, which seem to us to be so complementary, may also seem to be contradictory. Our Sages described Rivka's personality as one of contrasts, comparing her to the camel: "Just as this camel has signs of both purity and impurity, so did Rivka raise a saint and a sinner." The boys jostling inside Rivka

signified, for this midrash, the duality of her nature; the midrash sees this as a negative feature. The birth of Esav, who is considered to be the 'black sheep', a family defect, is the fault of Rivka in particular, , not of Yitzhak, who was considered innocent and perfect. The cleansing of Yaakov's sin (deceiving his father) is achieved – according to the midrash – at his mother's expense: "And he brought to his mother" – coerced, bent, and sobbing."

Why do our Sages relate to Rivka in this way? Why must she alone carry the heavy burden of the guilt over bearing Esav – the object of the Sages' hate? Is it because of her foreign origin, or because of her femininity?

Perhaps the time has come, howbeit belatedly, to recognize Rivka's special qualities, qualities which do not split her personality but which harmoniously supplement each other -- to seek a different solution to the questions which the Torah raises about the rivalry between Israel and his brother Esav – who is Edom.

Said Rabi Shmuel bar Nahmani in the name of Rabi Yochanan: Three made improper requests, two were answered properly, and one was answered improperly -- Eliezer servant of Avraham, and Shaul ben Kish, and Yiftach HaGiladi. Eliezer, servant of Avraham, as is written (Bereishit 24) "May it be that the maiden to whom I say: Pray lower your pitcher etc." Even if she were to be crippled, even blind!? Nonetheless, he was answered properly, and Rivka appeared. (Bavli Taanit 4a)

One may not practice divination, as is written "You are not to practice divination." What is divination? For example, those who say, "Because my bread fell from my mouth or my staff from my hand, I will not go to such and such a place today because if I do go, I will not succeed in my affairs" or "Because a fox passed on my right, I will not leave my house today, for if I go out a scoundrel will harm me". Or those who hear a bird chirp and say: "It will be so and not so", "It will be advantageous to so and bad to do otherwise", and those who say "Slaughter this chicken who crowed at night", "Slaughter this hen who crowed like a rooster", and so one who devises omens for himself, "If such and such will happen to me, I will do so and so, and I will not be harmed", or "I will not do as Eliezer servant of Avraham", and all similar cases, all this is forbidden, and whoever acts in accordance with any of the above, is to be flogged. (Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idol Worship 11:4)

Critique (of above Rambam) by Raavad: " . . . and so one who devises omens for himself, "If such and such will happen to me . . ." Said Avraham (Raavad): This is a great mistake. This is permissible, yea, permissible. It is possible that he (Rambam) was mislead by what he read "Every divination which is not like that of Eliezer and Yehonatan is not considered divination", and he construed this as constituting a prohibition, but such is not the case. This is what was meant: One should not depend on this, and how could he attribute this sin to such tsaddikim?! If they were present, they would have conducted a pulsa d'nura (fiery lashes) against him.

"Now Yitzhak had come from where you come to the Well of the Living-One Who-Sees-Me": He had gone to bring Hagar to Avraham so that he could marry her.

Ketura: (Bereishit Rabba) This is Hagar, and she was called Ketura because her behavior was pleasant like incense [translator's note – the word Ketura is related to ketoret – incense), and she closed her portal and had no intimate relations from the day she left Avraham. (Rashi, Bereishit 25:1)

"Avraham married three women, Sara – daughter of Shem, Ketura – daughter of Yefet, and Hagar – daughter of Ham." (Yalkut Shimoni, Iyov, Chap.8, 904) According to this agada, Avraham's three wives belong to the three races recognized by the Bible, as was destined for Avraham: "As for me, here, my covenant is with you, so that you will become the father of a throng of nations." (Bereishit 17;2). In this way, the midrash chooses to teach us that the significance of father Avraham in human history is universal, and that recognition of God which he established in the world, and that true faith which Avraham was the first to espouse, relate to – and are open to – all the races of humankind. This was accomplished through his three wives, daughters of Shem, Ham, and Yefet.

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