Friday Torah, Chayei Sarah

Genesis/Bereshits 23:1-25:18
Chayei Sarah

Palestinian Arabs have been claiming lately that there is no historic presidencies for Jews to live in the Middle East. They have made such claims as the Temple never existed and that Jerusalem has always been an Arab/Moslem city.

But this weeks portion gives historic and moral backing to Jewish claims that Israel (I speak of the geographic area) rightfully and historically belongs to the Jewish people.

The portion begins with the Death of Abraham's wife Sarah. Abraham goes to a place called Kiriat Arbah to obtain a burial place for Sarah.

4. "I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you. Give me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me." 5. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,6. "Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God in our midst; in the choicest of our graves bury your dead. None of us will withhold his grave from you to bury your dead." 7. And Abraham arose and prostrated himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth.8. And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your will that I bury my dead from before me, listen to me and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar.9. That he may give me the Machpelah (double) Cave, which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for a full price let him give it to me in your midst for burial property."10. Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, of all those who had come into the gate of his city, saying,11. "No, my lord, listen to me. I have given you the field, and the cave that is in it, I have given it to you. Before the eyes of the sons of my people, I have given it to you; bury your dead." 12. And Abraham prostrated himself before the people of the land.13. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "But, if only you would listen to me. I am giving the money for the field; take [it] from me, and I will bury my dead there." 14. And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him,15. "My lord, listen to me; a [piece of] land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is it between me and you? Bury your dead."16. And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, accepted by the merchant.

It is important to note that dispite an offer to give the Cave to Abraham for free, he insisted on buying it at the going rate. The reason that this is important is because if the land and cave had just been given to Abraham, it could later be clamed to not belong to Abraham, but just loaned to him. But as Abraham bought the land in front of witnesses, it was clearly his and would pass to his decedents.

It is for this reason that Hebron is considered to be the first Jewish City as Abraham is considered to be the first Jew.

Today, the right of Jews to live in Hebron is hotly disputed. There are a few hundred Jews living admits thousands of hostile Arabs. For many years Jews were not permitted to pray at the various Holy sights in and around Hebron. It wasn't until the 1967 Six Day War that Jews were able to pray at the Cave of the Patriarchs.

Here is a story about that time from the web sight of the Jewish Community of Hebron...

The Return to Hebron - June, 1967
Who was the first Israeli to return to Hebron in 1967? Who was the first Jew to enter the Cave of the Machpela in over 700 years? (Moslems refused to permit Jews into the Cave of the Machpela. Jews were allowed to pray outside, at the infamous "7th step". Anyone attempting to get any closer to the entrance was beaten by the Arab guards stationed there.) Surprisingly enough, the first Israeli in Hebron and in the Cave of the Machpela was the then Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, z”l. And here is his story:
Rabbi Goren was present with Israeli forces as the IDF conquered the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Holding the rank of general, Rabbi Goren knew that the army's next mission was Hebron. Wanting to be among the first Israeli's in the ancient City of the Patriarchs, he joined the armed forces stationed at the recently captured Etzion Block, on their way to Hebron. On the night of 28 Iyyar, before retiring for the evening, he requested to be awoken when the soldiers began their march to Hebron the following day.
The next morning he awoke, only to find himself alone with his driver. Realizing that he had been "left behind," he ordered his driver to begin the 20 minute journey to Hebron, expecting to meet the rest of the army, already on their way.
Rabbi Goren thought it pecular that he hadn’t encountered any other Israeli soldiers on the road as he reached Hebron. He thought to himself surely the Israelis had already finished the job of marching on Hebron already. Driving into Hebron, Rabbi Goren was greeted by the sight of white sheets, hung from roof-tops and windows, throughout the city. He was astounded, but understood. In the summer of 1929, Arab residents of Hebron had massacred 67 Jews and wounded many others. The 1967 Arabs of Hebron were, very plainly, scared of Jewish retaliation. So, they did not fire one shot. Instead they hung white sheets from windows and roof-tops.
Rabbi Goren quickly made his way to the Cave of Machpela. Finding the huge doors bolted, he tried breaking in by shooting at the lock, firing his Uzi submachine gun. Finally, after getting into Ma’arat HaMachpela he blew the Shofar, as he had done 24 hours earlier at the Western Wall.
Only afterwards did Rabbi Goren discover that when he left the base at the Etzion Block, the rest of the forces were on the other side of the hill, making plans for the attack on Hebron. They did not know that the Arabs would surrender. In other words, Rabbi Goren, a single Israeli soldier, single-handedly conquered a city of 80,000 Arabs. Jews had returned to Hebron and to Ma’arat HaMachpela!
Rabbi Goren hung an Israeli flag outside the Ma'ara and brought a Sefer Torah inside. The next day he received a telegram from Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan. It read, "Take down the flag, take out the Sefer Torah, and everyone who enters must take off his shoes, because the building is a Mosque!" Rabbi Goren sent back a telegram saying, "The Sefer Torah is Kodesh (holy) - it stays. The flag means to me what it means to you. If you want to remove it, do so. I will not touch it."
Dayan sent an officer into Hebron to remove the flag and Torah. On the way back to Jerusalem, the officer was killed in an automobile accident. Dayan then rescinded his order to remove shoes in the Ma'ara. (This story was told to a group of people by Rabbi Shlomo Goren in Kiryat Arba about 8 months before he passed away.)

Hebron is a Jewish City. It should be populated by Jews. It is part of the land that G-d promised to the descendants of Abraham.
Much of the rest of the portion is about how Abraham sent one of his servants out to find a wife from his people for his son Isaac. But probably my favorite part of this portion is this...

7. And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life that he lived: one hundred years and seventy years and five years. 8. And Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and satisfied, and he was gathered to his people.

Can any of us hope for more than that in this life?

Good Shabbos