page_title: Chayei Sarah
section_title: Genesis chapter 23
hierarchical_section_title: Chayei Sarah / In classical rabbinic interpretation / Genesis chapter 23
context_page_description: Chayei Sarah, Chaye Sarah, Hayye Sarah, or Hayyei Sara, is the fifth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It constitutes Genesis 23:1–25:18. The parashah tells the stories of Abraham's negotiations to purchase a burial place for his wife Sarah and his servant's mission to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac.
  The parashah is made up of 5,314 Hebrew letters, 1,402 Hebrew words, 105 verses, and 171 lines in a Torah Scroll. Jews read it on the fifth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in November, or on rare occasion in late October.
context_section_description: A Midrash noted that Genesis 23:1 recorded that "the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years" rather than "one-hundred-twenty-seven years," and deduced that as the righteous are whole and unblemished by sin, so are their years reported whole in the Bible. Thus the Midrash taught that at the age of 20, Sarah was as at the age of 7 in beauty, and at the age of 100, she was as at the age of 20 in sin (the age below which Providence does not punish for sin).
  Rabbi Haggai said in Rabbi Isaac's name that all of the Matriarchs were prophets.
  Rabbi Abba bar Kahana interpreted the words, "The sun rises, and the sun sets," in Ecclesiastes 1:5 to teach that before God causes the sun of one righteous person to set, God causes the sun of another righteous person to rise. Thus a Midrash taught that before God allowed Sarah's sun to set, God caused Rebekah's sun to rise. Thus Genesis 22:20–23 first says, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children . . . and Bethuel begot Rebekah," and after that, Genesis 23:1 says, "and the lifetime of Sarah was a hundred years . . . ."
  Once while lecturing, Rabbi Akiva asked why Esther deserved to reign over 127 provinces (as indicated by Esther 1:1). Rabbi Akiva taught that the reason was this: Let Esther, the descendant of Sarah, who lived 127 years (as Genesis 23:1 reports), come and reign over 127 provinces.
  Noting that Genesis 23:2 reports that "Sarah died in Kiriat-arba," literally, "city of four," a Midrash taught that the city had four names — Eshcol, Mamre, Kiriat-arba, and Hebron. Midrash taught that it was called Kiriat-arba because four righteous men dwelt there — Aner, Eshcol, Mamre, and Abraham; four righteous men were circumcised there — Abraham, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; four righteous men were buried there — Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and four matriarchs were buried there — Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah.
  A Midrash deduced from the words "Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her" in Genesis 23:2 that Abraham came directly from Mount Moriah and the binding of Isaac. The Midrash told that at the very moment in Genesis 22:11–12 that the angel of the Lord stayed Abraham from sacrificing Isaac, the Satan appeared to Sarah in the guise of Isaac. When Sarah saw him, she asked what Abraham had done to him. He told Sarah that Abraham had taken him to a mountain, built an altar, placed wood upon it, tied him down on it, and took a knife to slaughter him, and had God not told him not to lay a hand on him, Abraham would have slaughtered him. As soon as he finished speaking, Sarah's soul departed. Similarly, reading Genesis 23:2, "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah," the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer reported that Abraham came from Mount Moriah to find that Sarah had died. When Abraham set out from Mount Moriah in peace, the anger of Sammael (the Satan) was kindled, for he saw that his desire to frustrate Abraham's offering had not been realized. So Sammael told Sarah that Abraham had killed Isaac and offered him as a burnt offering upon the altar. Sarah began to weep and to cry aloud three times, corresponding to the three sustained notes (of the shofar), and she gave forth three howlings corresponding to the three disconnected short notes (of the shofar), and her soul fled, and she died.
  The Gemara deduced from the use of the verb "came" in the account of Genesis 23:2, "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her," that Abraham delayed Sarah's funeral until he could travel to where her body lay. The Gemara further taught that Sarah would have been pleased that Abraham delayed her funeral so that he could eulogize her.
  Rav Ashi deduced from Genesis 23:3 that as long as a person has the obligation to bury a body, it is as if the corpse lay before the person. Genesis 23:3 says: "And Abraham rose up from before his dead," indicating that he departed from the presence of Sarah's body. And then Genesis 23:4 says: "that I may bury my dead out of my sight," showing that Abraham still spoke as if Sarah's corpse were lying before him. (And this status affects a person
caption: The Sacrifice of Isaac (painting circa 1590–1610 by Caravaggio)
exif: {}