Chayei Sarah/The Life of Sarah - Shabbat 10/30/10
“Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred twenty seven years…and Sarah died in Hevron.”
Well, if your spouse took an unplanned excursion with your child in order to offer him as a sacrifice, wouldn’t you die from the shock? This is precisely what happened to Sarah - at least according to one Rabbinic explanation. Indeed, no sooner does the binding of Isaac episode take place at the end of last week’s Torah portion, then this week’s story opens with Sarah’s death in the immediate aftermath.
After Sarah is buried in the Cave of Machpelah, Abraham charges his servant with finding a suitable wife for Isaac. The servant prays for God’s assistance with this challenge, and soon meets Rebecca at a well. She kindly draws water for him and his camels before ultimately travelling back to become Isaac’s wife. At the end of the parasha, Abraham is laid to rest alongside Sarah, by his two sons Isaac and Yishmael.
There are few instances of personal prayer in the Torah, so it is noteworthy that Chayei Sarah contains two examples of spontaneous praying. The first is the servant’s aforementioned plea for heavenly guidance, which he makes on the side of the road before his journey. The second is more subtle; the text says that Isaac “meditated in the field before evening.” According to the Rabbis, this indicates that Isaac actually instituted the afternoon prayer service (mincha)!
Today we are used to a fixed, set liturgy; spontaneous prayer feels foreign to us. How often do we approach God with a sincere outpouring of our hearts? I remember how some of my rabbinical school classmates would lament their discomfort with offering prayers on the spot during chaplaincy, while their counterparts from other religious institutions in the program had no trouble doing so. Yet the Talmud teaches that we should add something new to our set prayers—every time we pray. And surely we are as much in need of pouring out our hearts to God as our ancestors were; we, too, have challenges that test us.
This week let us follow the example in our Torah portion, and take the opportunity to offer our own spontaneous prayer – be it during services, in the afternoon, or on the road. May our prayers give us strength to overcome whatever challenges we face. And, of course, may the week ahead be free of any traumatic family outings.
Shabbat shalom!
Micah Liben, Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellow
