by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 9, 2023 | Chayei Sara, Kindness and Compassion
After Abraham’s death, the Bible tells us that Issac and Ishmael reunited to bury their deceased father together: “Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and satisfied, and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 7, 2023 | Chayei Sara
This portion of Chayei Sarah focuses on the death of Sarah and Abraham’s quest to find a wife for their son, Isaac. Although Abraham disapproves of the local women, he does not want Isaac to leave the Land of Israel to find his wife. Abraham thus sends a servant in...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 28, 2021 | Chayei Sara
My grandfather, Rabbi David Stavsky always loved sharing his insights into the weekly Torah portion. Every year, when we would read about the burial of Sarah in Hebron, my grandfather would ask, how did Abraham and Ephron settle on the price of 400 silver shekels for...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 28, 2021 | Chayei Sara, Kindness and Compassion
This is the first story in the Torah to take place at a well, but not the last. Here, Eliezer travels to a foreign land, stops at a well where he encounters a future bride, a series of hurried movements, and running around to bring news of the stranger’s arrival,...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 27, 2021 | Chayei Sara, God, Good and Evil
After 175 years, Abraham passes away and the Torah uses a very specific formula to describe what happens to him: he was gathered to his kin. Isaac (Genesis 35:29) and Jacob (Genesis 49:33) are similarly described, as are Moses (Deuteronomy 33:50) and Aaron (Numbers...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 26, 2021 | Chayei Sara
A 2014 article in the New York Times, “Camels had no Business in Genesis” argues that although camels appear frequently in Genesis, they weren’t even domesticated until several hundred years after the Patriarchs lived, implying that the Bible can’t be true. The...
