Parshas Chayei Sarah: Mearas Hamachpela and Shidduchim
- In Parshah
- Drasha
AI summary (may contain mistakes)
Why did Avraham Avinu need the cave where Adam and Chava lay to bury Sarah? Adam HaRishon brought death to the world, and the Avos lie beside him because their job is to repair his sin and bring the world to techiyas hameisim. Later, the secret the Ibn Ezra finds in Eliezer's oath is that a zivug was one in Shamayim, was separated, and comes together again in this world.
Key points
- Efron's name without a vav reads as afar nun, since the cave was only dust to him.
- Rashi's aliyah for the field means it rose from mere dust to a place of life.
- Like kriyas yam suf in the Gemara, a zivug is joined, split, then rejoined.
- Eliezer's beka and tzmidim for Rivka hint at that splitting and rejoining, as a commentary notes.
- The Vilna Gaon reads pilegesh as plag shem, half of Hashem's name, lacking a kesuba.
