From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 9:20 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Chayei Sarah, 5766




                                           
                                                 
                                                 Just Playing Around

                      By Rabbi Joshua (playfully known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
 
 
   Parshas Chayei Sarah begins with an account of Sarah's death. Rashi, 
citing the midrash, writes that the Torah juxtaposes Sarah's death to the section 
of the akeidah because Sarah's death came as a result of her hearing about that 
incident. A messenger came and told Sarah that Avrohom had taken Yitzchok to 
Mt. Moriah to bring as a sacrifice in response to God's command, or request as 
some explain it, and before hearing that he desisted from this action at the 
last minute when an angel of God told him not to touch Yitzchok, Sarah died of 
shock. Many commentators ask why Sarah reacted to the messenger's report in 
this way. Shouldn't she have been happy that her son willingly agreed to undrgo 
this ordeal, to sanctify God's name? Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, in his Ta'am Ve 
Da'as to parshas Chayei Sarah, writes that sanctitifying God's name in everyday 
life is actually greater than sanctifying His name through giving one's life 
up for Him. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, pointed out that the 
Rambam, in his Mishneh Torah, discussing the laws of sanctifying God's name, and 
the rules of when one is required to give up his life rather than transgree a 
certain commandment, begins by explaining when one does not have to do so, 
because living a life in which one sanctifies God's name is more desirable than 
dying to sanctify His name. Sarah, then, was upset that her son lived such a 
short life, and did not have more of an opportunity to sacnctify God's name 
while alive. 
 
 
  We can perhaps add to Rabbi Sternbuch's explanation by noting that it gives 
more meaning to Rashi's comment on the first verse in the parsha, which 
reads, " Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years, and twenty years, and seven years 
; the years of Sarah's life" (Bereishis 21:1). Rashi explains the seemingly 
redundant words 'the years of Sarah's life' as indicating that all the years of 
her life were equally good. Rabbi Mordechai Elefant, in his " Zehav 
Mordechai," explains this to mean that Sarah remained dedicated to God throughout her 
entire lifetime, despite all the ordeals she went through, whether it was her 
inability to bear children until she was ninety years old, having to leave the 
Holy Land because of a famine, or being taken to be given to Pharaoh, etc. 
Sarah remained constant in her devotion to God throughout her entire life, and she 
wanted Yitzchok to follow in her path, as well. Hearing that his ability to 
do so was cut off at such an early age shocked her to the extent that it caused 
her death. Although this explanation is certainly inspiring, it is, still, a 
bit hard to comprehend that Yitzchok's loss of opportunity to attain this 
higher level of sanctifying God's name could have tormented Sarah so much that it 
caused her death. I would like to offer an alternative explanation, that will 
also help us understand some other points in both parshas Vayeira and parshas 
Chayei Sarah. 
 
 
  In parshas Vayeira, the Torah tells us that Sarah noticed Yishmoel being 
'metzacheik,' and, disturbed by this activity, told Avrohom to send him and his 
mother away, "for the son of that slave woman shall not inherit with my son, 
Yitzchok " (Bereishis 21:10). What does the term 'metzacheik mean? Rashi says 
that it refers to the three cardinal sins of murder, idolatry and illicit 
sexual relations. Ramban takes issue with Rashi, and explains it to mean, simply, 
having a frivololous attitude. Ramban's explanation is a bit difficult to 
understand. Granted that having a frivolous attutude is not the best approach to 
life, still, why would it warrant the expulsion of Yishmoel and his mother? Rav 
Aharon Soloveichik, in explaining Rashi, said that actually, Yishmoel, at the 
young age of thirteen, had not yet engaged in the three cardinal sins. Still, 
Sarah felt that treating life in the frivolous manner that he did was a sure 
road leading to those sins, and, therefore, she ordered Avrohom to expel him 
from their house to prevent Yishmoel from influencing Yitzchok in that 
direction, as well. Sarah's prediction, as we shall see, turned out to be more accurate 
than even she had thought it would be. 
 
 
  Towards the end of the parsha, we are told of Avrohom's death at the age of 
one hundred seventy-five. The Torah then says, " His sons Yitzchok And 
Yishmoel buried him in the cave of Machpelah..." (Bereishis 25:9). Rashi notes that 
from the fact that Yishmoel let Yitzchok walk ahead of him, we learn that he 
had repented. This is because Yishmoel was older, and therefore could have 
claimed priority in the burial process. The fact that he didn't indicates that he 
repented. Unfortunately, Rashi does not tell us exactly what it was that 
Yishmoel was repenting for. However, if we look at Rashi's comments in parshas 
Vayeira, at the beginning of the account of the akeida, I believe we can find an 
answer to that question. Rashi, in parshas Vayeira, mentions a midrash which 
says that the akeida was generated by a remark that Yishmoel made to Yitzchok. 
Yishmoel boasted to Yitzchok that he had undergone bris milah at the age of 
thirteen, which is much more difficult than undergoing it at the age of eight 
days, as Yitzchok had done. Yitzchok retorted that if God would ask him to 
sacrifice his own life to Him, he would not hesitate to do so. As Rav Dovid 
Feinstein explained, the implication of Rashi is that Yitzchok thereby forced God's 
hand, as it were, to command Avrohom to sacrifice Yitzchok, as an answer to 
Yishmoel's challenge. Perhaps this is why Avrohom took Yishmoel with him to the 
akeida, as Rashi tells is in parshas Vayeira. Avrohom wanted him to see that 
Yitzchok would, indeed, rise to the challenge and willingly give his life in 
sacrifice to God. 
 
 
  I believe that this challenge of Yishmoel was, in fact, a manifestation of 
the frivolous attitude that he took to life, engaging in a kind of game to see 
which of the sons was willing to make the bigger sacrifice, and thereby 
making one's devotion to God a subject of sport. When Sarah learned of the akeida, 
she understood that it was the sporting attitude of Yishmoel that had brought 
it about. She thereby saw in an even clearer way than she had before the 
destructive potential of Yishmoel's influence, and realized that, really, she 
should have expelled him even earlier than she did. Therefore, she may have thought 
that she, too, was somewhat responsible for the generation of this trial, and 
that is why, when she heard of it, she reacted in such an extreme way that 
she died from the effect. Yishmoel, in turn, repented from his attitude of 
'metzachaik,' which had generated the episode of the akeida, and, when Avrohom 
died, he let Yitzchok walk ahead of him, recognizing his superiority in terms of 
his devotion to God, and his rightful role as the sole heir of Avrohom's 
heritage.  



  Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the 
following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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