By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
Everyone knows the story of how Avraham Avinu purchased the cave of Machpela as a burial place for Sara Imeinu. Efron offered it to him for free, as a gift, but Avraham insisted on paying full price. “What is land of four hundred silver shekel between me and you?” Efron asked, and Avraham understood that he was hinting at his asking price. These shekel were different than others mentioned in Tanach; their value was much greater. This price was exorbitant, but Avraham paid it anyway.
The Midrash applies a verse in Mishlei to Efron: “One with an evil eye who is overly anxious for wealth does not know that a loss will come upon him.” Efron saw a chance to get rich at Avraham’s expense. He knew that Avraham would not haggle, so he asked for a fortune. As a result, he suffered a loss—the letter vav in his name. The pasuk describing the sale leaves it out.
What difference would it make to Efron if his name was spelled with a vav or without? Herein lies a valuable lesson.
First, we refer to a famous story told in the Gemara: “Go and learn from what a gentile named Dama ben Nesina did in Ashkelon. When the sages needed a gem for the eifod of the Kohen Gadol, they offered him a fortune for it. But he refrained from selling the gem because his father was sleeping, and the key to where the jewel was kept lay under his pillow. In the interim, the sages purchased the stone elsewhere. The following year, a para aduma was born in his herd, and he profited all he had lost the previous year. This is how far one must go for the honor of parents.” This gentile became a great teacher of kibbud av v’eim for all our future generations, and is surely rewarded for it in Olam Haba.
When Efron offered the field to Avraham for free, he could have been cited as the prime example of generosity, a lesson for all time, someone we can all learn from. But he was overly anxious for wealth, and so he suffered a great loss—an eternity as teacher of Klal Yisrael.
