And Sarah died (Gen. 23:2)
At the end of the previous Torah portion, Vayeira, we read, "And Betuel begot Rivka." Commented our Sages: "Before Sarah's sun set, the sun of Rivka began to illuminate." Rivka had to be born before Sarah could pass away. (Midrash HaGadol)
And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah (Gen. 23:19)
Till today, Ishmael's descendants claim that the Cave of Machpelah (in Hebron) belongs to them, by virtue of their being the children of Abraham. Among the rejoinders: 1) Ishmael did not have the right of inheritance, as he was the son of a maidservant and not Abraham's wife. 2) Ishmael had no connection to Sarah, so obviously he has no entitlement to a property that was bought as her burial place. 3) In the modern era, the majority of Arabs living in the Middle East are not ethnical descendants of Ishmael. (Likutei Sichot)
Reprinted from the 5762/2001Chayei Sarah edition of L’Chayim
And Abraham was old, and well advanced in age (literally "along in days") (Gen. 24:1)
The physical manifestation of day is associated with light and illumination, as it states, "And G-d called the light day." In other words, Abraham's life was completely illuminated, as he did not squander any light of even one day of his existence. (Chidushei HaRim)
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening time ("lifnot arev") (Gen. 24:63)
As Rashi explains, "meditating" denotes prayer. If the vowels under the words "lifnot arev" are changed slightly, the Hebrew reads "lefanot areiv," literally "to remove sweetness." Isaac prayed to G-d to remove from his heart the desire for gratification from the physical world, which is perceived as sweet. (Ma'ayanot HaNetzach)
The word for meditation, "siach," also means bush or shrub. Isaac's prayer incorporated and included within it all the plants and vegetation of the field. (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov)
Reprinted from the 5762/2001Chayei Sarah edition of L’Chayim, a publication of the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Brooklyn, NY
