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November 9, 2001/Cheshvan 23, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 9
When the grave becomes a womb
Torah Study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Chayei Sarah/Genesis 23:1-25:18
A rabbi's time is usually spent - in addition to studying and teaching - in "hatching, matching and dispatching," from the cradle to the nuptial canopy to the grave, with the first two events anticipated with excitement and joy, and the last dreaded and barely discussed.
How strange does it therefore appear that the very first parcel of land purchased in Israel - described in painstaking detail in this week's torah portion - is a gravesite for Sarah, the "Cave of the Couples" (Maarat HaMachpela) in Hebron.
Why inaugurate Israel's eternal future with the acquisition of a grave? Even stranger still, the sages of the Talmud derive the fundamental rules of betrothal (Kiddushin) specifically from the purchase of this gravesite.
The tractate Kiddushim opens with the principle that a couple becomes legally betrothed with the groom giving his bride a ring. This law of taking one's wife we derive from Abraham's taking of the land (for the grave): it is written here, "a man takes a wife and possesses her" (Deuteronomy 24:1), and it is written there "Let me pay the price for the land; accept it from me" (Genesis 23:13). Both are acquisitions by means of monetary transfer.
Does it not seem bizarre to think that Jewish tradition derives its laws of marriage from a biblical passage dealing with death and graves?
I believe we can begin to understand the powerful lesson of the connection if we examine in greater depth the seven marital blessings recited under the marriage canopy.
The sixth blessing prays that barren Jerusalem rejoice at the return and ingathering of her children; and the seventh blessing invokes our faith in the period of messianic redemption.
Why express highlights of our national past and future at a time when the two "beloved and loving companions" can be expected to be totally absorbed in their present moment of wedding bliss?
The fact is that Judaism believes that every marriage represents another link in the golden chain of Jewish eternity. They should realize that they were each formed by remembrances which hark back to Eden and Sinai and by anticipations with fast-forward visions of our ultimate redemption.
Every Jewish wedding is a song of praise to Jewish continuity, to Israel's eternity. From this perspective, I can well understand the message of the Talmud.
Indeed, marriage bespeaks of Jewish future, but continuity demands a future rooted in a past, grandchildren faithful to the traditions of their grandparents, generations unborn whose seeds were planted in the graves of their ancestors.
Hence the Hebrew word kever means both grave and womb, the Torah portions which record the deaths of Sarah and Jacob are called Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah) and Vayechi (and he lived) respectively.
The first half of our Torah portion deals with Sarah's passing and the second with Isaac's marriage to Rebecca. Perhaps, because Rebecca represented the continuation of Sarah, Rebecca reinitiated the practices of Sarah: once again, light shed its warm glow from Friday afternoon to Friday afternoon, and a cloud of divine glory rested on their tent.
When one's teaching and traditions are carried over into the present and future, one's influence lasts beyond the grave; the dry bones are resurrected and the grave becomes a womb.
Sarah, Rebecca and Jacob never died: as long as their children live and continue their ideas and ideals, they remain an indelible link in the golden chain of Jewish being.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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