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November 21, 2003/Cheshvan 26 5764, Vol. 56, No. 9
A mother's love
Torah study
RABBI IRWIN WIENER
Chayei Sarah/Genesis 23:1-25:18
There is nothing sweeter than a mother's love. In fact, there is nothing more precious than the attachment that began in the womb and was then drawn into the light, still attached. And when the cord is severed a different connection materializes: loyalty, devotion and affection. And that is what is known as a mother's love.
Sarah gave birth to Isaac in the winter of her life, a time when all things sleep and wither and even die. Her vision of continuity was fulfilled with laughter and tears. And her immortality was ensured because she completed her role in determining the future of the human experience that was woven in the promise of a relationship with the Divine.
The details of her passing follow the chapter outlining the famous spiritual experience of the faith-filled devotion of a father to answer the call of sacrifice - in this instance, the ultimate sacrifice. The binding of Isaac tugged at the very heart of a mother's bond to her child. Isaac's unchallenged response to that demand by God was more than a mother could bear.
The Midrash emphasizes this connection with a story about a dialogue between Sarah and an image of her son Isaac in which she inquires about the happening with Abraham. Isaac relates the whole episode of how Abraham took him to the top of a mountain, built an altar, arranged the wood, bound him and took a knife to slaughter him. And then God prevented this from happening. Before the dialogue ends, Sarah dies.
There is nothing more heartrending then to witness the death of a child. It is not hard to imagine the despair she felt. Not only had she sacrificed so much to give birth to Isaac, but now she saw her dreams of the future shattered in an instant of uncompromising faith. The binding of her son was more than her heart could carry.
This detail of a mother's anguish and pain speaks to the suffering we all experience as we journey through life, trying to find our purpose for being. Yet we must all answer the Divine in us. Some more than others. Some with sacrifices beyond imagination.
Sarah talks to me in a way that no other human being can. She represents the goodness and kindness and love that a mother has not only for her own but for all of humanity.
Her lesson for us is simple: Sometimes we go through experiences that require us to search for new meanings because of a disappointment, a tragedy or an illness, not being able to communicate with a loved one because of something that really is insignificant. And then like Sarah, we are no more. It is a broken heart that finally creates the need for her story to be told.
The call to sacrifice Isaac was not a test of faith but rather a calling to a higher purpose. It wasn't the sacrifice of a person that was its message but an entrance to a spiritual awakening: to love each other and treat each other with dignity and to stand in awe of each other.
Sarah could not cope with the thought that God would want such a sacrifice. Her knowledge that human relationships are the foundation of creation causes her to doubt, and it is this doubt that causes her defeat. And this defeat she could not reconcile with her faith.
The chapter we read is Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah, because from the moment she dies, Abraham changes and understands that faith in God requires a human vision of life. Perhaps that is the lesson we should also take with us. Life is not death. Life is to live. And a mother's love brought us to this understanding.
Rabbi Irwin Wiener is the spiritual leader of Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation.
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