Thought of the Week: Chaye Sara - 5772

A SIGNIFICANT COMPARISON

And Abraham replied to Ephron as everyone listened.  "No, listen to me.  I will buy it from you.  Let me pay the full price for the field so I can bury my dead there."

The acquisition of this field was a monumental moment in the history of the Jewish People.

Abraham’s purchase was not an ordinary transaction but rather it was a sovereign purchase.  Consequently the coins used for the matter were universally transferable silver shekels.  The bond between the Jews and their homeland begins in Hevron.  (Hebron comes from the word CHEBUR- to connect.)

The Talmud compares the word buy -KACH- used in acquiring this field, with the term -KACH-used in Devarim 24:1, "When a man takes (Ke Yikach) a wife and marries her", to teach that just as by the acquisition of the burial spot for Sarah, money finalizes the deal, so to with marriage. Accordingly, Jews have employed “Kinyan Kesef” –namely; acquiring through money or items that have its equivalent – during the marriage ceremony.

This comparison is to teach us that the link between the Jewish people and the land of Israel is one of love and commitment analogous to marriage.

Shabbat Shalom.