Parsha for Kids: Chayei Sarah 2022
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Chayei Sarah 2022.
You can listen to the podcast on Spotify (link to this week’s episode), Apple, Audible, iHeartRadio and a variety of other places. (Some of these might only update with the new episode content tomorrow.)
Please give it a listen and share it with the kids in your life. Additionally, I would very much appreciate it if you would be willing to subscribe, rate the podcast on the app where you listen to it, and leave a review.
Episode 5:
Hello! My name is Chana, and this is Parsha for Kids. The Parsha of the week is Chayei Sarah. The words “Chayei Sarah” mean the life of Sarah.
Sarah, as you may remember, was Avraham’s wife. This parsha begins with the story of her death. Sarah died when she was 127 years old.
When people die, their souls return to God, but their bodies are buried in the earth. Avraham now had to find a fitting place to bury Sarah.
Remember that Avraham had traveled to the land of Canaan from his birthplace. Back in the place where he was born, his family likely had a burial plot that belonged to them, a place where all of their dead were honorably buried. But since Avraham had moved, he had no such burial plot and he needed to purchase one.
Due to this, Avraham went to the sons of Chet in order to buy a piece of land from them. The sons of Chet described Avraham as “Nesi Elokim,” a prince of God, and said they would be happy to give him any piece of land he fancied. Avraham insisted that he wanted to speak to their leader, Ephron. Avraham wanted to buy Me’aras HaMachpelah, a cave located at the end of Ephron’s field, and he wanted to pay him in full.
Ephron told Avraham that paying wasn’t necessary and that he was happy to simply give Avraham the field and the cave as a gift. But Avraham did not agree to this. Avraham wanted to pay money for the field. Avraham ended up paying 400 shekels of silver to Ephron to buy the field and the cave. This was witnessed by many of the sons of Chet, who watched the transaction.
Why is it so important to know that Avraham bought the field? Why does the Torah spend so many pesukim describing this?
There are several answers. One of them is that this is the beginning of God’s promises to Avraham about the land of Israel coming true. God had promised Avraham that Avraham would possess and inherit the land. Here, Avraham is purchasing his first piece of property in Israel.
Additionally, it was important that no one could ever claim that Avraham had tricked the people living in Eretz Canaan out of their land. The fact that Avraham bought the land, fair and square, in front of witnesses, showed that he had done everything properly. He had paid more than the value of the land to Ephron, who likely thought he had gotten the better end of the deal.
Let’s go back to the cave Avraham chose, Me’aras HaMachpelah. Machpelah means “Doubles” so the name of this cave translates to The Cave of Doubles. Why was it called the Cave of Doubles? There are several explanations:
There was a second floor on top of the cave, so that it really was a double cave (although only the bottom floor was a burial place)
Not only was Sara buried in the cave, but later on her husband Avraham would also be buried there. In future, other couples would also be buried there- so it was called “the cave of doubles” because of the couples who ended up together there.
We know where Me’aras HaMachpeilah is today. It is in the city of Chevron, and you can go to Israel even today to visit and daven to Hashem by this special place.
TRANSITION SOUND
Have you ever been to court?
If you have, maybe you have noticed that sometimes the judge asks people to swear they are telling the truth by holding up a Bible. A Bible is a holy book, and contains the Torah.
Where did this custom come from?
The first place we see this custom is here, in our parsha. You see, Avraham had gotten old. It was important to him to make sure his son Yitzchak got married. So Avraham asked his servant to come to him and he asked his servant to put his hand under his thigh, because that’s where Avraham had the sign of the Bris Milah on his body.
Avraham made his servant swear that he would not find a wife for Yitzchak who came from the daughters of Eretz Canaan. Instead, he wanted the servant to travel back to the place Avraham had been born, Charan, and find a wife for Yitzchak there.
The servant asked: “What if the woman doesn’t want to come with me? Should I instead bring Yitzchak to the land where you were born?”
Avraham said no. Yitzchak could not go back to the land where Avraham had been born, Charan. God had specifically told Avraham to travel to the land of Israel and had promised that it would be given to Avraham’s son, Yitzchak. It would not be appropriate for Yitzchak to move away from the land of Israel, even temporarily, since he was the one who was going to inherit and own the land. Avraham instead said that God would send an angel to accompany the servant and to make sure the woman would follow the servant home to Yitzchak.
Avraham also told the servant that if the woman refused to come, then Avraham would not hold the servant responsible.
TRANSITION SOUND
So the servant traveled back to Aram Naharayim, to Charan. He took along ten of Avraham’s camels and other riches that belonged to his master.
Near evening, the servant stood beside the well of water outside the city. The servant knew that at this time of the evening, the women of the city would come out to draw water from the well.
So the servant decided to pray to God and devised a test. His test was this: He would say to a young woman, “Lower your pitcher and I will drink.” If the woman replied, “Drink, and I will also water your camels,” that would show that she was the right wife for Yitzchok.
What would this test reveal about the woman in question?
The servant was looking for a woman who practiced chesed, kindness. Since the servant was a stranger to the city, it would be easy for the woman to say to the servant, “Why should I draw water for you? Take some for yourself!” or “I’m busy- ask one of the other girls!” But the servant was looking for someone who would go above and beyond and who would be kind even to a stranger.
If you remember our previous Parshiot, you will see why this makes sense. Avraham invited three men whom he thought were idol-worshippers to sit under his tree- of course, in the end they turned out to be angels, but he didn’t know that at the time. He provided them with a lavish feast. He fostered a culture of hospitality towards others, focusing on hachnosas orchim, welcoming guests. Yitzchok, having grown up in this household, would expect similar behaviors and values in his wife. Thus, only a wife who practiced chesed, kindness, would be a suitable match for Yitzchok.
Now Avraham had a brother, Nachor. And Nachor had a son, Bethuel. And Bethuel had a daughter, Rivka. It was actually Rivka who came out to the well, carrying her pitcher. She was young and beautiful, and the servant ran to her and asked, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
Rivka replied, “Drink, my lord” and after he had finished drinking, she added, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they finish drinking.” The next pasuk, verse, includes many action verbs. Rivka went quickly and emptied her pitcher and ran again to the well to draw water and she drew water for all his camels. These verbs show Rivka to be a very active person- someone who is a doer, and someone willing to spend time and energy taking care of others, even people she didn’t know well.
The servant was amazed by Rivka and realized that God had listened to his prayer. He waited to see whether Rivka would ask him for money after she finished giving water to his camels. She did not, and in fact got ready to leave! Quickly, the servant stopped her and gave her expensive presents. He gave her a golden nose ring and two golden bracelets.
He then asked her whose daughter she was and whether there was a place to stay by her. Imagine the servant’s delight when he realized Rivka was actually related to his master Avraham! He was excited to spend the night by her father’s house.
TRANSITION SOUND
Rivka ran home to tell her family about the strange man she had met at the well, and that he needed a place to sleep that night. Her brother Lavan saw the golden nose ring and the two golden bracelets and immediately decided to run to find the stranger.
Rashi comments that Lavan only went to find the man because he saw the expensive presents Rivka had received. This shows that Lavan was different from Rivka. Rivka sincerely wanted to help the stranger and perform kindness with him. Lavan was focused on the fact that the stranger was rich, and associating with a rich stranger meant that he might also get money or presents.
The servant told Rivka’s family all about who he was, who Avraham was, and why he was there. Lavan, Rivka’s brother, and Bethuel, Rivka’s father, both noted that the matter had come from God and therefore the man could take Rivka back to Yitzchok to be his wife.
The servant was very happy about this. He took out silver items and gold items and fancy garments and gave them to Rivka, and he gave delicious fruits to her mother and brother.
But why wasn’t her father included? Well, something very strange happens in the parsha. We hear Bethuel speak when he gives permission to Rivka to go to be with Yitzchok, and then we never hear him speak again. Instead, only Lavan and Rivka’s mother are mentioned.
What happened to Bethuel? The fact that he goes missing from the storyline leads Rashi to say that Bethuel died. Our Sages explain that Bethuel was a wicked man who actually hoped to kill Avraham’s servant. Knowing that the servant had brought many expensive and precious gifts with himself, Bethuel figured that if he killed the servant, then he could take all of those things and keep them for himself. God protected the servant, however, and Bethuel died instead.
After sleeping over for one night, Avraham’s servant wanted to go back home with Rivka. However, Lavan and Rivka’s mother wanted her to stay at home for ten months or a year before she left so that she could prepare her trousseau (her bridal clothing and ornaments). The servant did not want to be delayed, so Lavan and Rivka’s mother asked her what she wanted to do. Rivka agreed to go with the servant. Just like Rivka was similar to Avraham when it came to her sense of chesed, she also acted similarly to Avraham here, following the servant away from her birthplace to a land she did not know in order to find and fulfill her destiny.
TRANSITION SOUND
As the servant was leading Rivka to her new home, Yitzchok went to pray to God in the field. He lifted up his eyes and saw the camels were coming. When Rivka lifted up her eyes, she saw Yitzchok. She let herself down from the camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field towards us?” The servant explained that this was his master Yitzchok.
Rivka covered herself with her veil and the servant told Yitzchok about everything he had done.
Yitzchok took Rivka to his mother’s tent. He married Rivka, and he loved her. Although Yitzchok was sad because his mother Sarah had died, he was comforted by Rivka’s presence in his life.
After Yitzchok was settled, Avraham married a new wife as well. Her name was Keturah. Rashi thinks that Keturah was simply another name for Hagar, and that Avraham brought her back into his life once more now that Sarah had died.
Avraham had more children with Keturah, and he gave them gifts, but Yitzchok was still the one who inherited everything that belonged to Avraham.
When Avrahan was 175 years old, he died. His sons Yishmael and Yitzchok buried him together in Mearas HaMachpelah.
But wait! you may be wondering. Why would Yishmael bury Avraham? After all, hadn’t Avraham sent him and Hagar away?
Rashi believes that Yishmael did teshuva and repented for the fact that he had wanted to kill Yitzchok all those years ago. Because of this, Yishmael and Yitzchok were able to get along once more and they were even able to bury their father together, putting the past behind them.
From here we learn an amazing lesson. Yitzchok could have held a grudge against Yishmael, saying that he would never associate with a person who tried to kill him, even if it was done in a joking way. Yishmael could have held a grudge against Yitzchok for being the chosen son. But instead, the two of them decided to work together, coming together to show respect for their father and bury him.
Sometimes in families, people get into arguments and decide that the argument can never be fixed. This parsha shows that is not true. If Yishmael and Yitzchok were able to get along after they were very literally separated for most of the years of their life, there is hope for anybody to repair their relationships and friendships- as long as both participants are willing to work on it.
Yishmael lived until he was 137 years old, and then he died.
TRANSITION SOUND
So here’s what we learned today!
It was important to Avraham to conduct business in an honest and ethical way. Even though Ephron and Bnei Chet offered to give him a burial place for free, he paid 400 silver coins for it. We can learn from Avraham that sometimes it is better to make sure people are paid even when they are offering to give us something precious as a gift.
The custom we now see in court of swearing on the Bible originated in this week’s parsha when the servant swore on Avraham’s Bris Milah.
Yitzchok’s wife was chosen based on the fact that she was full of chesed, kindness. This quality ensured she would fit right in with Avraham’s family and their values.
Unfortunately, Lavan, Rivka’s brother, was more focused on riches, as was his father Bethuel. Bethuel ended up dying and we will learn more about what happens with Lavan in upcoming parshiot.
Avraham married a new wife after Yitzchok got married whose name was Keturah, although some say she was really Hagar.
It is amazing that Yitzchok and Yishmael were able to get along after the fact that Yishmael had originally tried to kill Yitzchok. From here we see there is always hope when it comes to repairing family relationships.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids (at) gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos!