Chayei Sarah- The Life of Sarah

This week's parsha is Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah. This is an interesting name considering that Sarah dies in the beginning of the parsha and the rest of the Torah portion is about the marriage of Isaac and Rivka. Rivka is continuation of Sarah the same way that Isaac is the continuation of Abraham. The Jewish people are a continuation. Similar to a baton race; after each run the next teammate hands the baton over. Every generation hands us the baton to continue living Jewish life. We are a continuation. When it gets tough remember that you have everyone that came before you cheering for you to finish the race. Marriage and having children, who are properly brought up in the ways of Hashem, are key.

(Watch a Video on Marriage:)

The Rebbetzin shares a beautiful story "about two brothers who lived in the holy city of Jerusalem. Their houses were at opposite ends of the city, and they were separated by a great mountain. One brother was very poor, but blessed with many children, while the other possessed a great fortune, but had no family.

"One night, the wealthy brother tossed and turned in his sleep. It is terribly unjust, he thought to himself, that I should be given so much, while my brother, who has a large family to support, has so little. I have to do something to help him.

"That same night, the impoverished brother also awoke from his sleep and kept thinking about his sibling. Of what good is all my brother’s money, he thought to himself. Without children, his life is lonely and meaningless. I must do something to show him how much I care. As the brothers lay awake thinking of how they might give comfort to one another, they both came up with an identical plan. In the darkness of the night, each would secretly leave a gift at the door of his brother.

"And so, the two brothers set out and began to climb the mountain from opposite directions. As they reached the top, the sun rose over Jerusalem. When they saw one another, they were astonished. For a moment, they just stood there, looking at each other, unable to speak, and then, weeping with joy, they fell into each other’s arms, each pleading, “Please, my brother, accept this gift.” And as they embraced, a Heavenly Voice was heard: “This ground has been sanctified by the love of the brothers. It is here that I shall build My Holy Temple!”

It would be ideal if we all could be like those two brothers and feel each other’s pain, but unfortunately, we tend to view our challenges from our own perspective and see our own needs first". We can learn from Sarah that the focus of her life was her son and the continuation of Benei Yisrael.

Shabbat Shalom!!!