This week we have a few things going on. I’m going to quickly lay them out, as I’m probably going to refer back to them over the course of the next few paragraphs, and the whole piece will make a lot more sense if people have an inkling about what I’m on about. So: Sarah dies, Abraham buys a cave and buries her there, Abraham finds Isaac a wife (Abrahams great niece), Abraham dies, Isaac and Ishmael come together to bury Abraham next to Sarah. That is a very brief, rather simplistic summary, but it will do for the moment.

What sticks out to me about this weeks parsha are two names. Abraham and Sarah. Abraham because he does so much, even managing something beyond his death, and Sarah, because the reaction to her death teaches us some things.

Let’s start with Sarah. We learn from what Abraham does 3 key points about mourning in Judaism. He eulogises her, mourns her, and stays with the body. These are things we still today. In fact, a mourner is exempt from positive commandments until the deceased is buried. Abraham only leaves her side to purchase the cave. The torah recounts an interesting conversation between Abraham and Ephron, who owned the cave. Ephron tries to give it to Abraham as a gift, but Abraham insists on purchasing it at market value. Perhaps because he didn’t want its’ ownership questioned in the future, but I think it is more that in order for him to treat Sarah with the respect he wanted to he felt he had to fairly purchase it.

So onto Abraham. As we discussed in weeks previous Abraham was a metaphorical giant. A leader of men, the founder of monotheism. He is called a prince in this week’s Parsha and he converses with God.

It is a natural thing to do to look in awe at our forefathers. I am thinking for the moment of more recent generations. On Wednesday we remembered what those only several generations older than us did over the last 80 odd years. Countless of our communal antecedents went through things we can’t imagine, from fighting in brutal wars to the horror of the holocaust. We look upon those that came through with great awe, unable to comprehend what happened to them, what they saw and experienced, and we mourn the ones we never knew, those who did not.

I think Judaism looks upon Abraham similarly. We start the Amidah by saying ‘God of Abraham...’ we begin many other prayers ‘May the Lord who blessed our ancestors...’ He holds a unique place in Judasim, rightly so I think.

What seperates him out though is what happens beyond his death. It is very easy for ideas and movements to peter out once their founder leaves. But, a few thousand years after his death Abrahams idea of monotheism one of the most widespread theological concepts. Two things kept monotheism going after his death. One was the idea itself. If an idea is not a good one, and survives purely on the charisma of its leader, then it will die with them. The other is Abrahams legacy and example. We learn at the end that his two sons, who argued and disliked each other, come together to bury him, following his example at the beginning of the parsha.

Over the past few weeks readings we have learnt a lot about Abraham. If we also can try to emulate some of his examples then I think we will be doing well.

By Adam Berkley

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