Weekly D'Var Torah

By Matt Handel

We spend so much time on the words of the Torah, yet we often ignore the silence between the words. When things are missing, we should take note. This is demonstrated in this week’s parsha, Chayei Sarah (with a callback to Vayeira from last week).

The parshah opens with the death of Sarah. How did she die? We don’t know. What were her last words? No idea. We know Abraham buried her in the cave of Machpelah. Did he give a eulogy? Cry out in anguish? Have a chance to speak with her before she perished? Sorry, no information on that.

What about Isaac? Did he attend her funeral? Unlikely, since he departed from the Akedah (binding of Isaac) separately from Abraham. In fact, the text never mentions Abraham and Isaac being together again until Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham. Is that simply an oversight in the text, or a deliberate silence?

Did Hashem, who had sent angels to comfort Abraham in the past, appear? The text says nothing. In fact, there is no record of any messages from Hashem to Abraham after the angel appears twice during the Akedah.

I cannot believe all this missing information is a coincidence. The message is clear: Abraham is alone.

This comes back to a question from last week: did Abraham really pass the test that Hashem set before him? His wife dies after (upon?) his return. He never sees his son again. His connection with Hashem ends. Yes, he remains prosperous and happy. He marries Keturah and has six sons. Yet, he is no longer a prophet. What made him special seems to have passed. That is the lesson of silence.