PARSHA SUMMARY This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, opens with the passing of Sarah at the age of 127. Abraham searches for a suitable place to bury her. He chooses the Ma’arat Hamachpela (“ Doubled Cave”) located in Hebron, in which Adam and Eve are also buried. The owner of the cave, Ephron HaChitti, offers the property to Abraham for free, but Abraham (understanding that the scheming Ephron must have had an ulterior motive for the offer) refuses the gift, and instead buys it from him for a huge amount of money. Abraham’s son Isaac is now forty years old. Abraham sends his trusted servant, Eliezer, to his hometown, Charan, to find Isaac a suitable wife. Arriving in Charan, Eliezer devises a plan to find the right girl: He will stand at the local well and ask the young shepherd girls for water. A girl of superior kindness and character will surely offer him water for his camels, too. Just then Rebecca arrives at the well and, as planned, he makes his request. She gives him the water and then offers some for his camels. He introduces himself to her and together they go off to her father’s house. Eliezer asks permission for her to marry Isaac. The proposal is accepted and Rebecca accompanies Eliezer back to Israel. The Torah portion concludes with Abraham’s marriage to Keturah (some say that she was Hagar), and the genealogy of the children that he has with her. Abraham passes away at the ripe old age of 175 years. G-d as Shadchan While some topics and commandments merit just a scant few words, the Torah goes to great lengths in detailing exactly how Abraham sent Eliezer to find a suitable wife for Isaac. This week’s parsha describes exactly how Eliezer met Rivka at the well and how impressed he was with her character. The Torah then repeats the entire narrative in describing how Eliezer reported the incident at the well to Rivka’s family. After hearing the entire story and having Eliezer ask to bring Rivka back with him as Isaac’s wife, Lavan, Rivka’s brother, and Besuel, Rivka’s father both said, “MeHashem yatza hadavar, the word came forth from G-d.” They didn’t want to object to something that they couldn’t dismiss as coincidental. The courtship process, through which man and woman find their basherte, their intended, is fraught with seemingly serendipitous occurrences that can only be explained by saying, “It’s from G-d.” In finding a spouse, people realize perhaps more than any other time in their lives that someone above is looking out for them. And according to the Midrash, pairing up suitable mates is one of the most difficult miracles that G-d performs. The Midrash relates that a Roman noblewoman once asked Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta, “How long did it take G-d to create the world?” “Six days,” he replied. “And what has He been doing since then?” she asked. “Marrying off couples,” he responded. She scoffed at that answer. “What’s the big deal in that?” she said. “I’ll marry off all my servants tonight just to prove how easily it can be done.” “To you it may seem simple, but to G-d it’s as difficult as splitting the Red Sea,” he responded. The noblewoman went home and attempted the experiment. She lined up her male and female servants and married them off to each other. The next day she was horrified to see many of her servants in a foul mood, many of them injured with broken arms and legs. They complained to her, “You think I want to marry this person? Why did you make me marry him/her? I can’t stand it! Get me out of this immediately!” Seeing that her ruse had failed, she returned to Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta and admitted that a Higher Power does need to take care of such seemingly mundane tasks. Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta taught the noblewoman that what seems to be a natural order of events – two people meeting each other and deciding to marry – isn’t a simple matter at all. So many different steps must take place in order for them to “happen” to meet at the right time or be introduced to each other – obviously a Higher Authority must be at work, making all the arrangements. Why did Rav Yose ben Chalafta chose matrimony as his example to illustrate how G-d runs the day-to-day affairs of the world? A possible explanation is that since the process is so personal, everybody can relate to it. Many couples can attest to the series of “chance” encounters that brought them together. In this manner, Rav Yose ben Chalafta pointed out how we think it’s a simple task yet allot must take place for two people to find each other. Nearly every couple can cite a long series of events that had to fall precisely into place in order for them to meet each other at just the right time. Just as in biblical times, the couples of today can truly proclaim, “It came from G-d.” Dedication Opportunities $54 - weekly dedication¨$150 - 4 consecutive weekly¨$72 Phone: 888-374-2870 ext. 11  ¨ E-mail: mail@torahlinks.org Torah Links is a Jewish learning organization, which offers educational and social programs to Jews of all affiliations in a warm and inviting environment. Please contact us for the site nearest you! Phone (732) 367-0600, (888) 374-2870 ¨ E-mail: mail@torahlinks.org