Chayei Sarah

In this parsha

Sarah dies at the age of 127, and Abraham purchases the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron from Ephron the Hittite to bury her. He then sends his trusted servant back to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac. At the well, the servant prays for a sign, and Rebecca appears, drawing water for him and his camels; her family consents, and she returns to become Isaac's wife. Abraham takes another wife, Keturah, fathers more children, and dies at 175, buried by Isaac and Ishmael alongside Sarah.

Themes

• Wholeness of one's days
• Daily renewal and illumination
• Servant and son in avodah
• Faithful service turns curse to blessing
• Binding time, place, and soul
• The blessing of bakol

Must-read teachings

1. 1Wholeness through daily renewal of inner lightIn the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted (temimim)" (Tehillim 37:18)… "Just as they are temimim (wholehearted/complete), so their years are temimim (complete)." The Midrash, on Sarah's lifespan, teaches that just as the tz…תרל"ב
2. 2Tzaddikim elevate time, nature, and soulsIn the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted" (Tehillim 37:18) — just as they are tamim (wholehearted), so their years are tamim (whole/complete). The Midrash links the temimus of the tzaddikim themselves to a corresponding wh…תרמ"ט
3. 3Wholeness through clinging to the rootIn the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted (temimim)" (Tehillim 37:18) — just as they themselves are temimim (whole/complete), so are their years complete. The Midrash links the "wholeness" of righteous people to the wholene…תרנ"ו
4. 4Binding every realm to its heavenly rootIn the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted" — just as they themselves are tamim (whole), so too their years are whole, etc. And why does it say "the years of the life of Sarah" at the very end? Because the years of tzaddikim…תרנ"ד
5. 5Making lasting ascents and a place for the ShechinahIn the Midrash on "and Avraham was old, coming along in days, and Hashem blessed Avraham with everything" (Bereishis 24:1). The Sefas Emes opens from the Midrash on Avraham's old age and the blessing he received "with everything." "Who shal…תרנ"ב
6. 6Serving Hashem as servant and sonIn the Midrash: "A wise servant shall rule over a shameful son" (Mishlei 17:2). The Sefas Emes opens with a verse contrasting an "eved (servant)" and a "ben (son)," which he will develop as two modes of serving Hashem. For behold, a person …תרנ"ד
7. 7The wise servant who escapes the curse through serviceIn the Midrash: "A wise servant (eved maskil)…" — because he served that tzaddik faithfully (b'emunah), he passed from the category of "cursed" to "blessed." The Midrash on Eliezer, Avraham's servant, teaches that by serving the tzaddik Avr…תרמ"ט
8. 8The days of tzaddikim unify both worldsIn the Midrash: "Hashem knows the days of the wholehearted (temimim)" etc. — that the years of tzaddikim are precious before HaKadosh Baruch Hu both in this world and in the World to Come. The Sefas Emes opens with the teaching that the ver…תרס"א - תרס"ב