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This is the last week that we spend with Abraham, as we read the Torah portion of Chayei Sarah.
Abraham bought the Cave of Machpelah for four hundred silver shekels. In Hebrew, the word for silver, kesef, is also the root of the word kisufim, which means ‘longing’. Kabbalistic literature speaks of ‘four hundred worlds of longing’: Four hundred worlds of pleasure that the tzaddikim (righteous individuals) inherit in the World to Come. This is the secret of the four hundred silver (longing) shekels that Abraham paid for the Cave.
The Cave of Machpelah represents the lofty pleasure of the World to Come, here, in this world. Actually, the entire Land of Israel is innately connected to the World to Come. Israel is the “Land of Life”. But the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is the place of the connection to the World to Come. (The Hebrew word for Hebron, חברון, shares a root with חיבור, which means ‘connection’). For this reason, the act of taking possession of the Land of Israel begins in Hebron, in the past and for always.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says that one must always live with “the memory of the World to Come”. We do not to reach the World to Come of after ending our stay in this world. Instead, we must remember the World to Come while we are living. By doing so, we connect the worlds and draw the life force of the World to Come down into the life of this world.
This is the secret of our holy Patriarchs and Matriarchs, who are interred in the Cave of Machpelah, and this is the secret of the entire Torah portion of Chayei Sarah – the life of Sarah that holistically connects the two worlds.
Enjoy this week’s articles, two of which are about two totally different aspects of Abraham – aging, and his association with Eastern religions.
Shabbat Shalom,
The Gal Einai Team
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