2022/5782
Parashat Chayei Sarah begins with the episode of Avraham Avinu’s mourning of Sarah and buying a burial place for her. When describing Avraham’s buying of the land, even though Avraham bought it from Ephron, Avraham’s conversations with Bnei Cheit consist of most of the episode. Why does the Torah emphasize Bnei Cheit even though their conversations with Avraham seem unnatural?
Rashbam, in his classical Pashtanut, states that Avraham Avinu had to get approval from the city before building a burial plot in a place that wasn’t a cemetery beforehand. It wouldn’t be enough just to ask Ephron; Avraham needed consent from the people. This works well per ancient practice, as there were legal restrictions on burial plots for outsiders. This explains why Avraham explains that he is a “Geir VeToshav,” “A resident foreigner” (ibid.). Avraham explained that he is kind of a citizen, so he would like the right to create a burial plot on the land. In accordance with ancient law, Bnei Cheit agreed.
Malbim explains the repeated mention of Bnei Cheit in accordance with one of Avraham’s main missions throughout his life: educating the people around him about Hashem. Malbim argues that part of the purpose and meaning of burial is that the body will return in. Techiyat HaMeitim. Therefore, burial offers dignity to the dead and their eternal souls. Avraham Avinu’s desire to respect Sarah even after death by buying her an ideal burial location seemed strange to Bnei Cheit. They didn’t believe in Techiyat HaMeitim, so they only buried corpses to eliminate the putrid smell. The idea of paying respect to the dead was foreign to Bnei Cheit. Therefore, Avraham was willing to spend a large sum of money on a suitable burial place for Sarah to educate Bnei Chiet about Techiyat HaMeitim and the everlastingness of the soul.
The Yalkut Eliezer also views this episode as an example of Avraham teaching the Oneness of Hashem to those around him. However, while the Malbim explained the purpose of burial as a sign of the soul's immortality, the Yalkut Eliezer views the purpose of burial as a sign of man's mortality. Since man dies and has an end, man must also have a beginning, and if man has a beginning, then he must have been created by the Creator, Hashem. Therefore, Avraham was educating Bnei Cheit of the same principle that Rambam expresses in the first of his Ikarei Emunah: Hashem is the Creator.
The Avnei Neizer states that there are 30 Mitzvot that Bnei Noach initially accepted on themselves, but they only keep 3, one of which is that they don’t weigh the flesh of the dead in butcher shops. Out of all the Mitzvot that they accepted, why would they choose this one? Rav Avraham Aharon Price suggests that the Avnei Neizer’s insight works excellently with the Yalkut Eliezer as it shows that by refusing to disgrace the dead, they are upholding burial and God as the Creator of the world.
Even in times of sadness and grief, we should all be Zocheh to have Emunah and understand that Hashem, the Creator of the world, is holding our hand and watching over us.