1995/5756

   Avraham buys מערת המכפלה with 004 shekalim  which are described as עובר לסוחר, translated by אונקולוס as international currency.  Why was it necessary for Avraham to use international currency for the transaction?

   When Rivkah is brought to Yitzchak, he is returning home from באר לחי ראי.  What was he doing there?  What else happened in באר לחי ראי (in לך לך), and how did that influence Yitzchak's decision to live there temporarily? (Note: As was mentioned last week, the Torah makes no mention of Yitzchak returning home with Avraham to either Be'er Sheva or Chevron after the akeidah, so it is quite possible that he went to באר לחי ראי straight from הר המוריה and stayed there until he married Rivkah.)

   The end of the parsha deals with Yishmael's family.  The last pasuk states על פני כל אחיו נפל.  What does this mean?  Is it speaking about Yishmael's death (meaning, "He fell in front of all his brothers.") or the land which he inherited (meaning, "He spread out over all of his brothers.")?  Assuming the latter (which makes sense from the context), what exactly did he do?  Weren't we previously told that Avraham had sent all the "sons of his concubines" (presumably Hagar and Keturah) eastward, towards Eretz Kedem, without each son having defined borders? What then does it mean that he took over his brothers' land?