19 Nov CHAYEI SARAH: FROM WHERE DID AVRAHAM COME?

A famous Medrash
Rabbah on this week’s
parsha (58:5) cites the
pasuk “And Avraham
came to mourn for
Sarah and to cry for
her” [Bereishis 23:3].
The Medrash asks
“From where did he come?” Rav Levi answers
that he came from the burial of Terach his father.
Rav Yossi questions this explanation by virtue of
the fact that Terach died two years before Sarah
and offers the alternate explanation that Avraham
came from (the Akeidah on) Mt. Moriah.
Rabbeinu Bechaya deals with this same issue,
and sheds new light for us on the dispute quoted
by the Medrash. Had scripture wished to tell us
that Avraham came from a certain place, it
would have named the place. The fact that the
pasuk states simply “Avraham came” without
specifying a place of origin indicates that it was
not important to indicate any geographic point
of departure. Rather, the intent is to indicate that
Avraham reached a certain level of inspiration in
eulogizing his wife. When a person is inspired to
do something, the Torah uses the expression “he
is coming to it”. “And Avraham came to mourn
for Sarah” indicates that he was motivated to
eulogize her for some specific reason.
Rabbeinu Bechaya explains that in order to
address this question, the Medrash quotes the

difference of opinion between Rav Levi and Rav
Yossi. Rav Levi and Rav Yossi are not answering
the question: “Where did Avraham come from?”
Rather, they are answering the question “What
was the inspiration that brought him to eulogize
his wife Sarah?” Rav Levi says the inspiration
came from the funeral of Terach. Rav Yossi
insisted that any such inspiration would have
worn off after two years; rather it must have
come from Mt. Moriah where he had recently
experienced the Akeida.
What was the inspiration that Avraham received
at the Akeida that moved him to eulogize his
wife? As much as one knows one’s wife,
Avraham sensed greatness in Sarah at the Akeida
that he had never before sensed. If one has a
37-year-old son and tells him “G-d told me to
slaughter you” and the son is prepared to listen
and willingly be slaughtered, that speaks
volumes about the son, but it also speaks
volumes about the mother that raised such a son.
For a person who is told by his father that it is
time for him to be killed on the altar – even
though it flies in the face of everything he knows
– to comply with his father’s order is not a
natural phenomenon, to put it mildly. Yitzchak
was only able to withstand this great test because
of the attribute of Emunas Chachomim that his
mother inculcated in him from his earliest youth.
Using similar logic, we can now understand the
viewpoint of Rav Levi who interpreted “When

Avraham came” to mean he came from the
funeral of Terach. Of course Rav Levi realized
that the eulogy of Terach was two years prior to
Sarah’s passing. But Rav Levi was saying that
the greatness of Sarah was even more astounding
to Avraham because of the eulogy of Terach.
Avraham Avinu knew where he came from. He
knew that his father was an idolater. Avraham
reasoned that he himself had the fortune to see
the light of truth in his life. But it by no means
would obviously follow that his children would
likewise come to the same conclusion. Given
who his father was and who he came from, it
was not a simple matter that his son turned out
the way he did. Considering what his spiritual
DNA was all about, the fact that he had a son
like Yitzchak who was willing to be offered
upon on Altar of G-d was not something he took
for granted. This speaks even more volumes
about Sarah’s greatness as a mother and role
model.
Basically, Rav Levi and Rav Yossi are conveying
the same idea. Avraham was inspired to eulogize
Sarah because of the great son who she raised.
After having just experienced the Akeida and
being reminded of Yitzchak’s idolatrous
ancestry, Avraham recognized the great role
Sarah played in making Yitzchak who he was.
Where Was Yitzchak?
In the same passage, Rabbeinu Bechaya raises
the following issue: Where was Yitzchak when

this eulogy and burial took place? Rabbeinu
Bechaya suggests that Yitzchak was not
immediately aware of the death of his mother.
Sarah’s death (according to the Medrash) was
due to the shock at hearing of Yitzchak’s near
death experience at the Akeida. Having thus
been indirectly responsible for her passing, the
news of this tragedy was hidden from him for
the time being. Rabbeinu Bechaya further
suggests that during the entire 3-year gap from
the time of the Akeida (when he was 37) until
the time that he married Rivka (at age 40),
Yitzchak remained at Mt. Moriah.
Others quote an alternate suggestion as to
Yitzchak’s whereabouts during this period, in
the name of the Zohar. The Zohar records that
Yitzchak was actually injured during the Akeida,
and the Angels took him to Gan Eden during this
period until he recovered from those wounds.
Furthermore, it is based on this experience that
Yitzchak later was able to identify the aroma of
the coat of his son Eisav as being equivalent to
the aroma of the Garden of Eden [Bereishis
27:27]: “See, the fragrance of my son is like the
fragrance of a field which Hashem has blessed”.