Parashat Chayei Sarah
November 8, 2023
Jackie Grosser, Director of Upper School Admissions & Strategic Initiatives
Given the name of the parashah, Chayei Sarah, “the Life of Sarah,” one might assume that the parashah would continue on with a recap of Sarah’s life and her accomplishments. Instead the parashah goes in another direction. Of course, at the start of the parashah, we learn about the death of Sarah and her burial plot, but the story quickly turns to the search for a wife for Yitzchak. Instead of Sarah, the hero of the parashah actually becomes her future daughter-in-law, Rivka.
When I was in elementary school, my classmates and I put on a performance reenacting the scene where Rivka is introduced to Avraham’s servant, Eliezer. My best friend played the role of Rivka – we all watched as she performed Rivka’s act of giving water not just to Eliezer, but also to his camels who, with Eliezer, made the long journey across the desert. Of all the stories we learned in that year of fourth grade, and there were a lot, it was this scene that our teachers focused on for our end-of-year assembly. It was Rivka’s act of generosity that stood out to Eliezer and to my fourth-grade teachers.
My teachers were not-so-subtly teaching us a lesson about the attributes we should prioritize in ourselves and in others. Mr. Rogers famously said to his viewers “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” In this moment when the news feels too painful to watch, it has been amazing to see how so many people are showing their generosity. I think about our students who are welcoming Israeli visiting students so thoughtfully, the group of cowboys from Montana and Arkansas who flew to Israel to help tend to farms owned by Israelis called into the reserves, the colleagues who are teaching extra classes to support the teachers who went to Israel. The list goes on and on. It seems like we intuitively know that chesed (kindness) is what gets us through these times.
My elementary school teachers knew what they were doing when they highlighted Rivka’s story. The Torah itself repeats the story, showing us just how important the value of chesed is. May our energy and motivation for these acts of generosity continue, and may we use Rivka’s model to keep us going through these times. Shabbat Shalom.