Nachal novea; makor chochma -
A flowing river; the source of wisdom (Mish. 18:4)

Parashas Chayei Sarah

(Genesis 23:1-25:18)

"And the field with its cave [of Machpalahl was confirmed as Abraham's, as an estate for a burial site, from the children of Heth." (Genesis 23:20)

(Genesis 23:1-25:18) The incidents and laws mentioned in the Torah are normally described with great brevity. Many incidents are not even mentioned in the Torah, but are included in the oral tradition, which, in later generations, were recorded in the Medrash or Talmud. However, the Torah describes, in great detail, how Abraham procured a burial site for his beloved, righteous, and holy wife, the mother of the entire Jewish nation, Sarah. Why does the Torah stray from its usual brief style for this description of Abraham's purchase? The Torah's elaboration here indicates that there is much to be gained by analyzing this episode. Based on the insights of Rabbi Nachman and his disciple Rav Noson we will focus upon some of the aspects of this episode, which gives us practical advice which can effect our daily lives.

MUCH OF THE TORAH FOCUSES ON AND IS CENTERED AROUND THE ELEMENT OF EARTH

There are four basic elements which G-d used in creating the physical world, water, fire, air, and earth. Much of the Torah focuses on and is centered around the element of earth. The very first verse deals with G-d's creation of the earth: "In the beginning G-d created the heaven and earth." (Genesis 1:1) The Torah describes: how man was created from the earth, "G-d formed man out of the dust of the ground." (Genesis 2:7); that G-d promised the three patriarchs that He would give them the land of Israel as an inheritance for all time; how the Jews left Egypt and traveled through the desert to reach the Promised Land - an episode which spans four out of the five books of the Torah. In addition, the Torah contains many laws that specifically pertain to the earth. The earth is so precious that millions of soldiers have died in battle throughout the centuries to conquer or defend land. We buy, sell, and work the land. When a person is far from his own land, he yearns for his native soil. Even our final resting place is in the ground. Yet, despite earch's preciousness, the opposite also holds true. The earth is comprised of tiny grains of sand, which have no real value. We trample the earth without giving it a second thought. We consider dirt to be repulsive and something to be avoided, eliminated, and cleared away. So we see that the earth reflects two extremes, being of great value on the one hand and of little value on the other.

EFRON WAS ATTACHED TO NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES OF EARTH, ABRAHAM DREW FORTH THE POSITIVE

Abraham bought the burial site known as the cave of Machpelah. This is considered to be one of the holiest spots on earth, comparable to the Temple in Jerusalem. Before a soul can enter paradise it must pass through this cave, which is a physical manifestation of the gateway to Eden. Rashi tells us that this cave is called Machpelah, (from the Hebrew: k'ful, meaning doubles), because of the four holy couples buried there (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah) and because it is comprised of two chambers. Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah from the Hittite known as Efron. The root of the word Efron is from the Hebrew word ahfar, which means soil. The Talmud tells us that the name of an item tells us everything about the nature of that item. Therefore, Efron's name, which refers to the dirt, tells us much about his potential. Efron could have chosen to connect himself to the holy aspects of the spiritual energies of earth, but, instead, he chose wickedness, as evidenced by the Torah's account of his business discussion with Abraham regarding the cave. He made a show, in front of all the people, of how generous he was - implying that he was giving Abraham the cave as a gift, when, in actuality, he was demanding top dollar. Efron thus drew his spiritual nourishment from the spiritual energies of the primeval snake, as the verse says: "And the snake - dirt shall be his food.' (Isaiah 65:25) This verse tells us that the negative spiritual energies contained in the element of earth are associated with the ways of impurity, connected to the spiritual properties that nourish the snake, the source of all evil.

Whereas Efron was attached to the negative attributes of the spiritual essence of earth, Abraham drew forth the earth's positive spiritual energies, as Abraham said about himself.- "I [Abrahaml am but dirt and ash." (Genesis 18:27) Abraharn's statement, made while in prayer, demonstrates his great humility; and the fact that he chose to connect his humility specifically to earth shows that he was connected to earth's positive spiritual essence. Many of the verses contained in the Torah reveal the inner spiritual mechanisms and attributes of physical items. Physicality is like a glove that allows us to utilize, manipulate, and handle spirituality. The physical properties of the element, earth, is a glove which holds the spiritual property of faith, fortifying a person's faith in G-d, as the verse states, "Dwell in the land, and feed [yourself] with faith. " (Psalms 37:3) That the earth causes everything to grow is but a manifestation of the spiritual property of earth - faith causing spiritual growth. For nothing can grow without connection to G-d and connection to G-d can only be achieved through faith.

TO ACCOMPLISH ANY SPIRITUAL GOAL, ONE MUST FIRST ENCOUNTER AND NEUTRALIZE THE FORCES OF EVIL THAT SURROUND IT AND OBSTRUCT ACCESS TO ITS HOLINESS

There is a spiritual principle that one must first remove the "outer peel" to get to the "fruit" meaning that to accomplish any spiritual goal, one must first encounter and neutralize the forces of evil that surround it and obstruct access to its holiness. One reason for this is to maintain the balance of free choice. One can choose to settle for and enjoy the "peel", usually manifested as animalistic materialism, or gain the reward of the "fruit" - spiritual connection to G-d. A second reason for this is that neutralizing the evil forces contained within the "peel" builds spiritual filters which enable a person to tolerate the brighter light of the next level. Therefore, G-d arranged it so that Abraham would have to encounter the very spiritually polluted Efron (the "peel") in order to acquire the extremely holy cave of Machpelah (the "fruit").

IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE JEWS TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OVER THE HOLY LAND, ESPECIALLY THE HOLY SITES

G-d specifically caused Abraham to acquire the cave, instead of some other righteous man, because Abraham possessed precisely those positive spiritual energies of earth which would neutralize Efron's negative spiritual earth energies. Rav Noson teaches that a person's possessions, especially his real estate, contain part of his soul. Efron's impure soul served to dilute and suppress the spiritual energies emitted by the cave. When Abraham acquired the cave, his soul's positive spiritual energies associated with the element of earth became merged with the spiritual energies of the cave. The Talmud designates Abraham as "chief among those who have faith in G-d", so Abraham's spiritual earth energy caused the spiritual energy of faith to sprout, just as physical earth causes things to grow. Thus, the spirit" energies emanating from the cave were dissociated from Efron's lack of faith and connected to the faith of Abraham which eventually would, in turn, influence all other souls in the world to have increased faith in G-d (because every person's soul passes through the cave after his death). Now we can understand why the Torah commands that the land of Israel remain in the exclusive possession of the Jewish people. The soul of each Jew is rooted in holiness, and therefore, when the Jews possess any part of the land of Israel, it causes the positive spiritual properties that are contained in the Holy Land to bloom. On the physical level, this has been evidenced over the past two millennia by the fact that the lack of a large Jewish presence in the holy Land resulted in decay and ruin. Only after large numbers of Jews had returned there did the land respond and miraculously begin to flourish and blossom. Possession of the Holy Land by any other nation pollutes the positive spiritual energies of the holy soil, for other nations are not rooted in holiness. Even in our times it is essential for the Jews to maintain control over the Holy Land, wherever possible - especially the holy sites, such as the cave of Machpelah and Jerusalem - in order that the positive spiritual energies that are found there are released to produce positive effects in the world. [Note: This applies even in times when we do not have a Temple or other spiritual tools. Abraham also accomplished this task without the Temple, etc.]

We see Abraham's connection to dirt as a manifestation of his strong faith in G-d in several places. When the three angels visited Abraham, he offered them water to wash their feet, thinking they were idol worshippers who worshipped the dirt of their feet. (Rashi) This informs us that dirt is associated with faith. In this particular case, it was the negative aspect of faith, idol worship. This incident indicates that Abraham worked to cleanse the world of idol worship. Another instance of Abraham's connection with the element earth, as related by the Talmud, occurs during his pursuit of the four kings who had captured his nephew, Lot. As a weapon, Abraham threw ordinary dirt at the enemy armies. Abraham's intense faith in G-d activated the spiritual energies of faith contained within the dirt, giving him access to the dirt's spiritual roots. This enabled him to manipulate the dirt's physical form, transforming it into thousands of arrows and spears, which annihilated his foes. Miracles such as this are possible because all physical items have a common denominator, the light of G-d. Thus, Abraham, who, because of his great faith, knew how to manipulate this light, and was able to perform this great miracle. Now we can understand why the Torah went into great detail in describing the purchase of the cave of Machpelah. As we mentioned above, the cave of Machpelah is the spiritual gateway to paradise. This emphasis on Abraham's purchase of the cave teaches that the only way one is able to enter through the gate and into paradise is through faith and belief in G-d, which is the essence of Abraham.

On the allegorical level this incident could be understood as follows: Abraham (faith in G-d) acquired the cave (Paradise) through his encounter with Efron (lack of faith, the forces of evil). This means that one must first subdue the forces of evil and overcome the tendency to towards lack of faith by strengthening his faith in G-d such that he meticulously adheres to G-d's wishes, in order to gain access to paradise. (Lekutai Halachoth: Orach Chaim: Hilchoth Tefilin 5:40)

ABRAHAM PERFECTED THE SPIRITUAL PROPERTIES OF EARTH: FAITH AND HUMILITY

As we described above Abraham perfected the spiritual properties contained in the element earth, reaching the highest level of faith possible. There is yet another, and even higher aspect associated with earth - the trait of humility. This aspect was perfected by Moses, as the verse says, "Moses was very humble, more so than any [other] man on the face of the earth." (Numbers 12:3) Earth contains the property of humility, as it says, "He [G-dl lays [the lofty fortress] low, to the ground; He throws it down to the dirt." (Isaiah 26:5) The highest spiritual level of all is the attribute of humility. Rabbi Nachman taught that humility has the power to draw closer those things that are far away. A humble man is able to draw G-d, people, sustenance, and blessings closer to himself. (I Lekutai MoHaran 70) It is impossible to be merged with G-d unless one is truly humble: The more a person humbles himself in this world to adhere to the will of G-d, the more he becomes merged with G-d and eliminates the pollution of coarse materialism contained by the body. The more materially oriented the person, the more his body becomes attached to this world and the greater the barrier erected between G-d and man. Moses purified his body to such an extent, that he completely eliminated the material coarseness of his body. Therefore, immediately upon his death, Moses became merged with the highest level from which one can experience G-d. Those people who are not as successful as Moses was in eliminating the spiritual impurities of the body must go through a very painful cleansing process. This process occurs to the body in the grave and is experienced by the soul, causing the soul great suffering which, in turn eliminates the pollution of and humbles the body. The soul can then be merged with G-d on the level that it earned during its physical lifetime.

Rabbi Nachman taught that G-d deals with a person in the same manner that a person deals with G-d. if the person humbles himself, trying to merge his soul with G-d, by making himself small, G-d acts in kind and shrinks Himself, so to speak, so that the Divine Presence can rest upon a mere mortal causing that person to easily perceive G-d. However, if a person works to magnify his own personal honor, G-d reacts in kind and expands Himself to the point where He becomes too big and distant to perceive. When G-d expands Himself, the person is unable to tolerate and contain His awesome greatness, possibly causing the person to become swept away by G-d's vastness, which could cause destruction. This is what caused the destruction of the Temple. The small Temple structure could only contain G-d in a state of constrictedness, in proportion to the people's humility. When the people became prideful, the small Temple could not contain an infinite G-d Who expanded Himself, in accordance with the people's pride. When G-d expanded Himself, the Temple spiritually exploded, which later manifested itself in the Temple's physical destruction, for it no longer was able to contain G-d's vastness. (I Kitzur Lekutai MoHaran 119)

THE MORE QUICKLY THE SOUL BECOMES MERGED WITH G-D, THE LESS DISCOMFORT IT HAS TO ENDURE

Upon death, every person must go through the burial process, as the verse says, "Everything came from the dirt, and everything returns to the dirt." (Eccl. 3:20) Earth is the most material element of all the four basic elements, because it incorporates the other three. Thus, "And the L-rd, G-d, formed the man from the dirt of the ground..." (Genesis 2:7) enabling man to sanctify all four basic elements, which are all incorporated in the element, earth, as the verse says: "And the L-rd, G-d, took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to work it [the soil referring to his physical body from which it was created], and keep it." (Genesis 2:15) Earth consists of two extremes, as mentioned above. On the one hand, earth causes a person to humble himself such that he adheres to the will of G-d. On the other hand, earth carries the essence of materialism, and thus pridefulness. Therefore, G-d created man from earth in order that man would work to sanctify himself by fostering the negative aspects of earth within himself and converting them to the positive aspects, i. e. humility. Since the element of earth incorporates the other three elements as well, one who. is able to sanctify his body sanctifies the entire physical creation, because all of creation is comprised of the four elements. The one who is able to sanctify himself by humbling himself to adhere to the will of G-d will, upon his demise, - have his body easily merged with the dirt in which his body is laid to rest, allowing his soul to easily draw from the positive powers of earth, relating to humility, which were activated by Moses. Furthermore, this enables the sanctified person's soul to quickly and easily merge with G-d without having to greatly suffer. Those people who do not so humble themselves, fail to sanctify their bodies, and thus have more difficulty in having their bodies merged with the soil after their burial. Therefore, they must suffer pain in the grave in order to cleanse the body of the spiritual pollution caused by negative pride, a pride which resulted in non-adherence to G-d's will.

We thus see that the soul must connect to humility in order to merge with G-d. However, humility is a trait derived from the physical world, and the physical world can affect the soul only indirectly, via the soul's attachment to the body. The body is the soul's bridge to the physical world. So the soul can only access the power of humility through the element of earth contained in the body. Hence, G-d created a world with many contrasting and opposite components to give people ample opportunities to develop humility. In order for there to be peace and unity, things and people must humble themselves to each other, e.g.. husband' and wife, friends, students and teachers, employers and laborers, etc. Even upon death, humility must be accessed. Therefore, the body must first be covered with earth to be surrounded by the spiritual energies of humility, to compensate for any lack of humility one might have had during his lifetime, enabling the soul to become merged with G-d. Consequently, Jewish law requires that, after his death, a Jew must be buried in the earth as soon as possible in order to be covered with the energy of humility so his soul can quickly merge with G-d. The more quickly the soul becomes merged with G-d, the less discomfort it has to endure. Cremation and other forms of disposal of the body is thus very harmful and painful for the soul and is therefore, forbidden by Jewish Law. (L4ekutai Halachoth: Choshen Mishpat: Hilchoth Gevioth Chove May'Ha'Yesomim 4:6)

[Note: Rabbi Nachman taught that true humility does not involve walking around with a bowed head or acting like a loser. This type of behavior is only all outward act to receive attention and respect for being humble - there is no greater arrogance than this. In Hebrew, this is known as anavah pe'sulah - invalid or false humility. (I Lekutai MoHaran 197 and 2 Lekutai MoHaran 72)]

STORY

We mentioned above how Abraham perfected the spiritual attilbute of faith within the element of earth, which merited him to perform the miracle of turning common dirt into swords, spears and arrows. In the following true story, mentioned in the Talinud, Abraham's miracle was reenacted, many centuries later, to aid his descendants in their there of trouble.

Once Rebbe Nachum Ish Gamzu was sent to the mighty emperor of Rome [at that time, Rome subjugated the land of Israel] with a gift so that he might annul evil decrees against the Jews, for Rebbe Nachum was well versed in performing miracles. The Jews sent a case full of precious stones and pearls along with Rebbe Nachum. While on his way, he spent the night in a certain inn. During the night, some of the other guests stole the chest from his room, took out the valuable contents, filled the chest with dirt, and then returned it to its place so that no change was apparent.

When Rebbe Nachum presented the gift to the emperor, he opened the chest and saw that it was filled with dirt. The king's wrath was kindled and he said, "the Jews mock me!" At this, Rebbe Nachum was terrified but immediately said, "Gam zu la'tova." [Aramaic for "this, too shall be good." It was his custom to say this phrase about every apparently evil occurrence, hence was called "Ish Gam Zu"]. Just then Elijah the prophet appeared in the form of one of the emperor's ministers and said, "Perhaps this dirt is the dirt of Abraham, their forefather, who turned dirt into swords and spears. " There was a certain country that the Romans could not conquer. They used this dirt and were finally able to capture the country. So, they took the chest and filled it with precious stones and pearls and sent it back with Rebbe Nachum, giving him great honor.

On his way back he spent the night at the same inn where he had stayed before. Joyfully, he recounted the great honor he had received from the emperor. The people at the inn asked him, "What did you bring, the emperor that he treated you with such great honor?" He said, "I brought nothing but what was in this chest." On hearing this, the people took a large quantity of the very same dirt they had previously given Rebbe Nachum and presented it to the emperor and said that this was the very dirt that had ben given to the emperor on the previous occasion. The dirt was tested and found to be ordinary dirt. Those thieves were put to a horrible death for insulting the emperor. Rebbe Nachum was saved because of his great faith in G-d and returned home safely and happily. (Talmud: Tannis 21)

HITHBODEDUTH (secluding oneself)

Rabbi Nachman taught that as well as reciting the mandatory daily prayers contained in the prayer book, we should also speak to Hashem, just as we would confide in our best friend: in seclusion, in the language and style with which we feel most comfortable. This is based on the advice of our sages, just to mention two sources: "Rebbe Yitzchak said: 'Why were our forefather's barren? Because Hashem desires the prayers of the righteous.'" (Talmud: Yevamoth 64a) "Hashem seeks nothing other than to hear the prayers of Israel." (Medrash Tehillim 116:1). In these sessions, one can openly discuss anything and everything with Hashem. One can praise Him, unload and unburden his feelings, aspirations, problems and wants. These encounters not only strengthen one's faith in Hashem, relieve stress and worry, help to accomplish goals, sharpen the mind and build an intimate and personal relationship with Hashem, but they cultivate the notion that Hashem really exists and can be counted on for all one's needs. The following is an example of a Hithbodeduth session:

The physical body is the root of the selfish passions which keep us from G-d, but when we open our hearts to the holy spirit of the Tzaddik it spreads out from our hearts to our hands and legs, illumining our physical limbs with spiritual light, until we clap and dance for joy. The body itself now becomes a "convert" - a vibrant instrument for the service and praise of G-d. Rebbe Nachman teaches that clapping and dancing have the power to sweeten and mitigate divine judgments.

Master of all the worlds, Ruler of all: You revealed Your G-dly power and rule to the world through our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Through them, Your greatness and holiness were manifested from generation to generation, until we received Your holy Torah through Moshe, Your faithful, prophet.

Then all the peoples and nations saw Your greatness and power. They saw the many miracles You performed for us when You took us out of Egypt and split the Red Sea, and helped us to victory in the war against Amalek. Your G-dliness was revealed to everyone on earth. Even the most distant people saw Your power.

Then Yitro came and converted, and he said "Now I know that HaShem is greater than all gods." At that moment, Your Name was exalted, magnified and sanctified above and below. It is when those who are furthest away from You come to acknowledge Your G-dliness and power that Your greatness and supremacy are most evident, and Your great and blessed Name is most magnified, sanctified and exalted.

Volume 3, Issue 5