Torah Commentary Archives



Chayei Sarah (Sarah's Life)

Genesis 23:1-25:18

1Kings 1:1-31

Matthew 8:19-22; 27:3-10

Luke 9:57-62


An Individual Purpose


The title of this week's Torah portion has always intrigued me. It is called “Sarah's Life” yet it is about her death. We could consider that the purpose for her life was not fully revealed until her death. What is the revealed purpose? Was it not the continuation of the righteous seed of the promised covenant of Genesis 3:15 and Sarah's role in its final fulfillment? There is one thought to grasp this Shabbat!


With the death of Sarah, Abraham is brought face to face with something he may have been putting off, the purpose of his son Isaac in the first place. Isaac is probably in his thirties by now. Abraham had been enjoying this son of promise so much that maybe he had forgotten that Isaac needed a wife in order for his purpose to be revealed and brought forth. After all, one man being able to have children when he is around 100 years old may not be a miracle to be repeated in Isaac. It is time to find a wife for the boy.


Abraham called his servant. It is thought to be Eleazar, but we are not specifically told the servant's name. I find this fact also intriguing considering the importance of the job he was called to. A job he is not even given full credit for. This in itself says much about who this man really was. The silent and unrecognized heroes of life are normally those who got the job done. Being recognized was never what they cared about in the first place. That is what makes them truly great.


Consider before we move forward the trust Abraham has in this servant. Isaac is to be the lineage of “the Seed.” I believe whatever Abraham and Isaac saw on the mountain solidified this to a higher level. Abraham is now placing the whole of the plan of redemption in the hands of this man. The mere thought of that makes me cringe. Who was this guy? Where did he come from? How did Abraham know he could trust him like this? What happened to him after this event? We are not told. Fact is, the purpose of this servant's life is revealed in this one event and he then slips into the unknown, the same place he came forth from.


How should this speak to us? I think I may have received this answer in a conversation with a friend in Israel during this past trip. I do not remember the context of the conversation, but I can tell you that when I heard these words, “Your purpose is that which is in front of you,” I knew I had heard something important. Allow me to expound.


How many people find purpose in what is right in front of them? How many even find purpose in their lives at all is another question, but one which would take a complete book to expound upon. For now, let's consider our purpose to be what is in front of us in the moment. To do this we go back to Abraham's servant. What is in front of this man? First is a word we considered last week, hineni. When the servant responded and went forth from Abraham, he did so with the same heart as Abraham, “Here am I”. The servant became an extension of his master. Camp out on that one for a bit. What was in front of him that he said hineni to? We can take it piece by piece. First we have a smelly camel ride on a dusty road to a place of uncertainty. No record of “Holy Spirit goose bumps” along this path. In the midst of the smell and dust he is brought face to face with a person whose life he is to change by giving her an invitation to become part of the covenant of his master. This invitation is followed by another ride on a smelly camel on a dusty road to a place where he goes back to his job of being Abraham's servant and the place of being unknown. That is it. There is his purpose. Sound familiar?


During the past Israel tour, our group was invited to the Knesset by Rav Yehuda Glick. The video is on our web site. If you haven't already, please take the time to watch it. In the midst of his address to the group he said, “I appoint you as ambassadors of Israel. You are the flames of the Menorah.” As I have considered those words in light of this Torah portion, his words were the same as Abraham's to his servant. The servant was called to be an extension of the master, to do the bidding of his master and not seek his own reward or recognition.


Allow me to wrap this up. The servant was not called to be Abraham, Sarah or Isaac. He was called to be himself, an extension in a way of all of those people. He was not called to walk in their purpose, but rather to walk in his own and become the helper of their purpose coming to pass. We on the same hand are not called to be HaShem in a person's life. We are not called to be their Messiah or their Holy Spirit. We are called to be an extension of the fullness of the revelation of redemption upon this world. We, as His servants, are often called to walk a sometimes smelly and dirty journey. During this journey we are looking for those who may be placed in our path so that we may offer them the choice to come to the place of their purpose. We are not to look to make a name for ourselves or to leave a legacy, but rather to come forth when called upon and then go back to obscurity until we may be called on again or in this case not.


To expand on the words of Rav Glick, we are to be the flames, not the Menorah. We are not the oil which allows the flame to be. We are not the spark which brought the flame forth. We are simply to be an extension of that which has brought us forth so others may have light for their path unto His purpose.