GENESIS XXII -XXV:18
INFLUENCE AFTER DEATH
Sarah’s death is the subject of the first verses of the biblical text. Her disappearance shook the foundations of the family because she had not been a passive woman. She helped propagate the ideal preached by her husband Avraham. During the family’s stay in Charan on their way to the Promised Land, Sarah showed initiative by teaching the women about the existence of the one God. On hearing of her death, Avraham burst into uncontrollable weeping because Sarah had been a loyal companion who had given birth to Yitchak, the true spiritual heir, who would carry forward the message of monotheism for humanity.
The fact that the name of the Parsha refers to Sarah’s life suggests that her influence did not cease with her death. Avraham recognizes that the void created by Sarah’s death and her influence had to be compensated, perhaps through the introduction of another woman into the household, Yitchak’s future wife. He entrusts his faithful servant Eli’ezer with the search for a suitable bride, a maiden who must come from the midst of the family that remained in Charan.
Eli’ezer invokes God’s help for the fulfillment of his mission and, deep in his spirit, he probably wants to find a woman with the same characteristics as Sarah. Rivka is the beautiful young woman chosen by Eli’ezer and when she returns to her master’s house, Yitchak ushers her into the tent that her late mother used to inhabit. The Torah says, “And he loved her.” It is the first time that the Torah speaks of love between man and woman, husband and wife. The word love does not appear in the case of Adam and Chava, Noach and his wife who is not even mentioned by name in the Torah.
Quoting the interpretation of one of his students, Lewis Warshauer suggests that Yitzchak’s professed love for Rivka was a manifestation of admiration and respect but was not the expression of a sense of intimacy and affection for the opposite sex. It is possible that Isaac considered Rivka’s character and personality as a substitute for his mother Sarah. Perhaps there was no fluid communication between the couple and, therefore, the desired emotional rapprochement did not take place, a fact that led to a different preference for their sons Esav and Yaakov.
While Yitchak admired the courage and physical prowess of Esav, the man of the field, Rivka was inclined to the sensitivity expressed in Yaakov’s personality. A similar idea appears in Ramban’s commentary, which suggests that, according to the Torah, Yitchak was extremely saddened by the death of his mother and found solace only with Rivka. This is how Ramban understands the paradigm of love that Yitchak professed for Rivka. He loved her because she had the spiritual semblance of his dear mother Sarah.
However, the differences between the three matriarchs, Sarah, Rivka, and Rachel—because each person is usually a universe on their own—there is a common thread that unites them. Sarah was the faithful wife who accompanied the pioneering work of her husband Avraham, the iconoclast who transformed the spiritual map of humanity. Rivka, on the other hand, recognizes that Yitchak had undergone a metamorphosis due to the Akedah, because he had been tied on an altar to be sacrificed and had become a totally spiritual being, far from the mundane, inattentive to the possible intrigues and jealousies that usually arise between brothers.
Rachel, on the other hand, had to compete with her sister Le’ah and their respective concubines for Yaakov’s attentions. However, there is a common denominator for the matriarchs: their concern for the continuity of the monotheistic ideal, a concern that translates into acts and postures that ensure the transmission of the principles of the faith. Thus, Sarah’s life served as an example for the following matriarchs, and although our text begins with her passing, her influence endured beyond her earthly life.
