The study of the life and individual characteristics of the Patriarchs are critical to understanding the foundations of Judaism.

The history of Judaism begins with Avraham and continues with his descendants including the time when nation-building begins with the exodus from Egypt. Judaism makes its appearance on stage with the call from God to Avraham, Lech Lecha: leave your parents’ home to a land that I will indicate to you and gradually you will discover which are the elements that distinguish this new philosophy from life with its potential to become a theology.
Our chapters report on the death of Sarah, the first matriarch. The absence of details of her death is complemented by the Oral Torah, with the Midrash which reveals that Sarah died upon hearing that her only son Yitschak would be sacrificed as an offering to God, in a hardly understandable demonstration of unlimited love for God. What was Avraham’s reaction? Did he feel guilty about the death of his wife and as a consequence of did he enter a state of acute depression? Avraham cries for his wife and reflects on her virtues and then faces reality: he must find an appropriate place to bury Sarah. Avraham acquires a large piece of land where the mortal remains of the patriarchs will rest and according to
ancient tradition, Adam and Chava are also buried there.

Mearat Hamachpela, is the name of the place, the Mausoleum of the Patriarchs, located in the city of Chevron that is an additional reason for the current disputes between Israel and the Palestinians. Sarah’s death could have provoked a reaction of asceticism, as Professor Dov Schwartz observes. There exist primitive customs according to which the survivors lacerate their bodies at the death of a family member.

An ascetic view probably implies a denial of the value of family and community life, because the concentration on the deity must be total. Perhaps the Christian priesthood, that demands celibacy, shares some of that notion. It is a behavior that denies the value of the material world in order to enthrone the spiritual universe as the only alternative.

The biblical idea of ​​the Nazir, a person who promises to abstain from certain pleasures such as the consumption of the product of the vine, avoids contact with the dead and not cut their hair, points towards a life of material deprivation, and exclusive dedicatio to celestial matters.
Some, rightly point out that the Torah demands a sacrifice at the end of the Nezirut period, thereby signaling that the Nazir should not be considered a
spiritual hero, an optimal condition for the Jew. Unlike Shimshon who remained all his life under the sign of Nezirut, the Talmud postulates that, when not specified, the Nezirut period lasts for one month.

We can conclude that according to the Talmud,  being a Nazir must be a temporary choice. Avraham does not choose to convert Sarah into an icon, he cries for her, but also buries her; he does not forget her, but neither venerates her. The death of his wife does not imply the end of family history. Now he has to dedicate himself to Yitschak, to the search of a suitable wife for his son. He has to think about the future of the people he is creating. The difficulty in procreating with Sarah has sensitized him to value even more Yitschak, who through the Akeda demonstrated his willingness to offer his life in the service of God.

At the same time, the Creator taught that he did not desire human sacrifice.

Judaism will have to choose between several alternatives, leaning towards one more than to the other without discarding any;  between asceticism and a path that seeks a middle ground, that accentuates the spiritual model but does not deny the value of the material world. The conflict and dichotomy caused by having to choose between good and evil, the secular world and a spiritual environment, self-interest and altruism, cowardice and courage, is the catalytic ferment that forces one to think and reflect. It is a continuous search to identify the path that should serve for spiritual growth and development which began with Avraham and continues through the present. Living is searching. Contemplation is for the Hereafter where the task becomes the appreciation of the radiant Presence of God.