“And then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre – now Hevron – in the land of Canaan.” — Genesis 23:19
Our portion begins with a complex description of Abraham’s purchase of the cave of Machpelah as a burial place for his wife Sarah – a site will eventually become the familial burial plot for the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
The name “Machpelah” literally means “the doubled one” for reasons that are not entirely clear. According the Midrashic legend, Adam and Eve were the first to be buried there. In Talmudic commentary, Rav suggests the cave had two levels, while Rabbi Shmuel says it contained tombs in pairs. Abahu comments that anyone buried in the cave had a double portion in the world to come (Eruvin 53a).
But there is a more compelling reason why Machpelah might be called “the doubled one:” it is the only site in the world that doubles as both a synagogue and a mosque.
Amazingly, the cave continues to function as a holy site for Jews and Muslims even today. Its sanctuary has been divided (doubled?) into two individual sites, with two completely separate entrances for Muslims and Jews. It has been a tragic “doubling” to be sure. Hebron, where the cave is located, has historically been a flashpoint for bloodshed between Jews and Muslims. In 1929, sixty seven Jews were massacred during Arab rioting. More recently, in 1994, a Jewish settler murdered twenty nine Muslims in Machpelah itself. It is powerfully ironic that this double house of worship is “ground zero” for the conflict between these two peoples, the children of Abraham who are bound together by their common history as well as their common grief.
In its way, Chayei Sarah predicts this tragic bond. At the end of the portion we learn that after the death of Abraham, “his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah (25:9).” Though these two brothers are separated by vast and painful differences, they ultimately come together in Machpelah, in order to bury their mutual dead.
For all their differences, the children of Isaac and the children of Ishmael are still united, even today, by their shared bereavement.
I have also heard that Isaac and Ishmael ultimately came together to dance the “Machpelah”, which eventually passed through generations, not by Oral Law but by Dance Law, and more recently became the “Macarena”. Therefore, may we unite again with our brothers and sing, “Hey… Machpelah”.
Jordo
I’m to do the D’Var tomorrow for the Minyan, and I was thinking that there’s nothing new to say about it, so I was really glad to read about the “doubling”. Should lead to a lot of good thinking and comment.