My sister and I have friends in Squirrel Hill, a primarily Jewish neighborhood in Pittsburgh. My sister lived there for nearly ten years. So my family and I listened for the names of those 11 souls that were murdered last Shabbat at the Tree of Life shul in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh. No, we didn’t know the 11 Jews, ages 56-97. However, these men, women, husbands, wives, brothers were also mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, and great-grandmothers. Children, grandchildren and great children will be mourning the loss of these 11 souls.
This Week we read from Parsha Chayei Sarah. This Shabbat we read from Parsha Chayei Sarah, “the Life of Sara”. It is a rather odd name for a Parsha that discusses’ Sarah’s death, and Avraham’s funeral preparations including a eulogy, crying, and the purchase of land for burial. The focus then shifts from Sarah’s death and Avraham’s caring for her to Avraham’s son Yitzchak and getting on with his life. Avraham instructs his servant to find a wife for Yitzchak from among his ancestors. The servant head back to Avraham’s homeland, he asks’ God for a sign so that he knows which girl is the right one for his master’s son. He finds the girl, convinces her to return with him, the girl leaves home and heads back with the servant to meet her new husband and her father-in-law. They get married. Avraham takes a wife and lives quietly in retirement. The Parsha concludes with Avraham’s death and the death of his eldest son Ishmael.
Sandwiched between the deaths of Sarah, at the beginning of the Parsha, and Avraham Avinu, at the conclusion of the Parsha, we read about Yitzchak’s mourning the death of his mother. His Aveilut, mourning, comes at the time when he marries Rivkah. VaYavieha Yitzchak HaOhela Sarah Imo VaYiKach et Rivkah VaT’Hi Lo L’Isha VaYe’Ehaveha VaYinachem Yitzchak Acharei Imo – And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother; he married Rebecca, she became his wife, and he loved her; and thus was Isaac consoled after his mother [‘s death] (Gen. 24:67. What is significant about the Torah telling us that he Yitzchak brought Rivka to his mother’s tent and not just telling us that Yitzchak married Rebecca, took her has his wife and loved her. Why does the verse begin with going into his mother’s tent and conclude with his being consoled about his mother’s death? Rashi, the 11th-century French commentator comments: As long as Sarah was alive, a lamp burned in her tent from one Sabbath eve to the next, her dough was blessed and a cloud signifying the Divine Presence hung over Sarah’s tent. When Sarah died, these blessings ceased, but when Rebecca entered the tent they resumed.
Last Shabbat, 11 lamps were extinguished, and as the children, grandchildren, and Jews of Pittsburgh begin sitting Shivah, the lights will remain extinguished. It must seem that the cloud signifying the Shechina, God’s Divine Presence, has abandoned these 11 souls. Yet we learn that Yitzchak found consolation in the support and love from his wife, Rebecca. Love, embodied in his wife; love provided Isaac consolation, allowed the lamp to be lit and remain lit from Shabbat to Shabbat. Love lights the darkness and love will help bring consolation to the children and grandchildren mourning the loss of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents in Pittsburgh. Love will allow the mourners and a community to sense that God’s presence embodied in the Divine Cloud never really left but remains a source of continued consolation and solidarity.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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