Summary:
In our Torah portion, Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah in order to bury his wife, Sarah. He then sends his servant to find a bride for Isaac. The servant meets Rebekah who shows him kindness by offering to draw water for the servant's camels at the well. The servant meets Rebekah's family and then takes Rebekah to Isaac, who marries her. Abraham takes another wife, named Keturah. At the age of one hundred and seventy-five, Abraham dies, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah. (25:1-11)
Lesson from our Haftarah Portion:
In a text that resounds like a Shakespearean tale, our Haftarah is filled with plotting and with intrigue. King David is old, and his blood is turning cold. The future of his throne is at stake. David is having a hard time escaping the scheming of his advisers and his sons. His son Adonijah wants to be king. David’s advisers back Solomon.
In our Torah portion, Abraham is also “old and advanced in years.” Both our Torah and Haftarah portion deal with a leader who is rapidly aging and is concerned with his legacy, worried about the future.
Yet the stories couldn’t be more different!
Abraham enters old age with the religious and moral integrity of his life intact. After he purchases a family tomb and buries Sarah, he asks his servants to swear that they will find a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s own tribe. By making this request, Abraham points to his concern for the moral future and direction of his tribe. Abraham was actively involved in creating a future that would continue the past. Just as Abraham was blessed with “all things”, so too does he pass on to Isaac the blessing of a future rooted in the past. By making his wishes clear, he eliminates contention over the future and even in his death, allows the new generation to focus on what they can create. Thus, Abraham dies at “a good ripe age”, “old and contented”. As he dies, Abraham teaches us that it is possible to balance our physical and spiritual selves.
David’s story is quite different. His death is a catastrophe rooted in his lack of vision. The story of David focuses on his physical infirmity and not on his moral vision. Due to a lack of strong leadership from David, his descendants scheme in order to secure their own claim, caring more about themselves than about the kingdom and its people. While his descendants plot, David’s involvement is minor at best. He seems to resent that his power is beginning to wane. A master manipulator for most of his life, he is manipulated as he dies.
Before he dies, he is finally able to transmit to Solomon a moral lesson that concerns the future of the people rather than focusing on his own power. David instructs Solomon to observe the Torah, so that God’s promises will be fulfilled. At the same time, he charges Solomon with the task of killing the renegade soldier Joab, in order to secure the realm. As David dies his moral voice is tempered by a political sensibility. Even as he dies, David’s concern with power does not ebb.
David’s political nature in our Haftarah is contrasted with Abraham’s noble nature in our Torah portion. We all have choices. Is our legacy, like David's, tied up in our concern for our own power ? Or can we, like Abraham, focus instead on the moral lessons that we teach with how we live and how we die?
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor