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down before the people of the land, 
the Hittites. He said to them, ‘If you 
are willing to let me bury my dead, 
then listen to me and intercede 
with Ephron son of Zohar on my 
behalf so he will sell me the cave of 
Machpelah, which belongs to him 
and is at the end of his field. Ask him 
to sell it to me for the full price as a 
burial site among you.
’”
He takes their vague commitment 
and gives it sharp definition. If you 
agree that I may bury my dead, 
then you must agree that I should 
be able to buy the land in which to 
do so. And if you say, no one will 
refuse me, then surely you can have 
no objection to persuading the man 
who owns the field I wish to buy.
Ephron the Hittite was sitting 
among his people, and he replied to 
Abraham in the hearing of all the 
Hittites who had come to the gate 
of his city. “No, my lord,
” he said. 
“Listen to me; I give you the field, 
and I give you the cave that is in it. I 
give it to you in the presence of my 
people. Bury your dead.
”
Again, an elaborate show of gen-
erosity that is nothing of the kind. 
Three times Ephron said, “I give it 
to you,
” yet he did not mean it, and 
Abraham knew he did not mean it.
Again, Abraham bowed down 
before the people of the land and 
he said to Ephron in their hearing, 
“Listen to me, if you will. I will pay 
the price of the field. Accept it from 
me so I can bury my dead there.
” 
Ephron answered Abraham, 
“Listen to me, my lord; the land is 
worth 400 shekels of silver, but what 
is that between me and you? Bury 
your dead.
”
Far from giving the field away, 
Ephron is insisting on a vastly 
inflated price, while seeming to dis-
miss it as a mere trifle: “What is that 
between me and you?” Abraham 
immediately pays the price, and the 
field is finally his.
What we see in this brief but beau-
tifully nuanced passage is the sheer 
vulnerability of Abraham. For all 
that the local townsmen seem to pay 
him deference, he is entirely at their 

mercy, he has to use all his negotiat-
ing skill and, in the end, he must pay 
a large sum for a small piece of land. 
It all seems an impossibly long 
way from the vision God has painted 
for him of the entire country one day 
becoming a home for his descen-
dants. Yet Abraham is content. The 
next chapter begins with the words: 
“
Abraham was now old and well 
advanced in years, and the Lord had 
blessed him in all things.
” Gen. 24:1
That is the faith of an Abraham. 
The man promised as many children 
as the stars of the sky has one child 
to continue the covenant. The man 
promised the land “from the river 
of Egypt to the great river, the River 
Euphrates” [Gen. 15:18] has acquired 
one field and a tomb. But that is 
enough. The journey has begun. 
Abraham knows “It is not for you 
to complete the task.
” He can die 
content.
One phrase shines through the 
negotiation with the Hittites. They 
acknowledge Abraham, the alien and 
stranger, as “a prince of God in our 
midst.
” The contrast with Lot could 
not be greater. Recall that Lot had 
abandoned his distinctiveness. He 
had made his home in Sodom. His 
daughters had married local men. 
He “sat in the gate” of the town (Gen. 
19:1), implying that he had become 
one of the elders or judges. Yet when 
he resisted the people who were 
intent on abusing his visitors, they 
said, “This fellow came here as an 
alien, and now he wants to play the 
judge!” Gen. 19:9
Lot, who assimilated, was scorned. 
Abraham, who fought and prayed 
for his neighbors, but maintained his 
distance and difference, was respect-
ed. So it was then. So it is now. 
Non-Jews respect Jews who respect 
Judaism. Non-Jews disrespect Jews 
who disrespect Judaism.
So, at the end of his life, we see 
Abraham, dignified, satisfied, serene. 
There are many types of hero in 
Judaism, but few as majestic as the 
man who first heard the call of God 
and began the journey we still con-
tinue. 

Jew or American?
J

ews in America have been 
accepted as part of the fabric 
that makes up this great coun-
try, and we have as many rights 
under the Constitution as any 
other citizen. Our grandpar-
ents put it best, “
America is a 
goldene medina — a golden 
country.” 
Yet, we are still not the same 
as our neighbors; we, the Jews, 
are different. So, are we part 
and parcel of this country or do 
we stand apart? 
A deeper look at the behav-
ior of Abraham will give us a 
glimpse into this answer. In this 
week’s Torah portion, Abraham 
demonstrates how to relate to nations 
who accept us as equal. 
After Sarah passed away, Abraham 
tried to purchase a plot of land from 
the sons of Heth for her burial. They 
wanted to give him a burial spot 
for free, yet he insisted on properly 
purchasing the land saying, “I am a 
stranger and an inhabitant with you.” 
Right there, Abraham categorized 
the essence of a Jew in this world; we 
are full “inhabitants” of the world, yet 
we are still “strangers.”
On the one hand, we are 
inhabitants of this country in every 
sense of the word. We are involved 
in politics and government, do 
business together, go to the same 
universities and speak the same 
language. We are even prepared to 
stand right alongside our non-Jewish 
countrymen and sacrifice our lives 
defending our country. 
Still, we are total strangers to the 
people of this country, and our world 
is completely strange to them. We 
live our lives differently; we pray 
differently; we eat different foods and 
celebrate different holidays. 

When it came to burial, which is a 
part of that spiritual world of which 
our neighbors have no understanding, 
Abraham said to the Hittites, 
“Sell me a separate burial plot 
so that I may bury my dead.” 
The Hittites couldn’t 
understand why Abraham 
was talking about differences 
and separations. They wanted 
Abraham to feel at home 
among them and as one with 
them. They wanted him to bury 
his wife the way they buried 
theirs. Yet all their courtesy did 
not cause Abraham to sway. 
He insisted on buying the 
Machpelah cave because he 
wanted to demonstrate that although 
in certain ways Jews are one with 
their neighbors, when it comes to 
anything that is a part of our spiritual 
world (including death and life after 
death) we are completely strangers to 
them. Jews are a different breed. 
When our grandparents came to 
this country, they were complete 
strangers in the literal sense. 
Therefore, they did everything in 
their power to blend in and become 
integrated among the “inhabitants” of 
America. They were very successful; 
and we, their descendants, became so 
integrated that we forgot about being 
“strangers.”
The mission of our generation is to 
reinstate ourselves in the “stranger” 
category. We must constantly remind 
ourselves and teach our children that 
we belong to a higher spiritual world. 
Let’s remember what makes us dif-
ferent and be proud Jews who openly 
practice Judaism. 

Rabbi Schneor Greenberg is rabbi of the 

Chabad Jewish Center of Commerce, rabbi@

jewishcommerce.org.

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

Rabbi 
Schneur 
Greenberg

Parshat 

Chaye Sara: 

Genesis 

23:1-25:18; 

I Kings 1:1-31.

