THE FIRST JEWISH WEDDING

Mr. Burg, newly appointed to his post, once interrupted an all-night Knesset session to deliver an emotional eulogy for his colleague, Amnon Rubinstein. He even led the chamber in prayer. Moments later, the Knesset physician came running: “He’s alive! He’s not dead!”

Embarrassed, Burg explained it was a prank call. The funniest part? Rubinstein was watching the whole eulogy live from his hospital bed—and burst out laughing. “The news of my demise is slightly premature,” he joked. “We all have a secret wish to hear our own eulogy. When the day comes, I appoint Burg to deliver mine.”

This story highlights how easily we miss details—something quite different from the Torah, where every word is precise. The Vilna Gaon, one of the great Lithuanian sages, teaches us how to notice such nuance.

In the opening of Chayei Sarah, the Torah repeats the phrase “burying the dead” seven times during Abraham’s purchase of the Cave of Machpelah. Six times it says “bury my/your dead.” The seventh changes to “you're dead, you shall bury.” Why this unusual repetition? And why the shift in wording?

The Vilna Gaon explains that the seven mentions correspond to the seven people ultimately buried in the cave after Abraham purchased it:
Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, and finally Esau, whose head was buried there after the famous dispute recorded in the Talmud.

The first six were righteous. As the Talmud teaches, “The righteous, even in death, are considered alive.” Their lives were aligned with their souls; their influence continues long after burial. This is why the Torah phrases it as “bury your dead”—the burial is physical, but spiritually they continue to live.

Esau, however, was not of that spiritual caliber. The rabbis describe him as living a morally empty life; the Talmud says, “The wicked, even in life, are considered dead.” For him, spiritual death preceded physical burial—thus the final phrase is reversed: “you're dead, you shall bury.”

Some people remain alive long after they are gone; others may be physically alive yet spiritually disconnected.

Woody Allen once quipped, “I don’t want to live on in the hearts of people; I want to live on in my apartment.” But the only lasting life we can guarantee is the life of our values, goodness, and influence—the life of the soul.

This is why the portion is called “The Life of Sarah,” even though it begins with her passing. Through her love, faith, and the home she built with Abraham, Sarah’s life continues to resonate. Her burial in the Cave of Machpela established the first Jewish foothold in the Land of Israel, and Rebecca’s arrival and marriage to Isaac ensured that Sarah’s spiritual legacy would continue.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky