There is a fascinating dialogue in the Torah portion this week. Sarah, Abraham’s beloved spouse, has died, and he owns no plot of land for burying her. He is bereft and at the mercy of the Hittites, on whose land he is at the time she dies. He is in need of a burial plot, one that he can be sure he will be able to return to, so he aims to purchase land from the Hittites. But they repeatedly insist that they respect him and offer him a plot as a gift rather than selling it. He does not trust their apparent generosity, and in the end, he is proven right by the high price that Ephron, the owner of the plot, finally indicates.
There are countless pages of commentary on this scene, but here I will point to Abraham’s combination of vulnerability and boldness. Some cultural models teach that vulnerability connotes weakness. But Abraham, in the midst of grief, models self-respect, power and graciousness at the same time as he openly shares his status as a guest in another people’s land and his urgent need to buy a burial plot. He succeeds in negotiating the purchase of the plot, and the sale is completed “before the eyes of of the Hittites, in the presence of all who had come within the gate of Ephron’s city” (Genesis 23:4). As Abraham teaches, openly sharing our humanity with others can be part of inspiring both empathy and respect.
An Additional Note: To follow up from my invitation some weeks ago to work in solidarity with interfaith communities to protect immigrants, some TBH members will be joining a talk this Saturday afternoon at 1:15pm after services at Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, to learn about ways to support immigrants under threat of unlawful detention, family separation and deportation. The talk will be by Julie Litwin of the Kehilla Community Synagogue Immigration Committee. All are welcome to join me and the other TBH members who plan to attend.
Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller
Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18) Torah Reading Nov. 13, 2025: Power and Vulnerability
November 15, 2025 by Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller • D'var Torah
There is a fascinating dialogue in the Torah portion this week. Sarah, Abraham’s beloved spouse, has died, and he owns no plot of land for burying her. He is bereft and at the mercy of the Hittites, on whose land he is at the time she dies. He is in need of a burial plot, one that he can be sure he will be able to return to, so he aims to purchase land from the Hittites. But they repeatedly insist that they respect him and offer him a plot as a gift rather than selling it. He does not trust their apparent generosity, and in the end, he is proven right by the high price that Ephron, the owner of the plot, finally indicates.
There are countless pages of commentary on this scene, but here I will point to Abraham’s combination of vulnerability and boldness. Some cultural models teach that vulnerability connotes weakness. But Abraham, in the midst of grief, models self-respect, power and graciousness at the same time as he openly shares his status as a guest in another people’s land and his urgent need to buy a burial plot. He succeeds in negotiating the purchase of the plot, and the sale is completed “before the eyes of of the Hittites, in the presence of all who had come within the gate of Ephron’s city” (Genesis 23:4). As Abraham teaches, openly sharing our humanity with others can be part of inspiring both empathy and respect.
An Additional Note: To follow up from my invitation some weeks ago to work in solidarity with interfaith communities to protect immigrants, some TBH members will be joining a talk this Saturday afternoon at 1:15pm after services at Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, to learn about ways to support immigrants under threat of unlawful detention, family separation and deportation. The talk will be by Julie Litwin of the Kehilla Community Synagogue Immigration Committee. All are welcome to join me and the other TBH members who plan to attend.
Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller