Chayei Sarah: The Mystery of Machpelah
The fact that our Forefathers and the Foremothers are buried in the HaMachpelah cave makes the place extremely holy, and mystical as well…
ז וַיָּ֧קָם אַבְרָהָ֛ם וַיִּשְׁתַּ֥חוּ לְעַם־הָאָ֖רֶץ לִבְנֵי־חֵֽת:
ח וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אִתָּ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר אִם־יֵ֣שׁ אֶת־נַפְשְׁכֶ֗ם לִקְבֹּ֤ר אֶת־מֵתִי֙ מִלְּפָנַ֔י שְׁמָע֕וּנִי וּפִגְעוּ־לִ֖י בְּעֶפְר֥וֹן בֶּן־צֹֽחַר:
ט וְיִתֶּן־לִ֗י אֶת־מְעָרַ֤ת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה֙ אֲשֶׁר־ל֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בִּקְצֵ֣ה שָׂדֵ֑הוּ בְּכֶ֨סֶף מָלֵ֜א יִתְּנֶ֥נָּה לִּ֛י בְּתֽוֹכְכֶ֖ם לַֽאֲחֻזַּת־קָֽבֶר
“Avraham got up and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Ches. He told them, “If you wish to bury my dead, appeal on my behalf to Ephron son of Tzohar, so that he will let me have the cave of Machpelah at the edge of his field. Let him give it to me for the full price as a burial property among you.” (Bereishit 23:7-9)
…Why is it called “Machpelah”? Kafula b’zugos–Because it has many couples (i.e., “kafula” is the root of the word “machpelah“). To Mamre, the city of Arbah (four) … (Bereishit 25:29); Rebbi Yitzchak: The city of four couples (i.e., Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivkah, and Ya’akov and Leah). (Eiruvin 53a)
That the Forefathers and the Foremothers are buried in Maarat HaMachpelah makes the place extremely holy and important to the Jewish people. However, the fact that Adam and Chava are buried there too makes the place extremely mystical as well:
“The mystery of Maarat HaMachpelah is that Adam and Chava are buried there, and even though this is not made known in the Torah, it is a true tradition that has gone from mouth-to-ear; it is in the Zohar: Rebbi Kisma said: Maarat HaMachpelah is near the opening of Gan Eden, for there is no doubt that Gan Eden is in Eretz [Yisroel]. When Chava died, Adam buried her there, and the smell was that of Gan Eden. For this reason, Adam wanted to dig further, but a Heavenly Voice came out and said, ‘It is enough for you! Stand there, and do not dig further.’ He was also buried there by his son Shais, who was in his likeness. Rebbi Rechumai said, ‘The Holy One, Blessed is He, was involved in his [Adam’s] creation and his death, and no one knew [about the place] until Avraham came along and purchased it for a lot of money; the smell is that of Gan Eden, and he heard the voices of the Ministering Angels says, ‘Adam is buried there.’ ” (Yalkut Reuvaini, Tziyoni, Chaye Sarah)
Wait. There’s more:
טז וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע אַבְרָהָם֘ אֶל־עֶפְרוֹן֒ וַיִּשְׁקֹ֤ל אַבְרָהָם֙ לְעֶפְרֹ֔ן אֶת־הַכֶּ֕סֶף אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֶּ֖ר בְּאָזְנֵ֣י בְנֵי־חֵ֑ת אַרְבַּ֤ע מֵאוֹת֙ שֶׁ֣קֶל כֶּ֔סֶף עֹבֵ֖ר לַסֹּחֵֽר:
“Maarat Machpelah, which is in Hevron, is the place where the Forefathers are buried, and it is known that it is the passageway to the lower Gan Eden; hence, the words “over la-socher” (Bereishit 23:16; “current money to the merchant”) equal in gematria “orach l’Gan,” the “path to the Garden.” As well, the word “la-socher” is missing the letter “vav,” giving it a gematria equal to the word “chatzer” (courtyard), because Maarat Machpelah is the courtyard to Gan Eden … Furthermore, anyone who dies and is buried there merits to ascend to the lower Gan Eden without obstruction …” (Yalkut Reuvaini, Tov Ha’Aretz, Chaye Sarah)
In fact, according to the Tov Ha’Aretz, one of the main reasons why the Angel tried to damage Yaakov’s leg when they fought together was to create a spiritual blemish in Ya’akov that would deny him the right to be buried there with his wives! It’s as if Maarat Machpelah is some kind of spiritual “litmus test” for the Jewish people–if a person was worthy, the cave accepted him for burial; if not, the cave rejected him. If so, we can understand why Avraham was prepared to go to great lengths to buy the cave from Ephron. And if so, we can have a better appreciation why the cave and Chevron are playing such a major role in current politics as history begins to wind down.
This may be hard for a non-believing Jew to grapple with, for whom Maarat HaMachpelah may be just another tourist attraction. But for the Torah-observant Jew, Maarat HaMachpelah represents far more than just another stop along the tour, and if it was so important to Avraham, then it ought to be important to us as well. After all, Ma’aseh Avot siman l’banim–the actions of the father are lessons for the sons.
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Pinchas Winston is the author of over 95 books on various topics that deal with current issues from a traditional Jewish perspective. He has also written on the weekly Torah reading since 1993, called “Perceptions”, as well as on current topics and trends affecting Jewish history, past and present. One of his missions is to make the depth and beauty of the more mystical teachings of Torah understandable and accessible to those who can really benefit from them. Visit his website at thirtysix.org.
5/04/2015
Gematria
Dear Rabbi, how do you write "orach l'gan" in Hebrew so that it is numerically equal to the gematria of "over l'socher" which is 570? Because I can't seem to write it correctly, and only get a 292 gematria for ארח לגןץ
5/04/2015
Dear Rabbi, how do you write "orach l'gan" in Hebrew so that it is numerically equal to the gematria of "over l'socher" which is 570? Because I can't seem to write it correctly, and only get a 292 gematria for ארח לגןץ