Parshat Chayei Sara

PARSHA POINTS:

We left off  last week's Parsha with Avraham's final tenth test- will he sacrifice his son?...

What is in store for us this week?

•  Sarah dies at the age of 127. 

• Avraham searches for a place to bury his beloved wife. 

• Avraham found a plot of land belonging to Ephron the Hittite.

• Ephron offers the  plot of land  to Avraham as a gift, but Avraham refuses to take the gift and pays 400 dunam for the land.

• Avraham buries Sarah in the Cave of Machpela in Hebron.

• Avraham sends his faithful servant Eliezer back to Charan, to find a suitable wife for his son  Isaac. (thanks Ayelet ;-)

• Avraham made Eliezer swear that he would not take a wife for his son from the local Canaanite women.

• Eliezer  sets out for his journey and arrives by the city well. 

• He prays to God  for success in finding the right girl for Yitzchak.

• He requests a drink of water, and the one who would answer: "Certainly, and I'll also give your   camels to drink as well," would be the proper choice for Isaac. 

• Rivka approached the well and sure enough she ran to give Eliezer and his camels to drink.

• Rivka turned out to be Avraham’s great niece and this was a perfect match!  “Mazal tov”! 

•  Rivka ran back to tell her family and her brother Lavan came out to greet Eliezer and invited him to spend the night.
•   Eliezer recounts the day’s events to Rivka’s family and they agreed to the match.

• Rivka accepts to return to marry Yitzchak.

• Avraham remarries Keturah (who mefarshim say is Hagar)  and passes away at the age of 175.

• Yitzchak and Yishmael bury him in Mearat Hamachpela next to his wife Sara.

•  Yishmael passes away at the age of 137.

PARSHA PUZZLE:

We light the Shabbat candles,

every Friday night,

And now here comes the Shabbat Queen,

with our house all filled with light.

We sing Shalom Aleichem,

Greeting angels, then drinking wine,

Then we wash, Hamotzi, have some Challa

And everything looks so fine.

The food all smells delicious,

The challa, chicken, kugel, Parsha cake,

We can’t wait to taste all the delicacies,

That our mother worked hard to make.

Everything looks so beautiful,

We all see a special shine,

The work is all done, now we rest,

And our mother looks like she is on cloud nine.

Now that I have your attention,

You will see it lo and behold,

Can you guess the riddle for this week?

The clues are written in bold.

One more thing I will give you a clue,

When Sara died some things disappeared,

But when Rivka got married to Yitzchak,

These things suddenly reappeared.

PLAYING WITH THE PARSHA:

In this week’s Parsha we learn that Rivka gave water to Eliezer and to his camels to drink.  Let us see if it is easy to fill a pail of water…

You will need:  

 2 pails, one filled with water

 Plastic cups      

Place a bucket full of water at the front of the line and an empty bucket at the rear. The object of the game is to transfer the water from the front bucket to the rear bucket. To do this the each person must pass the cups of water over their heads to the person behind them.

  Empty cups must be passed back to the front the same way.

Discuss  the chesed that Rivka did by providing water.  It was not an easy task, yet she ran to do so. 

Don’t forget to offer someone a glass of water when they enter your home.  If someone is cleaning the yard, a mailman or anyone else, you will make them very happy.

SHABBAT IMABBA:
Here is a great way for my father and I to learn a little bit of Parsha each week, even though we live far from each other.  
( I like the play on words of Abba in the word Shabbat, and Imabba meaning "with Abba" and Ima Abba written together!  The word bat is in there too, so it is complete :-)!  Thanks Abba and Ima :-)!

In this week's Parsha, Avraham Avinu went to look for a buriel plot for Sarah. When Avraham approached Ephron to inquire, the people of Hittite were standing around him. What did Ephron answer? " I have given you the field, and as for the cave that is in it, I have given it to you,: in the view of the children of my people have I given it to you, bury your dead."   But later on when no one was around  Ephron said to Avraham, "The land is worth 400 silver shekel- between me and you- what is it?  Bury your dead." 

How did Ephron arrive at the number 400?  He said to Avraham ""between me and you- what is it?"  The middle letter in Avraham's name is resh = 200.  The middle letter of Ephron is also resh which equals 200.  So this is where he got the number 400. Between me and between you, the letter resh. 

Parsha Treat: 

Here is a cake resembling the well.  You will see how WELL everyone will finish this treat!

You will need:
1 chocolate cake baked in a bundt pan
2 skewers (shipudim)
1 small glass cup- to place in the middle
A bit of whipped cream with blue food coloring mixed in
(or blue Jello) to resemble water
Colored paper to fold on top
A toy  camel or jug to decorate.

WELL, there you have it!

Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing Shabbat!  Ruchie