Below is a collection of Parashat Chayei Sara resources created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators. 
This is a growing collection. Check back soon or write to us at content@lookstein.org if you didn’t find what you’re looking for. 

Return to Sefer Bereshit Resources
Parasha Points
  • Sarah dies at the age of 127 years; Abraham ensures a proper burial by purchasing the Mahpela Cave.
  • Abraham sends his trusted servant back to where he came from, Haran, to find a wife for Isaac. Under no circumstances is Isaac to leave God’s promised land.
  • Upon arriving in Haran the servant meets Rebecca. She generously provides him and his camels with water and offers hospitality in her father’s home. Grateful that he has found a woman with the right qualities and from Abraham’s home, he gives her a nose ring and two bracelets.
  • The servant tells the saga of his journey to Rebecca’s father (Betuel) and brother (Laban). They are so taken by his story that they declare this a match made in heaven. The next morning they ask Rebecca, who is eager to go with the servant to marry Isaac.
  • When she sees Isaac from a distance she is awestruck and falls from her camel. Isaac brings her into his tent and is finally comforted after the death of his mother.
  • Abraham marries again. His wife, Ketura, bears him six children. Abraham sends them out, as he did with Ishmael.
  • Abraham died at the age of 175 years and is buried in the Mahpela Cave by Isaac and Ishmael.
  • Ishmael has twelve sons who become a mighty nation.
Educational Themes
  • Care for proper burial is a high value in the Torah.
  • Love and marriage should include understanding the values of the partner.
  • Kindness, generosity, and hospitality are of high value in the Torah.
Notable Quotes
  • As Abraham describes his status vis-à-vis the Hebronites:
     גר ותושב אנכי עמכם
  • The blessing given to Rebecca by her family:
    אחותינו את היי לאלפי רבבה
  • Isaac brings Rebecca into his mother’s tent:
    ויביאה יצחק האהלה שרה אמו

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Question #1: How long does it take for you to judge if someone really is a good person? If you could only ask them one question to help you judge, what would that be? Abraham’s servant is given the task of finding a wife for Isaac. He asks her a key question to determine if she is a good person. How did this “test” prove the worthiness of the girl he was looking for?

Look inside the text (Bereshit 24:14),

 וְהָיָה הַנַּעֲרָ אֲשֶׁר אֹמַר אֵלֶיהָ הַטִּי נָא כַדֵּךְ וְאֶשְׁתֶּה וְאָמְרָה שְׁתֵה וְגַם גְּמַלֶּיךָ אַשְׁקֶה אֹתָהּ הֹכַחְתָּ לְעַבְדְּךָ לְיִצְחָק וּבָהּ אֵדַע כִּי עָשִׂיתָ חֶסֶד עִם אֲדֹנִי – Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, lower your jar that I may drink,’ and who replies, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’—let her be the one who You have chosen for Your servant Isaac. From this, I will know that You have done kindness with my master.”

Question #2: How can you reconcile after having a fight or disagreement with someone who was once close to you or a family member? On the one hand, the last time we see Ishmael is when he is banished from Abraham’s house and he almost dies of thirst. Yet when their father dies, Isaac and Ishmael join together to bury him. Imagine and discuss the conversation that took place between them which enabled them to come together and bury their father.

Look inside the text (Bereshit 25:9),

וַיִּקְבְּרוּ אֹתוֹ יִצְחָק וְיִשְׁמָעֵאל בָּנָיו אֶל מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה אֶל שְׂדֵה עֶפְרֹן בֶּן צֹחַר הַחִתִּי אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי מַמְרֵא – His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre

Question #3: Eliezer asks God to send him a sign that the woman greeting him is indeed the appropriate mate for Isaac. Is it appropriate to ask God for signs? Can we expect God to respond to such requests? Do such requests turn God into our servant, rather than the reverse?

Question #4: Abraham has additional children with Keturah, but sends them away from Isaac. What happens to those descendants later in history? What kind of relationship do they develop with the descendants of Isaac? What impact may their being sent away have on them, or on Isaac Is it possible that Isaac’s desire to keep Esau close at hand is a reaction to his father’s handling of his own brothers?

 

LESSON PLANS AND ARTICLES

The Purchase of the Meorat HaMachpelah – This lesson plan for middle school and high school students analyzes Abraham’s negotiations and his subsequent purchase of the Meorat HaMachpela, and what that tells us about ancient culture and behavior.