Anash.org presents a weekly Dvar Torah for children by Rabbi Yekusiel Goldstein, author of the book Divrei Torah for Children.
New: Submit the answers to the review questions below and be entered into a raffle to win a copy of the book! Thank you Rabbi Goldstein for sponsoring the raffle.
For a printable PDF of the Dvar Torah for Parshas Chayei Sara, click here.
חַיֵי שָׂרָה
No Free Ride
After Sara Imeinu passed away, Avraham came to the family of Cheis saying, “I want to bury Sara in your land. If you’re willing to sell me the land – I will pay for it. If you do not want to sell it, then I can rightfully claim the land from you. The land is a part of Eretz Yisroel which belongs to me as a gift from Hashem.”
In the end, Avraham paid the full, unreasonably high price for the kever, even though Efron was willing to give it to him for free.
Question: If Avraham was able to receive the kever for free, why did he insist on paying for it?
Answer: Chassidus explains that with kedusha and avodas Hashem, nothing is “free.” In order to properly accomplish a mitzva we need to put in effort. When we put in effort, there are two benefits:
1) We value our accomplishments more;
2) We reach a higher level of kedusha, and bring down a greater light from Hashem.
Buying Sara’s kever was something heilik and for kedusha. Avraham therefore put in the additional effort and paid for it.
Lesson: There are times when learning Torah and doing mitzvos are easy for us and don’t require any effort. We learn from Avraham that in order to do a mitzva and learn Torah properly, we must put in effort so that we bring down a higher level of kedusha into this world. This is what we say in the 12 pesukim “יָגַעְתִּי וּמָצָאתִי תַּאֲמִין!” – When we put in effort, we are truly successful!
Let’s Review…
Question #1 – What did Avraham Avinu do before accepting Sara Imeinu’s kever?
Question #2 – What are one of the benefits we get for extra effort in doing a mitzva?
Submit your answers via this form by Monday 6:00 pm, to enter the weekly raffle for your own Sefer “Divrei Torah for Children”!
Divrei Torah for ChildrenVolume 2 can be purchased online or in Crown Heights bookstores.
