Today's date and time:

Sermon for Sidra Chaye Sarah
November 2008
by Rabbi Geoffrey Hyman

Ephron, the first estate agent mentioned in the Tenach (Bible), possessed the usual gift of the gab. In our Sidra, Abraham negotiates with him over land in Hebron for a mere burial plot for Sarah, who has just died. Ephron boasts no problem: “The field and the cave are yours – go and bury your dead.” But then Abraham ends up paying out four hundred Shekels of silver!

Look at this parshah; it takes up a total of twenty verses just describing the details of the negotiations of the sale, why?

Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever (1824-1891), who was the Rabbi of Bialystok and founder of the Chovivei Tzion movement (the Lovers of Zion), suggests the following answer, he writes: “This parshah comes to teach us that nowadays, as in the days of Avraham, in order to reclaim the land promised to Avraham’s descendants, every piece of land would have to be purchased for hefty sums.”

In fact the Midrash Bereshis Rabboh (79:7), notes that there are three places in Canaan which were purchased by our ancestors where the nations of the world cannot taunt us that we stole them – or in contemporary jargon say to us “you are occupiers.” The first is the cave of Machpelah, which I just mentioned. The second, the Temple site, Jerusalem – purchased by King David from Ornan for six hundred shekels of gold. And the third place: the burial ground of Joseph bought from the children of Chamor for a hundred pieces of currency.

Yet amazingly – these three places are the very places of contention with the Palestinians and their sympathizers: the Temple Mount, Chevron and the Grave of Joseph, which is in Nablus on the West Bank. The Cave of Machpelah requires massive security for our safe passage. In August 1929 over sixty Jews were massacred in Chevron by rioting Arabs - many of those murdered were Yeshivah students from the famous Yeshiva, which then had to re-locate to Jerusalem. The Temple Mount is probably the most contentious of all the areas and the traditional grave of Joseph was subject to desecration by Palestinians in the past.

It is tragic that we live in this fractured world where Israel is seen as “occupiers” and even the state visit this week of the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, had to be marred by anti-Israel hecklers and demonstrators.

Interestingly, this week’s Jewish Chronicle reports on a major interfaith visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau which took place recently. The Chief Rabbi also referred to this event when he addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, 19th November.

Let me start by quoting from his speech:

“Friends, last Thursday – six days ago – the Archbishop of Canterbury and I led a mission of the leaders of all the faiths in Britain, leaders of the Muslim community, the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Buddhists, the Jains, the Zoroastrians and the Baha’i, and together we travelled and spent a day in Auschwitz. There we wept together, and there we prayed together, knowing what happens when we fail to honour the humanity of those not like us.”

Please bear in mind these words from the Chief Rabbi.

The Jewish Chronicle article also reports that some 180 teenagers and teachers form S.E. England also went, organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust. There were 2 MPs and 14 other representatives of the faith communities of the UK. It was considered a show of interfaith solidarity. That is good, something to be welcomed.

The Chief Rabbi told the group: “May the fact that we have come together in this moment of grief remembered, lead us to come together in future for the sake of hope, friendship, tolerance and life.

The J.C. goes on to report that among the group there were three Muslims and one of them, Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, said: “What one sees with one’s eyes is very different to how a book or picture might try to portray it.” Walking the very path where those poor souls were marched to their end, no book can help you understand.” Indeed very moving and sincere words.

But then the J.C. quotes more comments from this same fellow, who incidentally chairs the Muslim Council of Britain’s interfaith committee:

“Wondering how far the cry of “never again” has been taken up, we have seen genocide and ethnic cleansing in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda (and now wait for it) – and indeed, in the Holy Land, in Palestine. (Note he can’t say Israel), Sabra, Shatila, India and so on – the list is a never ending list, sadly, and we haven’t learnt the lessons.”

And then more explicitly – he is quoted as saying:

“What troubles me is the fact that a vast majority of people murdered here – were Jewish, yet we find in the Holy Land, in Palestine and in the occupied territories, (my capitals) IT IS THE JEWISH PEOPLE, THE ISRAELI ARMY AND THE ISRAELIS, who are mistreating fellow human beings in an unacceptable manner, ghettoising, discriminating, demonising, isolating.”

It was, he added: “Sad” to have to make such comparisons. “I know there is a huge difference in how the Jews, and indeed the gypsies and others, were systematically rounded up and the whole machinery of exterminating them was put into place. But there was a beginning of all this, where the Jewish person was demonised, portrayed as vermin and unfit for society.”

Later in the article, the Chief Rabbi is quoted as having said to the group when highlighting the display of interfaith unity – “I hope you take away from today what I take, an extraordinary signal of hope.”

How sad - it is obvious from all this that some can even view the ashes of our people in Auschwitz and yet still fail to learn the lesson!

When, oh when will the world wake up and understand the Israeli side!

MAY THE ALMIGHTY INSPIRE HUMANITY WITH UNDERSTANDING.