This Shabbos, as we read parshas Chayei Sora in the Torah, the property rights of Jews in Israel are up on the agenda. Abraham bought the cave field plot paying the full price despite having already received it earlier through Hashem's promise of inheriting the entire Land of Israel.
Therefore Avraham said to the Chitite: I am a stranger and a with you - "if you wish, I will be a stranger, and if not, I will be a sojourner and take my part according to the law, as Hashem told me, "to your seed I will give this country" (Rashi).
Buying the Cave of Machpela was in fact the salvation of land in Israel. This act is described with the words "and the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham" - Rashi interprets: "He had a revival."
The events that our forefathers underwent are an indication of what will inevitably befall their progeny. The redemption and settling of Eretz Yisroel is one of the most important commands, equivalent to all the commandments in the Torah (Sifrei Devarim, Paragraph 80).
Redemption of the lands in Eretz Yisroel from non- Jews is the salvation of the Divine Presence. This is why the redemption of Eretz Yisroel also brings about redemption of the nation and the Torah.
Therefore, only after Abraham redeemed the piece of land in Israel at full price, it is related of him: "and the Hashem had blessed Abraham in all things."
It was all in the merit of Sora, who followed Avrohom to Eretz Yisroel and determined that Yitzchok would be the one to inherit the land of Israel; her death was the main reason for the redemption of land of Israel for full price, which indicated the property rights of Jews in Israel for the next generations. |
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