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This has been a season of intense loss in our community.  Beloved congregants have died, as have parents and other relatives of our members.  As a community, we have celebrated all that was good in their lives, and rallied around to be of assistance to those mourning their losses.  And we always will.  It is one of the most sacred tasks we perform for each other, with great love.  We allow our presence to affirm that even though there will be sad and lonely times ahead, none of us need to face them in total aloneness.

Our Torah portion this week, Chayei Sarah, is also one of love and loss and paradox.  We always note that while the title means “the life of Sarah,” the narrative opens with her death, and with Abraham’s determination to find a burial place for her that will belong to his family line for all time.  His negotiations with the Hittites, a neighboring tribe that offers him such a place are incredibly methodical.  Commentators point to many possible reasons for this, one of which may be that the back-and-forth he undertakes is actually a part of his mourning.  Coming to an agreement on purchasing a place for Sarah only seems matter of fact.  It actually represents Abraham’s efforts to care for her and to bless her memory.  Many of us have been there.  “I can’t do everything I once did for and with my beloved,” we say to ourselves, “but I can do this.”

Once Sarah is properly buried, Abraham’s casts his vision towards the future.  He very much wants to find a wife for Isaac as he senses that his own end is coming closer.  The most poignant part of this quest comes when Isaac and Rebecca are betrothed to each other, and we read that Isaac found comfort with her after his mother’s death.  The process of moving forward following profound loss is lifelong, and frustratingly non-linear.  But times of comfort can be found in new ventures or relationships, or simply in understanding on a deeper level that to grieve is to have loved, and both cement our place in the human family.

For all who need it, I wish you comfort and peace.

I also hope to see you at 7:00pm Shabbat services tonight – Jodi Harris and I will lead together, which always adds an extra dimension of joy!

Shabbat Shalom,