Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
SPIRITUAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE BEREISHIT STORIES These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. "Grant me a burial place"
[3] "Avraham buried Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpela facing Mamrei, which is Hevron" (B'reishit 23:10). Kiryat Arba, Mamrei, Hevron, All these names refer to the history of the city. Mamrei, an ally and a friend of Avraham's [14:13] built a town facing Hevron which was a Hittite city. Later the giant Arba conquered it and named the whole area Kiryat Arba after himself, then when Israel conquered the Hittites, they renamed it Hevron. According to some, Machpela refers to the couples who are buried there, others see the name referring to the fact that it contained two chambers one above the other (Rav and Shmuel, Eruvin 53a). "Hashem bent Adam double so that the extremely tall Adam would fit into the cave and then He buried him there" (B'reishit Rabba 55:10). Ramban suggests that the whole place was known as Machpela; perhaps that's why the Hittites, ignorant of the cave's significance, called the cave by the same name. Contrary to the normal nature of markets throughout history, nowhere in the protracted negotiations does Avraham haggle over the opening price asked for by Efron. Ramban explains that the 400 silver shekels asked for was the current market price, whereas Chazal saw this as price oppression, ona'a. In the case of movable goods, anything in excess or below market price by one-sixth or more, is grounds for invalidating the sale, irrespective of whether seller or buyer are the aggrieved party. There is no such ona'a in regard to real estate; although the Rosh and other halachic authorities hold that there is ona'a even in real estate where there are excessive price differentials, 100% instead of the normal benchmark overcharge of one-sixth (Tur, Choshen Mishpat). Perhaps Efron was guilty of price oppression in that he demanded an exorbitant price for the field, thus exploiting Avraham's need to acquire a burial place. Furthermore, Efron demanded good silver coins acceptable by banker or merchant; according to Rashi (verse 16, following Bava Metzia 87a), the pure silver shekels paid by Avraham were equivalent to 1 million ordinary shekels whose silver content varied widely. Despite the exaggerated price demanded, Avraham did not ask for credit or a delay in payment; to act otherwise would have been a Chilul Hashem, as we learn: "Rava said it is Chilul Hashem when somebody of my [spiritual] status buys on credit [people's assumption being that either there is something irregular in the sale or that he is beholden to the sellers and will therefore favor them in communal affairs or in judgement]" (Bava Batra). At the end of the protracted negotiations, we are told that after Avraham buried Sara there, the field and the cave actually passed into his ownership; "from this we learn that although he had already paid the purchase price, they only became an achuza, a permanent possession of his when he dug her grave thereby completely finalizing the kinyan" (Rashbam). "There are three places
concerning which the nations of the world cannot defame Israel by saying:
"You are thieves". They are: Kever Yosef in Sh'chem; as it
is written, "He, [Yaakov] bought the parcel of land upon which he pitched
his tent, from the children of Hamor, father of Sh'chem for 100 Kesita" (B'reishit
33:19). There later, Yehoshua buried the bones of Yosef (Joshua 24:312). Like Ma'arat Hamachpela, in the other two cases the full price in recognized acceptable currency was paid, there was no bargaining and no negotiation. Disproving the antagonism of the nations is not the only result of the eternal nature of ownership through the purchase and settlement of land in Eretz Yisrael by Jews. "The mitzvot hateluyot ba'aretz [those laws to be observed only in Eretz Yisrael], apply only to those areas that were settled by the returnees from Bavel and not to the original conquests by Yehoshua. This is because that first sanctification was brought about by conquest and so was subsequently lost by the conquest which led to Galut Bavel, whereas the sanctification by the settlement of the returnees, could never be negated" (Rambam, Hilkhot Beit HaBechira 6: 17). This is the 114th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Bo Homepage]
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