Chaye Sarah
This week in our Torah portion we read of a very critical conversation that takes place between Avraham and Ephraim regarding the purchase of Sarah’s burial plot in the Cave of Machpelah.
We read of the negotiation and intuit the rationale behind the spoken words that Avraham utilizes; he wants to ensure there will no question regarding ownership of this land – for all time.
The question of land ownership – who actually holds title to land – is of course very much in the news today. Is land ownership associated with past usage – from time immemorial, as is stated in the news? Or does title transfer to the mortgage payer? What role does the Crown play here in Canada? Ownership, we are discovering, is far more complicated than we thought when we took out a mortgage on our home.
Avraham was securing this land as a burial site for his future generations – to the degree he imagined possible. Yet. We read in Psalm 24:1 that, “the Earth is the Lords.” Indigeneity, land ownership/title, and religious belief all become complicated in these dialogues. We can certainly look at 87 years of war in Israel to know that religious decree/ownership from millennia is not universally recognized. What are some of the conversations we can have about how we can be stewards and not owners of our lands? Does Ephraim own the Cave? Does Avraham? Do we? Torah faces us with many hard questions and certainly does so this week.
With love,
Rabbi Lynn
Vayigash
December 23, 2025 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
Dear friends,
Light is returning, that pathway of return in nature’s cycles is always so reassuring. And seemingly, with that light, dear friends come home from their travels, other friends step into shul after months away, babies are born, souls are remembered.
Our liturgical cycle is similarly both dependable and familiar and can also be adapted to new circumstances. When we consider how our traditions and teachings have hold a sense of permanence, perhaps seeming rigid in their timelessness, I offer an observation from Jacob Neusner again. Neusner states so succinctly, …”never obliterates the former culture, but rather entails the translation of the new into the idiom of the old, so that in the end it results in a modification of both.” Neusner was speaking of peoples in the Second century BCE adapting o the teachings of early Pharisees, but he could be speaking of today. Baby namings for girls, women counted in a minyan, new liturgies and songs – think of Hadar and other musicians who have transformed much of what we think of as Jewish music. Change doesn’t replace the old, but enhances and grows how we meet with each other and with God. Change can allow us to hear our own heartbeat differently, and listen with each other with greater compassion.
At this time of year, with so many Jews who are in interfaith relationships, who have chosen to become Jews, I am always deeply touched by the verses in our Torah reading this week, Vayigash. Jacob is introduced to Pharaoh by his son Joseph. Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and the record notes a brief exchange, “How are you?” How have your days been?” I have always seen these two aged men, both of whom loved Joseph, sitting on the porch of the palace. Two now-elderly men reflecting on the good, and the bad of their days. Two men who come from very different backgrounds, but who, through their love for Joseph come together and share the stories of their lives. It is a moment of Torah to remember.
With love, with light,
Rabbi Lynn