He only wept a bit for she was aged. Also, it was as if she caused her own death, for she invoked the judgment of Heaven, and, therefore, she was punished first as the Gemara states in Bava Kamma 93 (concerning her request that "The Lord decide between you and me!"[Gen 16:5]). The Gemara in Sanhedrin 46 discusses whether the eulogy is intended exclusively to honor the dead or also the living.

That the eulogy's importance trumps that of the weeping should be noted as an aside. For this differentiation stems not only from the unequal sense of loss occasioned by the death of the aged as opposed to that of the young, or as the Or HaHaim wrote "to weep for her in measure with that lost by her absence", but also is a crucial imperative to re- establishing a truth destabilized and fractured by the dead person. No contrast cries out to the heavens louder than the dead person turned into a lump of clay, lacking vitality, lacking a soul, testimony calling into question the image of G-d in man. The obligation to eulogize the dead is intended to remind us and reawaken in us the knowledge that this inert lump of clay possessed quality and divine presence. From this need stems the obligation to describe and even glorify the expression of divine presence once embodied in the individual lying before us. This obligation applies to and encompasses both the living and the dead as a reminder that absent of a eulogy the divine presence is left dangling in a tautological contradiction. Thus, the eulogy is of greater import than the weeping which only expresses the living's loss of an intimate-emotional tie to the dead, his relative, but does not partake of the essential value inherent in the eulogy.

The Baal HaTurim's comment pertaining to Sarah having caused her own death, as it was a punishment for having, as it were, invoked the judgment of Heaven pertains to our discussion of the secret of the essence of being, of the cosmos. This comment should not, heaven forbid, be taken to imply that Sarah sinned, as it were, and, hence, was deserving, heaven forbid, of punishment; rather, it aims to awaken its readers to and shed light upon man's condition as reflecting the essence of being, of the cosmos, as the most direct and real instantiation of the divine presence in Creation. This essential quality incorporates within it a layer expressing the secret of the essence that has important weight in determining the divine relationship to the world.

Creation commences with a test of man's essence, containing the kernel of quality that incorporates within it all the divine qualities. A microcosm. As the encircling layers become more and more distant from the center, this essence undergoes a process of dilution to the point where the image of G-d is blurred, and the essence accepts the laws of the material world, one common to all other creatures, a world where survival is paramount, and the essence is placed under the influence of the rules of the material world. Not a little is dependent upon what happens to man.

HaKadosh Barukh Hu judges the righteous pedantically. For he relates to how they play their role embodying the divine presence expressing the essential quality. On this point they are judged by the unbending quality of din (strict justice). The righteous are duty- bound to represent the kernel of quality and enable it to control the mass of material layers submerging it. The righteous individual's role is to re-organize the external stimuli and advance only those stimuli necessary for the actualization of the divine kernel in the present state specifically for the purpose of enabling the righteous individual's divine worship. This worship takes place within man's heart and soul; it is a form of worship which takes on the shape of a battle; the attempt to break through the barriers of matter until the air of the world is reached; like a seed hidden in the thick soil bursting forth into the pure air, into the light which penetrates it from above and enables photosynthesis, a fusion which forms a new creature. This encounter between the divine and material realms, instigated by the awakening from the lower realm which first surfaces as the initiative of the worshiper thirsty to bask in the glow of the divine presence, is the theme of our parsha.

Abraham yearns to sanctify Me'arat ha-Makhpelah , a site previously sanctified, where Adam and Eve were buried. A site which had already been infused with the divine presence in the past should continue to be the focus of this presence through the internment of the righteous woman there. For this cave functions as the earth's umbilicus or navel attaching the earth to its creator in the heavens. Therefore, Abraham must pay for it and pay no heed to the generous offer of the Hittites. Ephron faithfully fulfills the role of matter (the lust for wealth), albeit unintentionally, which Abraham must overcome, not by avoiding it, but rather by confronting it head on and paying for the cave.

The search for Isaac's wife could have taken on miraculous form, with Abraham's prayers taking the place of a physical quest. However, Abraham had to take, as it were, the regular natural channels. He sends Eliezer on the mission; Eliezer who as a descendant of Ham was charged with taking care of material world, but who as Abraham's faithful disciple was also connected to the kernel of quality. Eliezer wishes to renew his connection with Abraham's kernel of quality by rededicating himself to Abraham. "Please put your hand under my thigh," (Gen 24:2) a sign of fealty and devotion along with self-nullification, Eliezer enslaving himself to Abraham's kernel of divine quality. The slave is asked to search for a wife for his master's son casting aside the strata of time and place, "Do not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell"(Gen 24: 3). His coda becomes: ignore the external environment wherever you may be. Search for Abraham's family's originary kernel; ignore their external trappings and behavior too. For amongst them the divine kernel is still dwelling, in Rebecca. This kernel finds its expression in Rebecca's generosity and kindness towards G-d's creatures. The human kernel which had still not developed into the familiar divine presence.

Characteristically the kernel "must be wet enough to moisten something else," capable of effecting reality, rather than only passively reacting to external stimuli. Abraham's servant's request awakens the kernel of quality to action, to taking the initiative. "Drink and I will also give water to your camels"(Gen 24:14), an initiative stemming from the interiority of the quality kernel, a widening of the circle of human kindness to include man's surroundings; an act of kindness directed at the camels' attendant not at the camels themselves, for he was obligated to feed his animals and Rebecca aided him.

When the Torah recounts the tale, it reports that "He [Eliezer] had scarcely finished speaking"(Gen 24:15); however, when the servant himself tells the story, he reports: "I had scarcely finished speaking in my heart"(Gen 24:45). These three words – "in my heart" – are absent from the Torah's rendition of the story, but present in "the conversations of the patriarchs' servants," conversations which our Sages of blessed memory characterize as yaffe – more meaningful – than their descendants' Torah novellae. Speaking in one's heart, engaging in an interior monologue, activates the quality kernel. And in so doing, it highlights and stresses the fundamental principle from which all divine worship stems.

Therefore, the servant did not bother to establish Rebecca's external details. He placed the nose-ring and the bracelets upon her before enquiring her family name, apparently a crucial detail, but herein one integrated into the new reality that reflected the interior kernel that had passed the quality test. "And I came today"(Gen 24:42) - "On the same day that I departed, I arrived" Eliezer experienced a kefitsat ha-derekh (shortening of the way) in the metaphysical sense, wherein the material layers are thrust away so that the quality kernel expresses itself. Rebecca also expresses this fundamental principle which even penetrated her layers of emotional-familial dependency: "Will you go with this man?"(Gen 24:58); "I will go [eilekh ]"(Gen 24:58). Responding with one (Hebrew) word, Rebecca was not cowed by the prospects of a strange new world; she expressed the fundamental principle and divorced herself from the subordinate.

"She alighted from [lit. fell off of] the camel"(Gen 24:64) The righteous woman only had to take one swift glance at the faultless wanderer to comprehend and further deepen her understanding of his unconventional character; to penetrate through the external veils and coverings in order to link her own interiority to the interiority of his divine quality. He was not simply a wanderer, rambling through the fields. He was connecting with his G-d, functioning as an expression of the secret discourse of the Lord. How distant is this from the natural gravitation of an ordinary mortal toward matter, instead of toward his own interior quality? The unfailing attempts of man throughout the generations, and, especially, in our own, to place his hope in material brute force will testify to this. In our age, technology is king. Psychology and especially psychoanalysis have made the ground fertile for this takeover by wiping the four fundamental principles of human quality out of the lexicon: good and evil, wise and foolish. The four fundamental principles that created the system embodying human quality were cast out disgraced, and in their place psychology tries to introduce a technological logic based upon non-human factors, progeny of the mechanistic-brute force environment . As if it were possible that mankinds' behavior derives exclusively from his environmental stimuli. Divine-human values have been totally rejected.

A question which destabilizes the very basis of the quality approach: By prioritizing quality are we not omitting to directly relate to reality, to emotions, to a sense of the real, to the small reversals which joined together create the experience of existential reality? Doesn't the righteous man -- whose radiant joy accompanies the day-to-day task of living notwithstanding the difficulties, aspirations and disappointments -- commit the transgression of disconnectedness, of being out of touch with reality? Ignoring existential angst. How can the man of G-d perceive the good in every event, and declare with equanimity "this too is for the best" even in cases where pain and anguish are felt by any sensitive humane individual. [How can he exist in this world] without the shadow of suffering clouding his perpetual joy? Does his ability to see it all even endow him with the ability to grant present-day anguish positive meaning?

The responsibilities of grappling with reality and war accompany the patriarchal histories "as a sign to their descendants". These tribulations continue to haunt divine worshippers, deviously and stubbornly undermining their sanctified pathways, as they try unsuccessfully to bypass the route of suffering. Jacob tried to settle down tranquilly, and the vexation over Joseph's apparent death surprised him. The righteous wished to settle down in tranquility and HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to them: Are you not satisfied with tranquility in the World to Come, that you wish for it in this world as well? The histories of the righteous are, seemingly, replete with stumbling blocks and heartbreak. From this reality stems the importance of defining and analyzing the essence of the grappling process that dogs the path of the righteous.

We must differentiate between the war without and the war within. Our Sages of blessed memory greet those who return from the wars with the distinction between the major war and the minor war: "You have returned from the minor war to the major war, the war fighting the [evil] inclination". The reality of the Creator is composed of antagonistic principles that threaten to destroy and annihilate one another. The human microcosm is similarly structured.

"And wars I have waged"(Avodah Zarah 2b), that is to say, the Creator of the World takes care of the conflict between the antagonistic principles. HaKadosh Baruch Hu's partner, man, is appointed to rule over and create harmony between the antithetical principles found in the private domain. This, with the aid of the essential kernel found in his interior that radiates a constructive influence upon the exterior situation. Whatever is beyond man's grasp, HaKadosh Baruch Hu deals with. The obligation to try (hishtadlut) which requires man's active involvement is diminished regarding ephemeral matters that do not demand the profound investment of his personality. Concerning these, he is only required to invest himself superficially, from the lips and outward. A prayer performed exclusively at the time of need functions as an expression of personal involvement on the level of obligatory hishtadlut . The profounder and purer the prayer is, the less external action is needed. The righteous, their work is done by others: My Lord, guard my tongue; And David said to Gad; From the strait; A psalm – a song for the inauguration of the Temple – by David. All these prayers and many, many others address the anguish of existence and illustrate the distinction between mans' active pragmatic involvement in ephemeral matters rejected as a matter of principle and his essential personal involvement stemming from mankinds' essential interiority.

"You open Your hand and satisfy the desire [or, will] of every living creature"(Psalms 145). This key verse emphasizes the powerful and decisive influence of the will, the most genuine expression of the internal quality of the Self , whose activation at the individual's behest is the sole obligation incumbent upon him when fighting his private battles. The will is the sole ally available to the individual fighting off the enticements of the evil inclination that tries to trip him up. "Offspring, longevity, and sustenance – are in the hands of Providence;" that is to say, the fundamental components of the survival mechanism which engages all of the best man has to offer and sucks the marrow out of his bones are completely unnecessary for, as those knowledgeable in exoteric wisdom (the kabbala) are aware, the Creator fights the battle for survival on man's behalf. If man does not school himself so that he truly comprehends this message, he places himself in the category of the "brutish man [who] cannot know, a fool [who] cannot understand this" (Psalms 92:7); he willingly takes this heavy burden upon himself, and cannot reproach the Creator if he fails in his battles. Only the wise man who has his eyes in his head (Ecclesiastes 2:14) -- possesses a clear picture of the world -- is aware that his personal obligation is to grapple with his evil inclination, in keeping with the formulation "So tremble, and sin no more" (Psalms 4:5); make use of your good inclination to harness your evil one to its divine purpose.

Based upon his human ability to know himself and others and, thus, act with kindness towards them, man can avoid perceiving his opponent as preventing him from reaching his goal, instead viewing them as providing him with the opportunity to perform a mitzvah. The Creator deals with man's true enemies. From the heavenly peak of the Self, the creator will observe the war for survival and utilize it as raw material to sanctify G-d through an act of creativity and mitzvah performance that he chances upon. Working upon the quality character traits expresses the awe of G-d that can be seen in the existential reality in every one of its finest details and in the six hundred and thirteen commandments present in it. David decreed that every Israelite should recite one hundred blessings each day as a means to protect himself from the plague that wiped out one hundred people each day. The Bach cites this rationale as normative Jewish law (Orah Hayim 46): reciting one hundred blessings each day is the antidote necessitated by the reality in each and every generation.

Understanding the recital of one hundred blessings to be solely an external segulah would be a tragic error. The one hundred blessings are designed to draw the individual out of his daily routine which usually focuses upon the self-centered goal of self-preservation in order to to link the day's one hundred and one components to the divine goal and turn it into an expression of the presence of G-d. From slavery to salvation. An exodus from Ego -bound slavery to the freedom of the Self which sanctifies the divine name through all its endeavors.

This sense of meaning turns the battle for survival into a divine experience which creates joy in the heart of the righteous individual. The righteous person does not shake off the obligation to relate to reality, but he relates to specific points in it. The righteous person knows the solution to the hero Samson's riddle, for Samson discovered how to draw forth sweetness from strength.