The Resident Alien

 

Chaye Sarah

Gen. 23:1-25:18

 

Précis: The parasha begins with the counting the days of the life of Sarah (Chaye Sarah) and with her death. It continues with a detailed description of the purchase of the cave of Machpela by Abraham for a family burial site. Abraham orders his servant to go to Abraham’s ancestral home to obtain a wife for Isaac, and after a series of fulfilled signs, the servant finds Rebecca. Rebecca returns with the servant; she and Isaac meet, fall in love at first sight, and become man and wife. The parasha ends with the death of Abraham, and his burial by Isaac and Ishmael in the family plot.

 

Gen. 23:1-2 “And the life of Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years; these were the days of the life of Sarah. Abraham arose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying, ‘I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site.’”     

 

            Rabbi Dan Moskovitz (10 Minutes of Torah, 1/18/19) focuses on one particular phrase in this week’s reading: the term ger v’toshav, or “resident foreigner.”

            What does a “resident alien” really mean? Our tradition suggests it is an individual with a special status, living permanently among​​ ​us, but without actual citizenship. The resident alien had all of the protections of law, but was exempt from most citizenship requirements.  In other words, a ger toshav was a protected visitor and honored guest.

            Thirty-six times in Torah, we are commanded to “love the stranger.” In this parashah, Abraham is not presented as the powerful, wealthy businessman he was nor as a man who regularly talked with God. Instead, he is presented as a helpless stranger. The Hittites violate their own law against selling land to outsiders like Abraham. Why? Moskowitz suggests that it was because they saw themselves in his shoes, and they imagined their own dead lying at their feet.

            History in general, and Jewish history in particular, is replete with experiences of being the outsider who does not fit into society. Indeed, in the Islamic world, Jews were regarded as second-class citizens, even though usually recognized as “people of the Book,” before they were expelled from most of those lands. In Christian Europe, Jews rarely if ever were granted citizenship prior to the late 18^th century of the common era. So, the Torah commands us to see to the welfare of the stranger among us, and our history reminds us that it is a personal obligation.

            Today, with millions of refugees from famine, war, disease, and climate change, it seems time for us to recommit to the Jewish demand that we see to the needs of the resident aliens among us, and welcome the stranger into our midst.