Chayei Sarah
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha that Avraham Avinu buys the Cave of the Machpelah, Me’aras HaMachpelah, in order to bury his wife Sarah. The Torah records the discussion between Avraham Avinu and Efron HaChiti, the owner of the cave and the field where the cave was. We read (Chapter 23, Pasuk 16) that ultimately Avraham pays him four hundred shekel kesef in return for the field and the cave. In the very next pasuk we read, Vayakam Sedeih Efron Asher BaMachpelah etc. After making the payment, the land and the cave was acquired by Avraham Avinu. As Rashi explains, the word Vayakam is used to indicate that there was an “upgrade” for the land in that it went from the hands of a simple person, Efron, to the possession of a king, Avraham Avinu.
After the acquisition was completed, the Torah states that Avraham buried his wife in the Me’arah, stressing that this took place in Eretz Yisrael. The Ramban teaches that this is in order to emphasize the great chesed that Hashem did with Avraham in that the local people treated him with great honor and respect, and this enabled him to bury his wife in Eretz Yisrael.
Immediately afterwards in pasuk 20, the Torah repeats that the field and the cave went from the possession of the people of Cheis over to Avraham as a burial estate. Why does the Torah repeat the transfer of property from Efron to Avraham a second time?
The Mishnah in Kiddushin (Chapter 1, Mishnah 5) teaches that there are three different ways to carry out an acquisition of land. One can give money over to the seller, or one can have the seller write out a document of sale, or one can perform an act with the agreement of the seller, such as putting up a fence around the field, which would typically indicate ownership of the land. This is described in the Mishnah as Kesef, Shtar, or Chazakah.
This is true regarding the sale of land between two Jews. Among non-Jews, the way of selling land is through money. Only after money has changed hands does the land transfer from the possession of the seller to the buyer. This is why the Gemarah in Kiddushin doesn’t bring a pasuk from Efron in our parsha to prove that land is brought through the exchange of money (Tosfos on 26A), since with non-Jews all acquisitions are accomplished through money.
Regarding a sale between a Jew and a non-Jew, the Shulchan Aruch in Siman 192 teaches that the exchange of money is not sufficient. Only with a shtar can a sale take place between a Jew and an non-Jew. The Bi’ur HaGra brings in the name of Rav Hai Gaon that in a sale between a Jew and a non-Jew, an exchange of money takes it out of the possession of the seller, but does not bring it into the domain of the buyer. If an act of Chazakah takes place afterwards, then the land is acquired in a similar manner to acquiring something from hefker.
It is based on this distinction that the Meshech Chachmah explains the meaning of the pasukim in our parsha. When the Torah first mentions that Avraham bought the land from Efron, it says (Pasuk 18), L’Avraham L’Miknah L’Einei Bnei Cheis. The land was bought by Avraham only in the eyes of Bnei Cheis. This is because they considered him as a regular Ben Noach, a non-Jew, and a sale between non-Jews is accomplished through money alone.
But in reality, Avraham Avinu was not a Ben Noach. The sale was like a sale between a Jew and a non-Jew. Therefore, in actuality, when Avraham gave money over to Efron, it left Efron’s possession but didn’t belong to Avraham yet. Avraham needed to acquire it in a manner similar to acquiring something from hefker. Therefore, in pasuk 19 we read that Avraham buried Sarah in the Machpelah. With that act of Chazakah he acquired the land. And only in the last pasuk do we read that only now according to Din Torah did Avraham acquire the land, not in the eyes of Bnei Cheis, but in actuality Me’eis Bnei Cheis, from the people of Cheis.
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