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20 November 2022

To Honor Sarah Imeinu, The Mother of Am Yisrael


Shabbat Chayei Sara 5783 Is Shabbat Hevron, Tents and All

By David Israel


Shabbat Chayei Sara is (was) a huge holiday for the city of the patriarchs since it describes Abraham’s purchase of a burial cave in Hebron for his late wife Sara:

Sara died in Kiriath Arba, a/k/a. Hebron, and *Abraham proceeded to mourn for her, and then rose from beside his dead, and told his Hittite neighbors: “I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial.”

Despite the objections of the land’s owner, Ephron the Hittite, to accept money, Abraham insisted: “If only you would hear me out! Let me pay the price of the land; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” So, Ephron said he’d let him take the cave off his hands for 400 silver shekels.


Rashi says a silver shekel is equal in value to half an ounce of gold. Currently, the melt value of one 1/2 oz American Gold Eagle coin is $886.65, which means Abraham spent $354,660 on the Cave of the Patriarchs, not accounting for inflation, historic market shifts, and local real estate taxes. But whether the purchase price was exorbitant or a steal, the Torah confirms that our forefather owned it and left it to us, the grandchildren of his favorite son, Isaac.


For this reason, thousands of Jews are flocking to Hebron today, Cheshvan 24, 5783, November 18, 2022, to be in Hebron on Shabbat when we read the Torah passage about our zeidi’s real estate deal.


And since so many Jews are flooding the holy city of Hebron, it makes for amusing and heartwarming pictures. We thank TPS photographer Tzipi Schlissel for these images. [many more at https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/shabbat-chayei-sara-5783-is-shabbat-hevron-tents-and-all/2022/11/18/]


[*footnote to the above: on Shabbos in reading over the Parsha, it said that Avraham passed away in the year 2123 from Creation. Of course I immediately noted that we will be entering 2023 in little over a month from now. Avraham born in 1948. Just a mere 100 year difference. And just think about the ‘coincidences’ of these dates. The Stone Edition of Chumash, p 121.]


AS EXPECTED, WHAT THE SECURITY AND OTHER LEFTIES HAD TO SAY:

The security apparatus and the media that serves it went on overdrive following the Shabbat Hebron events, focusing on a clash between a Jewish man and an IDF female soldier to tarnish tens of thousands of Jews who assembled for an inspiring day of uniting the nation with its first biblical holy city.

The city of Hebron hosted 30,000 Jews on Shabbat who filled the streets of Kiryat Arba and Hebron, and, except for an attack that was foiled on Friday, when an Arab was caught with a knife, and a clash that erupted on Shabbat in Tel Rumeida, no other unruly events were recorded at all. That would make it an unusually peaceful event, considering how many violent clashes erupt during an outdoor concert or a soccer game with similar numbers.

Ynet cited sources in Hebron who said that “in the mosques, they call on residents to show their presence in response to the settlers’ incursions into the Hebron area.” That would explain the clashes in Tel Rumeida, which, according to sources in the IDF, “it is still unclear who started it and why.”

[…]  in Hebron, as part of the Shabbat events of Chayei Sara, where about 32 thousand Jews came to pray in the city. … In the morning, the army blocked the market area of Hebron and demanded that shop owners close them to allow Israelis to march there. According to a source in the defense establishment, the parade route that had been approved by the IDF this year was different from previous years. The market is located in the heart of the Palestinian part of Hebron, which is under full Israeli security control, and the Israeli marchers were recorded chanting ‘A Jew is a soul, an Arab is a son of a whore.’ After the parade, the merchants found their stalls turned upside down.”

"At the end of Shabbat, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi issued a statement [blah blah blah]

The IDF stated that two Arabs were injured in the “riot,” as a result of Israeli citizens throwing stones at them. “The IDF force that was in the area provided the injured with initial medical treatment and then they were evacuated to continue receiving medical treatment.” But according to Ynet, this report was false, and “the two wounded Palestinians apparently did not need to be evacuated.”

[Blah, blah, blah:] Defense Minister Benny Gantz added his own statement, intentionally misrepresenting the events in Tel Rumeida: “I strongly condemn the attack on security forces and Palestinian residents by extremists in Hebron. ….”

Soon to be just an MK Yair Lapid also couldn’t miss the opportunity to bash the folks who drove him out of office, and issued this statement Saturday night: … [blah, blah,blah]

Noam Arnon, the spokesman for the Jewish community in Hebron, was enraged by the IDF spokesman’s announcement that the Hebron Shabbat amounted to riots by Jews against Arabs and soldiers. He said: “We were privileged to host on Shabbat tens of thousands of Jews from all over the country and the world, who came to connect with their roots, the patriarchs and matriarchs, and had an empowering experience of joy and connection. On the sidelines of the huge and uplifting event, there were unnecessary and serious incidents that need to be handled using legal means.”

Full article, IDF, Center-Left Pols Orchestrate Massive Attack on Settlers Distorting Hebron Events https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/religious-secular-in-israel-israel/idf-center-left-pols-orchestrate-massive-attack-on-settlers-distorting-hebron-events/2022/11/20/




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