{The chapters of Reb Eliezer 36} 13 The purchase of Mearat Hamachpela, the
first purchase in Israel, is told to us by Chaz'l to be the core and root
to all the laws of buying and selling. Proof of this assumption is the fact
that the bible depicts, explains and describes every angle of different sorts
of purchases, in which land is bought and Abraham abided to every one.
"To Abraham to the herd"- money, contract, witnesses and ownership.
(The Biur Midrash)
The origin to the midrash's sayings are the different ways of purchasing which
show up in the telling of the purchase in the bible:
MONEY- 400 silver shekel
CONTRACT- the type of contract which is described in the bible: " And
the field of Ephrone by the Machpela arose, the field and the cave within
it, and all the trees in the field, all that was within the boundaries from
all around" (Biraishis 23:17)
(The contract of Mearat Hamachpela came about, according to Chaz'l, as a direct
result of the arguments that erupted as to whom the ownership of a certain
place belonged to. Especially the Midrashim that explain the dual with Esav)
WITNESSES- In the telling of the story of the purchase, the Bible repeats
and expresses the presence of the many witnesses that watched the spectacle:"
Before the eyes of Hate's descendents in all the passageways of the city";
" Before the eyes of Hate's descendents"; " Before the eyes
of my nation"; and many more…
OWNERSHIP- Directly after the purchase, Abraham buried Sarah, and the purchase
was made complete: " And thereafter Abraham buried Sarah his wife in
Mearat Hamachpela - And the field arose and the cave that was within it to
Abraham for a burial site from the descendents of Hate". (Berashis 23:20)
The cave of Machpela was bought in a purchase that was doubled and squared.
Kiriat Arba was purchased in a quadrupled price.
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Adam was not the first to be buried in the cave, nevertheless, it was Eve. And it was Adam who buried her. And chose this site, that was revealed to him, the secret of Heaven (Gan Eden): "When Shes was born, G-D took Adam to a place above all places, to Israel, to Hebron. And there he dug him a grave, and constructed a tunnel within the tunnel which leads straight to Heaven, and there was his burial, and the burial of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the martyrs."
Rabbi Kasma relates: Mearat Hamachpela is adjacent to the gateway of heaven. In the hour of Eve's death, Adam came to bury her there. And there he whiffed the aroma of Heaven. In the place where he smelled the Aroma, he wished to dig further, and G-D called out to him, "Enough!!" At that instant he stood and dug no more. And in that spot she was buried. And who buried him? Shes his son, due to the fact that he resembled him.
Rabbi Rachumai stated: G-D created Adam, and buried him. And none knew of
his existence until Abraham came along. And he entered there and he saw him…
{Zohar Chadash, Ruth, 79:4}
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Rabbi Yehuda says: Abraham knew that in that very cave was a sign, and his
heart and soul was there. This was due to the fact that he first arrived there
and saw Adam and Eve buried there, and how did he know that they were they?
He saw the form of Adam and he looked at it. And one of the openings of Heaven
was opened to him and there he saw the same form of Adam standing in the opening.
Come and learn: Any man who looks at the form of Adam will never escape death.
When the Hour of Death arrives, the doomed sees the form of Adam, and thereby
dies. But Abraham saw and looked at this form and lived, and saw the light
that lit the cave, and the lone, single lit candle. Then, Abraham yearned
for this resting place to be his, and his heart and soul were forever trapped
within the walls of the cave.(zohar chayai sarah.127/1)
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Even the holy angels, according to the Midrash, notified Abraham of the
elite and exceptional quality of the cave: " He entered… and heard
the voices of the angles saying, Adam is born there, and Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob are ready for this place. He then saw a lit candle and then exited.
Since then he lusted for this holy site.
{Zohar Chadash, Ruth, 79:4}
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The purchase of Mearat Hamachpe; a by Jacob is, according to Chaz'l, one
of the main things that brought about the redemption.
And the Midrash says: " In what merit do the Jews enjoy all this honor
(redemption)?
- The merit of populating and developing Israel, which was not an easy task,
on account that they suffered greatly between the rough and merciless nations.
And so we found by our Patriarchs: There is no end to the suffering that we
endured to bury in Israel. Abraham - land worth silver shekels. He gave in
return for 400 canterns (a large measurement) of money.
So too by Jacob: All the gold that he purified in all his days and all the
money that he had, he collected and manifested in to a pile in order to give
to Esav for his burial. That Esav should not be buried in the cave. As it
is stated, "In my grave that I made for myself"
(Birashis 50:5)
{Psika Rabati, Vina version, chapter 1 2:2}
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"Come and learn: When Jacob entered the cave, all the aromas of Heaven
were within her, and the cave was flooded with light with only one candle
lit. And when the Patriarchs came to be with Jacob in Egypt, the light extinguished.
And now that Jacob returned to the cave, the candle returned to its former
state and the cave was complete and wholly once more. And until the days of
the future redemption and Messiah, the cave did not and won't accept another
human for burial. And the souls of the righteous pass in front of them in
the cave, so they awaken and look at the sons that they had set forth in to
the world. And they will be content and joyful before G-D"
{Zohar Vayechi 250}
And with that, Mearat Hamachpela was made complete. The light flooded the cave once again, and the candle rekindled, to the Patriarchs that are awakening from their repose; to beg for mercy on their children, and the souls that rise to the heavens- they rise and pass through.
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The secret of the coming issue has been revealed to me:
It is written:" And David asked G-D: Should I venture in to one of the
cities of Judah? And G-D said to him, go! And David said: To which city? And
G-D replied: Hebron. (SH"MB 2:1)
Observation: David was anointed king in Saul's lifetime. Now that Saul had
passed away, why wasn't David crowned? And why didn't he get sovereignty on
all of Israel, instead of coming to Hebron and being delayed there 7 years
with sovereignty on Judah alone, and only after Saul's son Miphy boshes passed
away, did he receive sovereignty on all the Jews in Jerusalem?
Everything that happens in this world is all part of the secret, hidden and
divine plan of the one above. Come and see: The holy kingdom did not get full
ruler ship until it was connected and attached to the Patriots. Once that
happened, it was built in a complete way by the divine world. And this divine
world is called "Seven years", because it contains everything. A
proof to this is: "And it was built seven years"(ML"A 6:38).
That is the divine world, and it isn't written "In seven years".
As you say, "Because six days G-d created the sky and the earth".
What are the "six days"? That is Abraham. As it is written: "These
are the offspring of the sky and the earth when they were created" (In
Hebrew, this phrase is one word in which, after unscrambling the letters,
spell out Abraham). And Abraham was called "six days". And because
he is "six days" the world was created. So too, "It was built
7 years".
Come and see: David wanted to build an empire in this world as that in the
divine world, and it wasn't built until he bonded with the Patriots, and stayed
there seven years to build within their midst. And after 7 years (symbolic
of the divine world) it was completely built, and his kingdom continued and
will never in eternity be removed. And if it weren't constructed in Hebron
to unite with the holy site, his kingdom wouldn't have been built with the
power of endurance as supposed.