In my work as a licensed guide in Israel, I enjoy taking people to Hebron. A few years ago, I took a group there by public transportation. Before my group arrived, I found myself surrounded by another large group—a family of American Jews who were standing there. They related to me as if I were their guide. They asked, “Does this bus go to Hebron? Does it go to the grave of the Rebbe’s wife Menucha Rachel? Our daughter is named after her, and today is her birthday, so we want to get there.”
I told them that the bus does not go directly to the cemetery and that they would need a private guide. I called a guide I know who lives in Hebron; he was available! I immediately connected them. After everything was arranged, they asked me: “Is it safe to go there?” This question surprised me because of what had just happened.
Think about it: they arrived, all the way from the United States, with the intention of visiting a grave important to them, with a large group, without any clue how to do it, and out of nowhere, someone suddenly appeared and organized their day. I answered them: “I think it is generally safe to visit there—and definitely for a family like yours, today,” and sent them on their way.
Although the family’s lack of planning surprised me, it made a lot of sense that they would want to travel to the grave of Menucha Rachel on their daughter’s birthday. Many tourists go to Hebron to mark a bat mitzvah or other special occasions. In addition to the Matriarchs, there were figures of Jewish women of great significance who lived in Hebron throughout history, and their stories add a lot to the tours and the experience.
For example, Menucha Rachel Slonim is one such figure. Since she was a little girl in Lubavitch, Russia, at the beginning of the 19th century, Menucha Rachel dreamed of immigrating to the Land of Israel. The young Menucha Rachel loved the Land of Israel so much that she became ill because she could not be there. She lay in her bed until her father, the Mitteler Rebbe of Chabad, whispered in her ear that he promised her that when she grew up, she would merit to immigrate to the Land of Israel. Her soul heard her father’s promise, and she recovered.
After the passing of the Mitteler Rebbe, the time came for Rebbetzin Menucha Rachel, her husband and family to immigrate to the Land of Israel. The Jews of Hebron referred to Rebbetzin Menucha Rachel as the “grandmother” of the Chassidic community in Hebron. This woman, who so longed to immigrate to the Land, did not settle for merely immigrating. She became involved in all the community’s matters. Many Jews from Israel and abroad came to Hebron to receive her blessing—as if she were a Chassidic Rebbe.
In addition to her righteousness and her well-known lineage, Rebbetzin Menucha Rachel was known as a very wise woman. She resembles our Matriarch Rebecca, whom we read about in the Torah portion, who is also deeply connected to the Land of Israel: at a young age, when Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, came to ask for her hand in marriage to Isaac, she did not hesitate for a moment and said: “I will go.” Wisdom and love of the Land of Israel are traits that also stand out in Rebbetzin Menucha Rachel.
Another female figure from Hebron is Sarah Nachshon, who not only restored the ancient cemetery of Hebron (which led to the restoration of the Abraham Avinu synagogue and eventually the renewal of the Jewish community there) but also returned Beit Hadassah to Jewish ownership after the events of the 1929 riots. For nine months, fifteen women and thirty-five children lived in the basement of Beit Hadassah until the place was finally restored for Jewish use in 1979. The Lubavitcher Rebbe said about them that they were like the daughters of Zelophehad, who had such a great love for the Land of Israel that they merited to receive their own inheritance.
Another strong figure from Kiryat Arba, Hebron, is Rena Ariel, the mother of Hallel Yaffa Ariel HY”D who was brutally murdered in a terror attack as she slept in her bed on the first day of summer vacation in June, 2016. Many people meet Rena and hear her brilliant lectures; they go into the lecture feeling they want to comfort her for her loss, and they leave feeling only strengthened by Rena’s faith and insights.
It is no coincidence that we find such strong female figures in Hebron, and their stories are important and integrated into the historical fabric of Hebron. Hebron, as its name suggests, is a place of connection—a connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel.
In the Torah portion, we encounter the significant moment when Abraham purchases the Cave of Machpelah as a burial place for Sarah, establishing Hebron as a city with a deep connection to history, memory, and the heritage of the Jewish people.
The Cave of Machpelah is the place where the founding families of the Jewish people are eternally remembered. It is very significant that the Cave of Machpelah (meaning double or coupled) is called so, perhaps, because of the four couples buried there: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah.
The founders of the Jewish people are both women and men. This says a lot about the respect that exists for women in the Torah, which is remarkable in that period so long ago. If we think about Mt. Rushmore in the United States, as a symbol of the founders of the United States, by comparison we have something very meaningful in Hebron, creating a monument to founding couples, women and men.
When we hear about the passing of Sarah, Rashi explains that the Torah emphasizes the word “year”: “And Sarah’s life was a hundred years and twenty years and seven years; these were the years of Sarah’s life” (Genesis 23:1).
Commentator Rashi explains: “Therefore, ‘year’ was written… to tell you that each [age] is interpreted individually.” She was not just an old woman of 127 years. She was a different person at different stages of her life, and yet there was something common to every stage of her life—each stage was equal in its goodness.
I would add that in the previous Torah portion, we learned much about the experiences Sarah went through and her actions as she grew older. The history of her life, and of each of the figures I mentioned, was significant to her in the moment it happened and it remains relevant to us as well—just as every one of us goes through different events that have spiritual significance. The history of the Jewish people has profound spiritual significance as well.
Similarly, later in the portion, it is written:
“And Abraham was old, advanced in days” (Genesis 24:1).
The Zohar teaches us that when Abraham aged, he did not just pass his days – he gathered them. Every day was fully utilized so that the day truly became part of his identity.
The way we utilize our time and the things we do, as well as the history of our people, are very important. Often, we see a friend who wants to share an experience he or she went through, or we want to share an experience we went through with a friend or family member. The different experiences we go through are important. They are part of who we are, and the way in which we connect to God throughout our lives.
In the portion, it is told about Isaac bringing Rebecca into his mother’s tent, and this comforts him for the loss of his mother. In the Midrash, it is written that in Sarah’s lifetime, in her tent, there were three constant miracles: a lit candle, a cloud tied above, and a blessing in the dough. When she died, they stopped, and when Rebecca arrived, they returned. Through Rebecca, we learn about the chain of generations of strong Jewish women, and through history, we see how this chain continues to this day.
Through these amazing women, we see how Hebron remained a city not only of our patriarchs but also of strong connection, where Jewish women repeatedly became symbols of resilience, wisdom, and faith. Sarah, our matriarch, laid the foundations, and generations of Jewish women – like Rebbetzin Menucha Rachel, Sarah Nachshon, Rena Ariel, and the girl who wanted to go to Hebron for her birthday – built upon these foundations, each in her unique way, and added to the heritage of Hebron.
Shabbat Shalom!
