This week, thousands of Jews will spend Shabbat at the burial place of Sarah and Abraham, the mother and father of the Jewish people, as we read Chayei Sarah, the “life of Sarah,” the Torah portion that narrates their deaths and foreshadows the legacy they leave.
This custom is unique, as far as drawing large numbers of people to a biblical burial place at a certain time, year after year. It illustrates how Abraham and Sarah are still embraced as our national parents. This concept is spiritually powerful and contains important lessons about family, especially the way that leaders balance their communal roles with the roles and responsibilities they have in their own families.
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