BH
In Parshat Chayei Sarah we read of Sarah’s passing and the lengthy steps Avraham takes to acquire her burial place. The Torah first tells us where she died, “Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to weep for her” (Bereishit 23:2). Avraham then goes to the locals to purchase the burial plot he desires, and specifies it with these words, “the Cave of Machpelah... at the end of his field... for burial property” (23:9).
Everything seems clear, the location, the plot, the burial site. Yet when the sale is finally completed, the Torah says it once more, “Avraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan” (23:19).
Why does the Torah repeat where Sarah is buried, when the story has already made it clear?
Rabbi Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov explains that by describing exactly where Sarah is buried, the Torah teaches a practical lesson. We should know where the righteous are buried, so that we can visit and pray there. In moments of distress, and when we need blessings for livelihood and sustenance, the resting place of a Tzadik (a righteous individual) is where our prayers should be said.
Rabbi Shem Tov points to Moshe. After the sin of the golden calf, with the fate of the nation at stake, Moshe’s own prayers were not enough. He was answered only when he mentioned the forefathers, who had already passed on, “Remember Avraham, Yitzchak and Yisrael” (Shemot 32:13). We are taught, that the righteous “are called alive even in their passing” (Berachot 18a), because their merit is not a memory, it lives on with us.
The spiritual power and merit of the souls of the righteous help us break through the greatest of challenges. That is why the Torah repeats the location, not for history but for us, so that we always know where to go.
Shabbat Shalom
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Rabbi Shem Tov ibn Shem Tov himself is one of the few well-known great Portuguese rabbis whom we know for certain was buried in Portugal. May the merit of his soul and spiritual strength be a blessing for us all.
