Love story – Chayyei Sarah
The parashah ends with Isaac finding love, thanks to Abraham’s messenger Eliezer.
Sent to find Isaac a wife, Eliezer comes back with Rebekah. Isaac takes her to his mother Sarah’s tent: “She became his wife, and he loved her” (Gen. 23:67).
Love figures frequently in the Torah. Abraham loved Isaac; we are told to love our fellow as ourselves; we must love God with our heart, soul and might.
The root of the Hebrew word for love is a-h-v. Some interpreters link it with h-v – “to give”. In this sense, love is more than feeling wonderful, more than enjoying being with the other person – even if the other “person” is God Himself.
Love is giving. It is partly, “What you give me can’t be put in words” – and also, “Because I love you, I want to give you all that I have and all that I am”.
