חיי שרה   בס”ד
  

Usually Parshas חיי שרה falls on the Shabbos that precedes חודש כסלו, כס the hidden light, the אור הגנוז, that was lit for לו, thirty six hours. In this Parsha, we encounter גן עדן. The זוהר חדש, the ילקוט ראובני and the   מגלה עמוקות all say that the מערת המכפלה was the פתח to גן עדן. When Avraham was chasing after the בקר, he entered the cave, and felt the tremendous קדושה –בקר are the letters קבר. All נשמות ישראל have to go first through here. There was another test that Avraham had to experience after what appears to be the final test of the Akeida. The שטן was trying to instill regret in Avraham, that due to the עקידה, Sara died early. In our תפילת ערבית every day, we say –  והסר שטן מלפנינו ומאחרינו, where the שטן מלפנינו is trying to prevent us from doing mitzvos, and מאחרינו, he’s trying to instill in us either haughtiness in how great an act we did, or regret with the mitzva that we just performed. Of course no gaiva entered אברהם after succeeding in the greatest act in history, the עקידה, because we see that after the עקידה the pasuk כד:יט says וישב אברהם אל נעריו ויקמו וילכו יחדו, as if he was “one of the boys”. We also see that Avraham didn’t have any regrets going to the עקידה. When it came to mourn Sara, it says   ויבא אברהם לספד לשרה ולבכתה, the כ is written small, demonstrating that Avraham didn’t cry too much since he held Sara passed away in the exact time that she was supposed to, living a full life as the pasuk repeats שני חיי שרה . The נסיבת השלום says that Avraham having to pay such an absorbent price after being promised by Hashem that we would inherit all of א”י, and not complain, was another test.

Gan Eden is referred to as קדם, one of the things that was created before the בריאה. Therefore Avraham paid ארבע מאות שקל כסף for the entrance to גן עדן –

ויהיו חיי שרה=570=ויטע הויה אלה-ים גן בעדן מקדם=570=עבר לסחר. The  שפת אמת says that the ten tests of Avraham are parallel to the   עשרה מאמרות. According to the Gemorra, בראשית is the first מאמר and the tenth is תדשה דשא, and according to the Zohar, בראשית is not a מאמר, and so the first is ויהי אור and the tenthלא טוב היות האדם לבדו אעשה לו עזר כנגדו. According to the Zohar, בראשית is the eleventh מאמר, where from the bottom to the top, בראשית or קדם represents כתר, above the ten ספירות. The רמב”ם says that אנכי is the first of the עשרת הדברות, whereas the Ramban, says that אנכי is not counted as one of the ten, but is higher and a prerequisite to all ten. So according to the Ramban, אנכי is the eleventh. Also with the עשר מכות, really at קריאת ים סוף, there were מכות as we read in the הגדה. Therefore, קריאת ים סוף is considered the eleventh מכה. Finding one’s soul mate is compared to קריאת ים סוף, because all זווגים are rooted in this eleventh level, the כתר, the   פתח לגן עדן. Avraham’s test here in not blaming himself for Sara’s apparent “early death”, and paying such a huge sum for the   מערת המכפלה was the eleventh test, as the Slonimer said. Even though the test of the עקידה was finished, and passed by Avraham with flying colors, later Avraham did ask questions. By this eleventh test, no questions were asked and no complaints were given, and so this was even greater in some ways to the עקידה. Chanuka is also the פתח to  גן עדן- eight days – שמיני. The ones that sold the מערה to Avraham, were the (eight)- בני חית.  The last of Yishmael’s twelve sons was קדמה, and Esav was also referred to as קדמוני, corresponding to the נחש הקמוני who caused Adam to be banished from גן עדן. The חטא עץ הדעת took us away from גן עדן, and Avraham and Sara bring us closer to גן עדן. In our Parsha when it says ויבאה יצחק האהלה, the בעל הטורים and others connect this to the ויבאה by Adam. Hashem brought Chava to Adam, but this was  נפגםby the חטא עץ הדעת, where the מגלה עמוקות says that the ויבאה became ואיבה – hatred, the tikun of this, being here.

Three of Yishmael’s children are written here in one pasuk. There was a custom to say all pesukim that have only three words, on מוצ”ש. When the Tamanim were having trouble with the Yishmaelim, the Rambam wrote them that the way to sudue them was in this pasuk with three words- משמע דומה משא. They should hear their insults- משמע, keep quiet- דומה, and endure them- משא, and realize that everything is from Hashem. At the end of the שמונה עשרה, it saysולמקללי נפשי תדום  that if someone curses us, we’re silent. If one guards his mouth in the proper way, he’ll merit to be sharp- חדד, and say intelligent things- ותימה. The one who guards his  נפש, will be guarded by Hashem-  יטור נפיש, and even if he falls, he’ll move forward- קדם, and he’ll merit קדם גן עדן-. These are the lessons we could learn even from the names given to the children of ישמעאל. All תפילות originate in   מערת המכפלה The word מכפלה is a combination of the words מכל פה, which is tefilla. The way to subdue ישמעאל is to keep quiet when insulted and to pour on our prayers גלות ישמעאל=890=נפשי תדום=890=מערת המכפלה.   The פרשה ends with על פני כל אחיו נפל, and  תולדות begins with   ואלה תולדות יצחק, implying thatיצחק  (and דוד –הפטרה) will rise, when ישמעאל falls (בעל הטורים) – דור אחרון=475=על פני כל אחיו נפל.

The מערת המכפלה is in חברון, the place where דוד המלך began his rule for seven years. After this, דוד ruled in י”ם for thirty three years. Both חברון and י”ם are connected to שמיני, the future world-   ממ שין יוד חת=868=חברון וירושלים. The נשמות and tefillos first go through חברון and then through י”ם. Eliezer was a שליח נאמן, fulfilling his שליחות faithfully, even though he desired יצחק to marry his daughter. He had such בטחון in Hashem, that he gave the jewelry to Rivka even before asking who she was. The שליחות of Eliezer is a metaphor for the שליחות of all yidden in the world toמיחד קודשא בריך הוא ושכינתיה. Eliezer was the son of נמרוד from כוש who was from   ארור כנען. When Lavan said to Eliezer בוא ברוך הויה, it says that Eliezer became a ברוך from his previous status of ארור. All שידוכים in the world stem from the marriage of יצחק and רבקה, the first Jewish marriage. Rav Shimshon Astropoli says that ריש לקיש was a נצוץ of Yishmael. The only גר that came from ישמעאל wasישרא הישמעאלי  who told Doeg and Shaul that דוד was fitting to be a yid. He stuck a sword in the ground, and said that whoever denied the Halacha of  מואבי ולא מואבית would be killed by the sword. Strangely, it was a convert of Yishmael that solidified מלכות בית דוד. Even though Yishmael did תשובה, nothing good came from him except for   ישרא הישמעאלי and   ריש לקיש- Rav Shimon Ben Lakish. ריש לקיש, the powerhouse of  תורה שבעל פה, has a similar spelling to Yishmael- the ש מ ע. Avraham said  לו ישמעאל יחיה לפניך  (four words which the Zohar says we suffer till today), and the לו corresponds to the לו מסכתות and the לו -36 candles of חנוכה which was a revelation of T.B.P. Chanuka is the 85^th day of the year- 85=פה.

In pasuk כד:סב it says that Yitzhak came to מבוא באר לחי ראי. This is the place that in לך לך the angel came to Hagar and told her of the impending birth of Yishmael.  באר לחי ראיmeans the well that Hashem appears. Rashi says that יצחק went there to bring Hagar to Avraham. This is the same קטורה mentioned at the end of the Parsha. After that, Yitzhak settled there. The Torah does not mention where Yitzhak went after the עקידה, until Eliezer came back with Rivka. The מדרש says that יצחק went to גן עדן alive for three years. After the עקידה, he was a קדוש like a קרבן עולה. When Rivka saw Yitzhak, she fell off the camel, because she saw such awesome קדושה. The reason Yitzhak went to  כה:יא -באר לחי ראי was to make sure that this קדושה of T.B.P. in   ריש לקיש and ישרא הישמעאלי remains with כלל ישראל-    תורה שבעל פה=1098=וישב יצחק עם באר לחי ראי.

T.B.P is compared to a באר. Resh Lakish met, and was מקרב by רב יוחנן in a body of water. חנוכה is a blast of light from the future, and Yitzhak brought גן עדן into the world. The מזל of כסלו is the קשת, and the קשת represents ישמעאל-  רובה קשת. The yidden have תפילה, which is the קשת needed to subdue ישמעאל. The משיח בן יוסף will deal with אדום, and the משיח בן דוד will destroy Yishmael. כה כסליו is the גמר חתימה and is the זמן which is מסוגל for the downfall of Yishmael בכה בכסליו=155=וקדמה.   Yishmael wish to prevent the yidden of גן עדן, as they say that Gan Eden is theirs (their concept of גן עדן is תענוג גשמי, which is nonsense).

The number of pesukim in חיי שרה is 105, and the סימן given is יהוידע. The way to reveal the ultimate דעת in the world is through אמונה. When reading of the פטירה of both Avraham and Sara in this Parsha, we could experienceפי שנים , and we could combat the קליפה of Yishmael  והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו=524=תלמוד בבלי=524=ומשם יקחך .

ויהיו חיי שרה where ויהיו =37, is where Sara really lived. This was after Itzhak was born, which was the last 37 years of Sara’s life. The city of קרית ארבע is called so because of the four giants that lived there, who represent the four כוחות הטומאה, or the ארבע מראות נגעים, or because of the four couples that were buried in the מערת המכפלה. The Klausenberg Rebbi -(בניו דוד) says that קרית ארבע, or קריאת ארבע are the four words that Sara said that were the cause of her death אמנם אלד ואני זקנתי, where she questioned if she could really have children. He says that Sara was not really laughing, but she was מתפעל, which was still a lack of faith in Hashem’s eyes. The זוהר חדש says that קרית ארבע are also קריאת ארבע, the last four words she said הויה אלה-ינו הויה אחד, which were a tikun for the four words אמנם אלד ואני זקנתי.  On שני חיי שרה Rashi says that כולן שוין לטובה implying that Sara didn’t complain even the first ninety years, like the last thirty seven years. She was pure, תמים in her אמונה.

The only other time it says מערה in Chumash is in Parshas וירא, when it says וישב במערה concerning Lot and his daughters. Why there does it say במערה with a pasuch under the ב, implying the cave? Maybe we could say that this cave was the מערת המכפלה, the cave (Rav Sitorsky). Before Avraham bought the מערה, it was in קרית ארבע, a dark empty space. After Avraham bought it, it became ויקם שדה עפרון, the field had a תקומה, an עליה, as it says יצא מיד הדיוט ליד מלך. The Tiferes Yisrael says that this הדיוט is where the name idiot originates. However what it really means is simple average person, not a fool. Now the ערלה   (of the cave) has been removed and thrown into the עפר – עפרון.

מרחשון is the month of the building of חודש מרחשון=922=מלכות בית דוד  and the last Parsha of the month has the הפטרה – ומלך דוד. The מרידה of ד.ב.מ was also in מרחשון and so the tikun is also in this month. The חורבן בהמ”ק was on  ט באב, the day the yidden would have entered א”י, if the report of the מרגלים would have been positive. Also יז בתמוז would have been the day that the לוחות were given, rather than broken. The Ari Tzal says that Eliezer was מתגלגל intoכלב בן יפונה  who was given his portion inחברון . It says הויה ברך אברהם בכל, where בכל are the letters כלב. Eliezer, who descends from חם, became a ברוך, just as we could transform the month of מרחשון from בול into שער הנון, or  חודש השמיני. The words קרית ארבע are the letters  יראת עקרבor ראית עקרב  the fear or seeing theעקרב . We have a fear entering into חשון, however this is really our purpose. It says קרית ארבע היא חברון, where the  יראת עקרב becomes חבור נ, and we could rise to גן עדן.

The Zohar says that Sara is the גוף, and Avraham is the נשמה. Our purpose here is to elevate the גוף. It says of ארץ הקדוש that   א”י גבוע מכל הארצות, which is explained in Chassidis that the ארציות, the mundane activities of a פשוט yid, is higher than any of the nations. We do not eat, or conduct any business the same way that the goyim do. Because a yid elevates his body, he will be זוכה to תחיית המתים. Mesechta Chulin is in סדר קודשים, hinting that the purpose of חולין is to elevate it to קודשים. We are not supposed to separate from the ארציות, but to elevate it. In Parshas וירא יח:יב Sara says אחרי בלתי היתה לי עדנה, which according to what we’re saying here could be interpreted as the purpose of this world of בול –בלתי  is to elevate it into נצחיות – עדנה. Mesechta Chulin ends with תחיית המתים. We are Hashem’s first born, and so we are זוכה to כפל, that is 1) this world- it is not hard to see that yidden that follow Hashem’s will are the really happy ones in this world and 2) the next world- תחיית המתים. Whoever was buried in  מערת המכפלה, will definitely be זוכה to תחיית המתים. The בעל הטורים said that the yidden that are buried in א”י, will be the first to rise in the time of תחיית המתים. Those who were involved in elevating the ארציות will be זוכה to תחיית המתים first. The first תחיית המתים will be in the   מערת המכפלה since the bodies of the אבות were buried there. The   פתח גן עדן  means the entrance to where there is no מיתה. According to the Gemorra, the first stage of תחיית המתים will take place before משיח comes, and משה ואהרון will be with them.  מיתת שרה is actually חיי שרה since the body of a צדיק comes back – אפילו מתים קרואים חיים. Also we could say she kept living in רבקה. This is the idea of why Avraham doesn’t cry too much. It says-   בנים הויה אלה-יכם לא תתגדדו ולא תעשו קרחה למת- meaning that we don’t rip hair out of our heads, or mutilate our bodies after someone close dies, like the goyim do. To them it’s all over, however to us, it’s all beginning. The רמב”ן says in עולם הבא, we will see our relatives. Avraham taught the lesson of not overdoing ones אבילות, since  כל ישראל יש להם חלק… תחיית המתים.

In pasuk כד:ג Avraham is telling Eliezer that he is the one who publicized that Hashem is not only אלה-י השמים but also אלה-י הארץ. The goyim don’t understand the concept of elevating the gashmius. By a goy, there is no such thing as a קרבן שלמים, only an עולה. To the goyim, Hashem is only אלה-י השמים. The חטא המרגלים was really based on the fact that the מרגלים didn’t want to get involved with the physical travails entailed in entering and living in א”י. They saidארץ אוכלת יושביה, that the ארציות consumes the inhabitants. The מרגלים didn’t want to deal with מרחשון, only with Tishrei. חברון is the first city where this elevation of the gashmios took place, and so the מלכות בית דוד began there. This was also where the split of מלכות בית דוד took place, where ירבעם בן נבט pushed Sukkos off a month to טו חשון. Yerovam comes from Efraim, who didn’t deal with the outside world, and so he didn’t recognize the מעלה of מרחשון, and therefore he extended תשרי into מרחשון. The purpose of מלכות בית דוד is to bring Hashem into the world. כלב said טוב הארץ מאד מאד. The pasuk ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, inferring that involving oneself in ארציות could lead to דבש. The combination of Hashem’s name for מרחשון is  ודבש היום הזה יה-וה.

In pasuk כג:יז it says ויקם שדה עפרון, Rashi says תקומה היתה לו, that the שדה עפרון had an elevation. Also Eliezer was elevated from ארור to ברוך, and there is an opinion that Eliezer never died like אליהו and   סרח בת אשר. We learn all קדושים from the ג”ז of קיחה קיחה משדה עפרון, since all זיווגים are rooted in מערת המכפלה, the cave of couples.   A זווג אמיתי is forever. Eliezer had tremendous זכות in being such a  שליח נאמן in making the שידוך of Yitzhak and Rivka, and merited to be מגלגל into כלב בן יפנה, who was the שורש of מלכות בית דוד. Kalev married מרים, who was rewarded that מלכות would come from her. As it says כהונה ולוי מיוחבד ומלכות ממרים. Kalev merited this מלכות, because he protested against the מרגלים, and taught the עבודה of elevating the ארציות. The חידא says that he was also מתגלגל into בניהו בן יהוידע. The סימן given for the 105 פסוקים in our Parsha- יהוידע=105. At the end of מרחשון we usually read the הפטרה of  והמלך דוד. The work of  מלכות בית דוד and its elevation, is the עבודה of מרחשון.

We spoke of the בעל הטורים connecting the end of חיי שרה and the beginning of Parshas Toldos, saying that the rise of יצחק and כלל ישראל will take place with the fall of Yishmael –   הנה אנכי שולח לכם את אליהו הנביא=1096=ואלה תולדות יצחק. The reward of the עבודה of elevating the גשמיות in מרחשון will lead to the   חנוכת בית השלישי. The מזל of חשון is the עקרב, which the  בני יששכר says stands for עיקר בית. The last words of the הפטרה of חיי שרה is  יחי אדני המלך דוד לעלם –  יחי אדני המלך דוד לעלם=372=בן ישי=372=עקרב. Unlike the מלאכים who are obviously not involved in elevating the physical, we are called Hashem’s children- not the goyim. In most years, Parshas חיי שרה is שבת מברכים כסלו, the month of Chanuka, which the Rokeach says is when we merit a revelation of the אור הגנוז-  פתח הגן עדן=670=וצונו להדליק נר חנכה. The Zohar says that the אור הגנוז is hinted in the ארבע מאות שקל כסף, which is the 400 desired- נכסף worlds that will be given to צדיקים who taste עולם הבא in this world. The Gemorra says that three people tasted עולם הבא in this world, Avraham, Itzhak, and Yaakov. The word כל refers to the future world, as it says כל ישראל יש להם …By אברהם it says והויה ברך את אברהם בכל, by Yitzhak מכל and by Yaakov כל, as we say in bentching  שנתברכו אבותינו אברהם יצחק ויעקב בכל מכל כל. The number of hours in eight days of Chanuka is 8 x 24=192– – – בכל מכל כל =192.

MarCheshvan is the חודש of the עקרב, the עקסא רבסא, the great suffering that we experience at the end of time. The עקרב leads us into the month of קשת, which also refers to Yishmael, who was the  רובה קשת. In the צד הקדושה, the קשת refers to tefilla, בחרבי ובקשתי, which has to be aimed like a bow and arrow, in order to hit the target. The word קשת are the acronym of שמע קול תפילתינו. Alsoתקון הברית , the mida of Yosef, is referred to as קשת, along with his mida of בטחון, as it says ותישב באיתן קשתו. Through the עבודה of tefilla and ברית קודש, which is synonymous to אמונה, and בטחון we will merit to overpower ישמעאל. The מערת המכפלה is the place where all תפילות enter the upper worlds – גלות ישמעאל=890=מערת המכפלה.

Hagar sat under a tree, the distance from ישמעאל, being that of a shooting arrow הרחק בתחבי קשת. Eliezer, who was a son of Nimrod from Kush, overcame his צד עבדות and was elevated to ברוך, through his נאמנות and his תקון הברית. The prerequisite of שמירת הברית is  שמירת הלשון, the opposite מדה of עפרן=400=רע עין who spoke a lot, but did nothing. In the first pasuk, the words חיי שרה are repeated twice, and Rashi says כלן שוין לטובה. By sending away ישמעאל, Sara paved way for the third בהמ”ק. The words חיי שרה is written twice in the first pasuk- חיי שרה =533 x 2=1066=בית השלישי.  She was the אשת חיל of whom it says טוב ולא רע, as she had the ability to separate the bad from the good in everything. She knew clearly to get Yishmael out of the house. On the other hand Chava, due to her talking too much, brought the חטא עץ הדעת into the world, which resulted in good and bad being mixed up. Sara was the תקון for Chava, and some say she was her גלגול. Rivka was the נשמה of שרה, as Rashi says והרי היא שרה אמו, which is equated with Rivka also separating the wicked עשו from Yaakov. Sara and Rivka purified, and will purify כלל ישראל.

Chanuka is a taste of this טהרה. According to בית שמאי, we light Chanuka candles in decreasing mode, כנגד the seventy bulls that were sacrificed on Sukkos, in decreasing numbers. The first day was thirteen bulls, then twelve, until on the last day of Sukkos seven bulls were sacrificed. The seventy bulls represent the seventy nations which are spearheaded by Esav and Yishmael. The Gra says that by the first, second, and fourth day of Sukkos it says שעיר עזים referring to ישמעאל, whereas on the third, fifth, sixth and seventh, it says just שעיר, referring to עשו. Each has thirty five bulls, and so the seventy bulls representing the seventy nations are headed by עשו and ישמעאל. The two most powerful religions נצרות and Islam, try in every generation to infiltrate Yiddishkeit, and have given the yidden great צרות. Chanuka is the י”ט of שמן זית which is pure, doesn’t mix, and is not contaminated by outside influences. The pasuk which shows that Esav and Yishmael are not part of כלל ישראל is כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע. Chanuka demonstrates the purity of כלל ישראל-

הדלקת נר חנוכה=878=כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע. On חנוכה we get a taste of  אורו של משיח when רוח הטומאה אעביר מו הארץ, when all impurities will be removed. The life and legacy of Sara was the removal of these impurities. Yishmael has no connection to the מערת המכפלה.

In  איוב יא:וit says כי כפלים לתושיה which speaks of the wisdom of the Torah. The commentators explain that we received the לוחות twice. Others interpret this as the Torah of this world and the Torah of the world to come, the סתרי תורה. The yidden are the first born of Hashem, who receive a double portion- מערת המכפלה  –   מקבץ נדחי עמו ישראל=961=כי כפלים לתושיה. In the future we will merit the revelation of כפל.

The Gemorra sometimes learns Halachas from single letters in the Torah. Not one letter is superfluous. How is it that the entire story of Eliezer finding the mate of Itzhak, is written twice? Eliezer told Lavan and Besuel, that he would not eat until he told his story-  ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול=1286=ויאמר לא אכל עד אם דברתי דברי. They put poison in his food attempting to prevent the שידוך.  This repeated story is connected to the Torah of the future, where it says  תורה חדשה מאיתי יצא –a new revelation. This Torah will be revealed when גלות ישמעאל, the fifth גלות will come to an end. The fifth גלות is connected to the fifth כוס of Eliyahu, and the fifth expression of Geula-  משיח בו דוד=424=והבאתי. Parshas חיי שרה is the fifth Parsha in Chumash, where we see the fall of the fifth Galus על פני כל אחיו נפל. The כפל, the תורה of the future, ends with מהויה יצא הדבר, pasuk כד:נ, words said by two רשעים, Lavan and Besuel. Eliezer was a כושי, black, but he was pure white inside, whereas Lavan was an albino, white all over, but he was black inside. The כלל is that כפולה represents גאולה. The Midrash says that מנצפך, which is כפולה, represents the different גלויות. The ך- לך לך was the גאולה of Avraham, the ם the גאולה of יצחק, the נ the גאולה  of יעקב, the פ the גאולת מצרים –פרעה, פסח פדיון…, and the ץ represents the final גאולה from our Galus, which is connected to the double story of Eliezer.

T.B.P.,  תורה שבעל פה requires a clean mouth -פה נקי –סייג לחכמה שתיקה. We learn that Yaakov learned fourteen years in the ב”מ  of  עבר from the calculation of the years of Yishmael (second to last pasuk-Rashi). This hints to us that when there is trouble with ישמעאל, the best advice, beside what we said before, to not answer back, is to go learn Torah- והוא יהיה פרא אדם ידו בכל ויד כל בו=524=תלמוד בבלי The yidden have in them the power of speech, that is real speech- T.B.P. פה –הקול קול יעקב. We already said that ברית הלשון and ברית המעור both go hand in hand and are interdependent on each other מילה=85=פה.The Rokeach says that חנוכה is a הארה of the אור הגנוז, whose source in Chumash is –  וירא אלה-ים את האור כי טוב ויבדל. Chanuka seperates the yidden from the other nations, as olive oil is separate from other liquids when mixed together  את האור כי טוב ויבדל=712=הלשון המעור This number also is equal to  eight times חנוכה or  8 x 89 (חנוכה) =712. The מזל of כסלו is the קשת, the same letters as שקת.

In the מדרש רבה it says that Sara was נפטר in קרית ארבע, in the month of מרחשון, which also means that she was born in מרחשון. This מדרש says that Haman when checking each month for “suitability” to wipe out the yidden ח”ו, when he came to חשון he said no, since Sara passed away in this month. What about Adar, the month that he did choose, being the month of פטירת משה? Haman saw that with the passing of Sara, there was an eradication of ישמעאל, the עקרב. The pasuk says ותמת שרה בקרית ארבע, where בקרית ארבע are the same letters as   בריאת עקרב. The month of מרחשון has the מזל of the עקרב, which was removed with Sara’s death. Sara rids us with the קליפה of ישמעאל and the עקרב, and brings us to the עיקר בית. The double חיי שרה in the first pasuk we said equals to בית השלישי, which will be built in the merit of שרה separating Yitzhak כלל ישראל from ישמעאל. The combination of Hashem’s name for כסלו are derived from the acronym of   הארץ הכנענ וירא יושב  -ויהה.  The חידא says that the last letters of  ויהיו חיי שרה מאה are ויהה, and the first letters, if we take out the   ו החיבור spellמשיח  -יהיו חיי שרה מאה. והיתה להויה המלוכה=588=בירושלם, which will take place in חשון, when מלכות בית דוד will be restored. בירושלים=598=האהלה שרה אמו – Sara is preparing us for משיח.  

As Islam spreads throughout the world, we see an increase of the טומאה of מצרים and אשור, which is a sign that על פני כל אחיו נפל, when they will be humbled-  שם אצמיח קרן לדויד=893=אשור ומצרים In the  famous pasuk  והיה ביום ההוא יתקע בשופר גדול .. speaking of משיח, it mentions these two nations of מצרים and אשור. The pasuk ends with that we will all bow to Hashem- בהר הקדוש בירושלים. The טומאה of אשור and מצרים is the complete opposite of city of אמונה  – ירושלים. Mitzraim represents the place steeped in the physical pleasures, taivos in the world, and אשור is a more intellectual טומאה of atheism and כפירה. To come to י”ם, we must rid ourselves of the טומאה of אשור and מצרים, which are similar to the דור הפלגה and the דור המבול respectively.  These two nations come together at the end of time under the guise of ישמעאל, and  גוג ומגוג who “will decide” who י”ם belongs to.

There are many questions given in the very last pasuk of חיי שרה. The beginning of the pasuk talks in the plural-וישכנו , of the בני ישמעאל on the face of מצרים coming to אשור. The pasuk ends in the singular-נפל , because now the pasuk is talking of just ישמעאל. Even though ישמעאל died with תשובה as Rashi says from the word ויגבע, he has no future, no המשך. This is why it says נפל in the past tense. There is no עליות נשמה for ישמעאל, and he has no connection to the מקומות הקדושים that they occupy now. One may ask, why mention that ישמעאל died a צדיק, and the names of all of his children in the Parsha of Sara? This is her legacy? The answer is yes. Because of Sara’s insight when she said גרש האמה הזאת ואת בנה, Yishmael is mostly out of the picture, in the נצחיות sense. This is her legacy. The חידא says that we’ll never see a Muslim become a Jew. From Esav, there are גרים because there are still sparks of קדושה in עשו, and Esav’s head was buried in the   מערת המכפלה. Sara’s legacy comes to fruition with her being the  first yid buried in the מערת המכפלה, the holy entrance to גן עדן, which has no שייכות to ישמעאל.    

When Eliezer davened for Yitzhak’s שידוך, he used the words   הקרה נא לפני היום, and before he finished speaking, he was answered. By יצחק, in pasuk כד:סג it says וישא עיניו וירא- ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה, that he was answered before he even began to daven. This is even greater than the tefilla of Eliezer, as it says טרם יקראו ואני אענה. Hashem answers the צדיקים even before they pray for what they need. The power of תפילה is very great, and we must pour our hearts out to the Almighty to take us out quickly from this most difficult גלות ישמעאל.