Jews, we tend to believe - and our anti-Semitic friends keep telling us - are shrewd, clever businessmen who know how to drive a hard bargain.
Yet you would never know it from our sedra.
Avraham comes to purchase a plot in Eretz Yisrael in which to inter his beloved wife, Sarah. He chooses the cave of Machpela, owned by one Efron, the Hittite. The Torah describes at great length the deliberations that ensued between Avraham and the Hittites.
At first, Efron appears quite magnanimous. He calls Avraham a "mighty prince" and seems to give him carte blanche over the field. "In the choicest of our graves you may bury your dead!" he tells Avraham.
But then, protracted negotiations ensue. The terms and the price are heatedly debated and - far from getting the cave at a bargain - Avraham ends up paying the enormous sum of 400 silver shekels in international currency, worth in actuality one million shekels, say chazal. Hardly a metziah.
And all the while, poor Sarah's burial is greatly delayed.
What went on here behind the scenes?
Avraham could not accept the initial offer of B'nei Chet. They had said: "In the choicest of our graves bury your dead; none will withhold his grave from you." Yes, Avraham could bury Sarah there, but only on condition that the site remain their land.
This, Avraham cannot accept, for he is not just any man at a certain moment in time; he is the father of our country, and all his actions are timeless precedents for the future. As a true leader, he understands that whatever he does will have huge implications for the future, and that he speaks not just for himself, but for all Jews throughout history.
So he states his own terms: "Give me the Machpela." It must be my possession - now and for always.
"Oh, so you want ownership, title to the Land?" says Efron. "That will cost you a pretty penny!"
Avraham pays the exorbitant price because he is buying a piece of eternity for Am Yisrael, and eternity does not come cheap. As the first piece of the Land of Israel to legally come into our possession, Avraham wants to establish the principle that what we have, we paid for: in money, in effort, in blood. And therefore, it is ours forever.
"The field of Efron rose," says the pasuk. Not only did the price go up; the inherent status of the Land itself was elevated when it became part of our eternal heritage. It took on a new spirit as it became priceless, immutable and eternal.
Yet you would never know it from our sedra.
Avraham comes to purchase a plot in Eretz Yisrael in which to inter his beloved wife, Sarah. He chooses the cave of Machpela, owned by one Efron, the Hittite. The Torah describes at great length the deliberations that ensued between Avraham and the Hittites.
At first, Efron appears quite magnanimous. He calls Avraham a "mighty prince" and seems to give him carte blanche over the field. "In the choicest of our graves you may bury your dead!" he tells Avraham.
But then, protracted negotiations ensue. The terms and the price are heatedly debated and - far from getting the cave at a bargain - Avraham ends up paying the enormous sum of 400 silver shekels in international currency, worth in actuality one million shekels, say chazal. Hardly a metziah.
And all the while, poor Sarah's burial is greatly delayed.
What went on here behind the scenes?
Avraham could not accept the initial offer of B'nei Chet. They had said: "In the choicest of our graves bury your dead; none will withhold his grave from you." Yes, Avraham could bury Sarah there, but only on condition that the site remain their land.
This, Avraham cannot accept, for he is not just any man at a certain moment in time; he is the father of our country, and all his actions are timeless precedents for the future. As a true leader, he understands that whatever he does will have huge implications for the future, and that he speaks not just for himself, but for all Jews throughout history.
So he states his own terms: "Give me the Machpela." It must be my possession - now and for always.
"Oh, so you want ownership, title to the Land?" says Efron. "That will cost you a pretty penny!"
Avraham pays the exorbitant price because he is buying a piece of eternity for Am Yisrael, and eternity does not come cheap. As the first piece of the Land of Israel to legally come into our possession, Avraham wants to establish the principle that what we have, we paid for: in money, in effort, in blood. And therefore, it is ours forever.
"The field of Efron rose," says the pasuk. Not only did the price go up; the inherent status of the Land itself was elevated when it became part of our eternal heritage. It took on a new spirit as it became priceless, immutable and eternal.