Parshah 5 - Chayei Sarah - The Life of Sarah. Torah - Beresheet / Genesis 23: 1 to 25:18. Haftarah – M’lakhim Alef/ 1 Kings 1: 1 - 31. Brit Chadashah - (NT) - Mattityahu / Matthew 1: 1-17. What motivates your actions? What motivates us? What attracts our attention and leads us to get involved with the people and situations? Are we seeking the welfare of others or our own? It is no wonder that Sarah is one of the rare women whose story is told in the Bible, because she is the mother of the Israelite Nation! In her life as in our own life there are positive and negative things. Things that we are proud of and things that we would prefer had never happened. Such is our life. I would however, concentrate on another character also part of this narrative, Lavan or Laban. And why so? Because I think he has characteristics that are very similar to this generation that we live in: ambition, cunning (not to call him a rascal), he is also impulsive and does not give the preference to his own parents. Beresheet/ Genesis 24:29-30 "Rivkah had a brother named Lavan. When he saw the nose- ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists besides, and when he heard his sister Rivkah’s report of what the man had said to her, he went out to meet the man at the spring and found the man standing there by the camels." (BVN) Eliezer the chief servant or general manager of the house of Avraham is charged with getting a wife to Yitzchak (Isaac), a woman who was not one of the Canaanites, the people from the place they had conquered. Eliezer travels with his entourage to Haran, a long journey of many days. Eliezer was a man who feared Avraham's God and prayed for a sign. He had not finished praying when Rivkah comes to get water in the well. The prayer was answered, the servant of Avraham presented Rivkah "with a gold pendant to wear on her nose, weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets of gold in her arms, ten shekels in weight." Beresheet/Genesis 24: 22, JPS) She in turn rushes home to tell her mother everything that has happened and then we are abruptly introduced to Lavan, her brother. We are told that when he saw the gold that his sister had received, he rushes to meet Eliezer at the edge of the well. Jonathan Allan brings us some explanations about Lavan, citing Nahum Sarna who said that their names were related to events common to the time of birth, for example the meaning of Lavan's name was "white" as the female form is " the white," a poetic term for the moon. The father of Avraham and Nahor was called Terah, concerning the "moon"; Sarah is the Hebrew equivalent of the Arcadian word "queen," the name of the spouse of the moon god, Sin. Milca, Naor's wife and Rivkah's grandmother - comes from another Arcadian word 'princess', the name of Sin's daughter. " The Sages of antiquity commented on Lavan. Rabbi Isaac said, “He was exceptionally white.” Rabbi Berechiah, said that “He was a refined crook" (Beresheet Rabbah 60: 7) In the Soncino translation of the Midrash he explains in a footnote, "He was very white, but his actions made him dirty as a pig." Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888 CE), "made a stern remark among our sages, he said that there was nothing white in Lavan except his name!" Lavan rushes out to offer hospitality to the stranger. The next verse seems to offer an alternative explanation: "When he saw the nose-drop and the bracelets in his sister's arms, and when he heard his sister Rivkah say, 'thus the man spoke to me ...'" (Beresheet/Genesis 24: 30, JPS) Note the punctuation here given by the translators, it is very revealing. The sentence began with our quotation from the key verse and focuses on this verse: "Laban ran to meet the man by the well, when he saw the golden nose-ring." The man was very self-willed! Just like some of us today…something some of the top Jewish commentators agree with. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 CE) asks, "Why did he hurry and why did he run?" When he saw the ring on her nose he said, " ‘This one is rich’, and Lavan has his eyes on the money. " Rabbi Ovadia Sforno (1470-1550 CE) confirms: "Lavan rushed to see the rich visitor, not to offer him hospitality but to earn something for him as well.” While Hirsch comments that "For Laban the glitter of so much gold, exercised as magic over him: 'Is there more where it comes from? If this is the price he pays for a drop of water, what will it be for housing and food?" We can anticipate the character of Lavan, as revealed later in his dealings with his nephew Yaakov. There is nothing in this narrative that suggests that Rivkah is acting for the wrong reasons. She innocently executes the sign that the servant of Avraham has requested, then receives the gifts properly. She must have recognized that it was a marriage proposal, but then the family men did the formalities of the agreement, so she gives her consent openly only after her family speaks to her. And she does so as she was dreaming, concerning that she will never see her family again. What a brave woman! Remember that we are talking about something that happened almost 4 thousand years ago in a culture so different from ours today, so be aware of the differences. The narrative tells us that Lavan, on the other hand, although he seems to offer hospitality and listen carefully to what the servant has to say, does not have the right motives and has his eyes on what can be left for him. He was not at all disappointed and after the negotiations, the Torah says that the servant brought silver and gold jewels and garments, and gave them to Rivkah. The servant of Avraham also gave her brother and her mother costly ornaments (v. 53), but these clues in this story prepare us for the next time we meet Lavan and how he deals deceptively with Yaakov the son of Rivkah, his nephew. For those who see the situation from the "outside" it seems that Lavan has done well, speaks softly and offers hospitality, but his thoughts are only about what he personally will gain in this situation. That's a very strong "spirit of Lavan" among a lot of people today. We condemn the politicians, but I've seen this kind of activity within the community of believers as well. Is there nothing in this story that worries us intimately? What motivates us? What attracts our attention and leads us to get involved with the people and situations? Are we seeking the welfare of others or our own? What is our main motivation? Who in the last resort is seated upon the throne of our heart? These are pertinent and sometimes difficult questions to answer. It will depend on the honesty of each one and worse, it will depend on the honesty with one to his or herself! Rav Sha'ul (Apostle Paul) encouraged the Philippians to "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vainglory, but humbly consider each one the other better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2: 3-4, ESV) Nowadays, we see people who think the world revolves around them, people that must take advantage of everything and everyone. It frightens me sometimes when I encounter such selfish people dressed as believers, that sometimes I do not even know what to say. Lavan was clearly attracted to physical wealth - the gold jewelry given to his sister. Lord Yeshua taught his disciples that they should have different priorities from the rest of this world: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy; where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes, and where thieves do not break in or steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Mattityahu/Matthew 6: 19-21, NIV) Is it a sin to be rich? Is it a sin to have jewels and goods? No, of course not! Yeshua was not saying this, He is asking about our attitudes: to what end are we storing riches? Where have we placed our trust? Yeshuacalls us to make our investments in the kingdom of God, where we can see an immediate return in this world. That is where we can see lives being transformed and we will still have treasures in our lives to come. Riches can be relative. The poor in America can be the rich in Africa, for example. The dictionary defines rich as someone who has all his or her physical needs supplied. In this sense we are all rich in this little community. Someone who lacks food, water or a roof over their heads is clearly poor. On another occasion Yeshua made it clear what to focus on: "Therefore I tell you not to worry about your own life - what you will eat or drink, or with your body - what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothing? ... But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things also shall be given to you.”(Mattityahu/Matthew 6:25, 33, BJC) We must strive to share our faith with others and help them to know Yeshua, but this must be driven by our compassion for them (and our obedience to the Father), rather than being a motive for proclaiming on the news or just increase our statistics.