The Talmud tells us that Avram was an akar (akar = the masculine form of the Hebrew word for “barren,” unable to have children naturally).[1] Spiritually, too, children were not to be a part ...

Abraham sees Sarah die; he weeps for her and eulogizes her. Yet suddenly, after the eulogy comes to the negotiation for the burial plot, his discussion with the children of to buy the cave of ...

When the Almighty finally reveals to him that he will have a son with Sarah as well, Abraham laughs and says, ““Oh, if only Ishmael might live before You!” (17:18). In modern language, it ...

"Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre—now Hebron.” For many centuries, Hebron’s Jews remained a tiny impoverished community under Muslim control ...

The first burial is described in this week’s Torah portion, when Abraham buried his wife, Sarah. Abraham approached Efron the Hittite to purchase a burial plot.

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of ...

God and two angels visited Abraham and Sarah. God said by the time he visited them the following year, they would have as son.

This is why when Abraham was reluctant to send away Hagar and Ishmael as Sarah demanded, God directly instructed him “In all that Sarah says to you, harken to her voice.” (Genesis 21:12) So ...

My memory is vivid of my first visit to Hebron, at age 13 in 1967. The West Bank was newly under Israeli sovereignty. I was thrilled to be in the Cave of Machpelah, where Abraham had buried Sarah, ...

The first burial is described in this week’s Torah portion, when Abraham buried his wife, Sarah. Abraham approached Efron the Hittite to purchase a burial plot.