The Hebrew title for this portion means "The Life of Sarah," and yet the narrative commences at her death. True, we can only measure a person's life fully once he or she has died; yet it still seems odd.
We find some clues to the title in the story that follows. Abraham secures Sarah's burial ground, purchasing the Cave of Machpelah (making the Torah a title deed for the Jewish people to the holy city of Hebron). He also secures a wife for his son, sending his servant to find Rebecca. In a scene that will be repeated in several subsequent courtships (Jacob and Rachel, Moses and Zipporah), the maiden appears at a well and demonstrates her generosity by offering water to Eliezer -- and to his animals as well.
In that sense, the narrative is about the "life" of Sarah because it demonstrates that her legacy, both physical and moral, continued long after her death. That, in a sense, is the true measure of a life: what it creates, the legacy a human being leaves behind.
The accompanying additional reading, or Haftarah, is from Kings I 1:1-31, and tells the story of David's passing, as he confirms his promise to give the kingdom to Solomon, the son of Bathsheba. Though David's love with Bathsheba was conceived in lust, and in sin, it had a Divine purpose -- one of several such examples in the Old Testament.
This week'd portion begins the book of Numbers. Interestingly, the Hebrew name for the book is "In the Desert," not "Numbers." The portion, which happens to be my bar mitzvah portion, focuses almost as much on the names of the princes of each tribe as the number of soldiers it fielded. It also focuses on the configuration of the tribal camps around the central Tabernacle and the Levites.
So why "Numbers" instead of "Names" or "Places"? The numbers are, to be sure, a unique feature of the opening of this Biblical book -- but they are not the focus of the rest of the narrative. The Hebrew focuses on the place where the events in the book take place, because essentially this is the narrative of the Israelites' wanderings from Egypt to Israel, across 40 years. We move from the giving of the Torah and the construction of the Tabernacle in Exodus and Leviticus, to the final valediction of Moses in Deuteronomy -- Bamidbar is the story of wandering that happened in between.
The question of ...
This week's portion begins with the laws of the Sabbath and the Sabbatical year, and the Jubilee year that restores all land to its original (tribal) owners. It also explores laws of property and labor that will apply in the Land of Israel, and the laws of vows and inheritance.
The Israelites are presented -- not for the last time -- with the essential moral choice that they must face, and the rewards for choosing well, along with the consequences for choosing poorly.
We learn that doing good things will earn God's protection from enemies. That does not mean that victims of terror, God forbid, were sinful. But it does mean that we can respond to evil by committing ourselves to a higher path.
This week's portion describes the major sacrifices that are to be offered by the Jewish people, including those that are offered only by the priestly Kohen class, and physical requirements of the people (men) who serve in that role.
Inter alia, there are interesting commandments -- such as an injection to treat animals with respect and care, first, by letting a mother animal nurse her offspring for a week before being offered in any sacrifice; and second, by refraining from slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The commandments regarding animals remind us of the purpose of those regarding human beings: to uphold a divine connection, through ritual.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111878/jewish/Rabbi-Isaac-Luria-The-Ari-Hakodosh.htm
