Parshat Chayei Sarah, 5768

Joel Grossman

The name of this week’s parsha is Chayei Sarah, and that’s exactly what I want to speak about—the name of this week’s parsha. . First, as we celebrate the Library Minyan’s double-chai Shabbat, how appropriate the parsha is called Chayei Sarah. I can honestly say that in none of the committee discussions did anyone say, "Let’s calendar this for a Shabbat that has the word chai in the name of the parsha. Sometimes things just work out.

The real subject of my drash is the second part of the name of the parsha—Sarah. Of all of the avot and imahot, Sarah is the only one who has the honor of having a parsha named after her. While thinking about this, I got to wondering who else in the Torah has a parsha named after them. Well, as it turns out, it’s a short list: of all of the characters in the Torah, only six have their names as the title of a parsha: Noach, Sarah, Yitro, Korach, Balak and Pinchas. Of course that leads to a question—why these six? Does it mean anything, or is the list totally random? Isn’t it true that the way a parsha gets its name is from the first distinctive word in the parsha? If so, is there really any rhyme or reason in who has their name in the title of a parsha? Are there any connections among the six, any reason why they, as opposed to let’s say, Avraham, Yaakov, or Moshe, should have this recognition? Let’s take a look.

The list includes three Jews and three Gentiles. Of the three Jews, two are righteous and one is wicked. Sarah was one of the Imahot, a role model whom we invoke each Friday night when we bless our daughters. Korach was the Levite who rebelled openly against Moshe’s leadership, and was punished severely. Pinchas was the grandson of Aharon, the Kohen Gadol, and the man who killed the Jewish man and Midianite woman who brazenly defied God by their public act of lewdness. For intervening on God’s behalf, God granted Pinchas "briti shalom," my covenant of peace.

So too of the three Gentiles, two are righteous and one is wicked. Noach is called "ish tzaddik" a righteous man. You might remember him—big boat, lots or rain?

Yitro was Moshe’s father-in-law, and he too was righteous. He came to be with his son-in-law, daughter and grandchildren while they were in the desert. He was a cohen midian, a priest in midian. While visiting the family he gave Moshe excellent advice on delegating his tasks to other officials. Finally there is Balak, King of Moab, who hires a prophet named Bilam to curse the Jews so that he could defeat them in battle.

So what is the logic, if any, the Rabbis used in selecting the name of a parsha. As I mentioned, it is generally understood that the first distinctive word or phrase becomes the name of the parsha. But it is not so simple. In fact there are striking inconsistencies in the names of the parshiot. For example,let’s compare the opening words of two parshiot, Noach and Toldot. These are the opening words of parshat Noach: eleh toldot Noach, these are the generations of Noach. The first distinctive word is deemed to be Noach, and therefore that is the name of the parsha. But here are the first three words of parshat Toldot: v’eleh toldot Yitzchak, and these are the generations of Yitzchak. The opening words of the two parshiot are virtually identical, yet in the case of Noach the parsha is named Noach, not Toldot, and in the case of Toldot, the parsha is named Toldot, not Yitzchak. If the first distinctive word of parshat Noach is "Noach," not "toldot," then why isn’t the first distinctive word of parshat Toldot "Yitzchak"?

This isn’t the only question. The names of many parshiot in Bereshit are common verbs" Vayetze, Vayishlach, Vayeishev. In none of these cases do we name the parsha after the second, and presumably more distinctive word, which is in each case the name Yaakov. So there appears to be a principle established that when the first word of a parsha is a common verb, and the second word is someone’s name, the parsha will be named for the verb, not for the person. Now let’s look at the beginning of parshat Yitro. That parsha begins with the words "Vayishma Yitro," a common verb followed by someone’s name. So if common verbs like Vayetze and Vayishlach can be names of a parsha, why not "Vayishma"? To put it another way, why is Yitro given the honor of having a parsha named after him but not Yaakov? Similarly, parshat Korach begins with a common verb followed by someone’s name: "Vayikach Korach," and parshat Balak also begins with a common verb followed by someone’s name: "Vayaar Balak." In each case the verb did not become the name of the parsha, but the name of the person did. Once again, why should the parsha which begins with the words "Vayetze Yaakov" be named "Vayetze," instead of "Yaakov," while the parsha that begins with the words "Vayikach Korach" be named "Korach" instead of "Vayikach"?

Now, in the case of all of the parshiot that have Yaakov as the second word, I can understand that we couldn’t name all of the parshiot "Yaakov." But couldn’t he get at least one? And besides, parshat Vayigash begins with the words, "Vayigash elav Yehuda." Why couldn’t this parsha be named "Yehuda" instead of "Vayigash"? And here is perhaps the toughest question of all: parshat Vayelech begins with the words "Vayelech Moshe," once again a common verb followed by someone’s name. Why couldn’t this parsha be named "Moshe" instead of by the common verb "Vayelech"? After all, who deserves to have a parsha named after him more than Moshe?

Faced with these inconsistencies, and with the somewhat idiosyncratic list of names of six people whose names became the titles of parshiot I can offer this theory. This seemingly odd group of six actually represents what the Torah is all about. First, while the Torah was given to the Jewish people, the Torah is filled with universal teachings for all of humankind. The Torah certainly recognizes that the Jews do not live alone in the world, and that our lives are intertwined with the other peoples of the world. Indeed, we are to be an "or lagoyim" a light unto the nations. And these nations themselves, even though they are not obligated as we are to observe all of the mitzvoth in the Torah, still have basic obligations which are "sheva mitvot bnei Noach," the seven commandments of the sons of Noach. So it makes sense that Noach merits a parsha named after him. And the kohen Midian Yitro, who took Moshe in when he was fleeing for his life from Egypt and who offered Moshe excellent advice in the desert is another example of a righteous Gentile who was of invaluable assistance to Moshe. So the Jewish people don’t just need to coexist with Gentiles, we need their help. To paraphrase Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire," we Jews have always depended on the kindness of Goyim. So far so good. I will come back to Balak.

As for the three Jews honored by having their names attached to a parsha, let’s start with Sarah. Certainly at least one woman had to make the list, and who better than Sarah? She followed Avraham when God told him to go to a place that God would show him. She ran to prepare food for the three angels who looked like plain old travelers. And recognizing that the Jewish people can be polluted by the wrong type of Gentile, she ordered Avraham to banish Hagar and Yishmael. When Avraham questioned this harsh decree, God told him to listen to his wife. Pinchas represents another kind of Jew, one who takes action, even extreme action, in the name of God. No other person in the Torah is given God’s covenant of peace.

Now let’s talk about Korach and Balak. The Torah clearly recognizes that evil can attack us both from outside the camp and from within our own tent. Balak, like the leaders of many other nations, wants to destroy us. He represents the evil from outside the camp, the mighty king who wants only bad things for us. In fact, it is interesting to take note that Balak hires the prophet Bilam, whom he believes can intercede with a heavenly power, not to bless the army of Moab, but instead to curse the Jews. The Torah also recognized the even more dangerous from within our own camp. Korach defies Moshe’s authority and indeed the very principles of Torah and mitzvah.

The idea of external and internal dangers comes to full fruition in the story of Pinchas. There, a Jewish man and a Midianite woman together challenge all norms of authority and decency. Balak is a dangerous outsider in terms of his mighty army, but the Midianite woman—whose name is Kozbi bat Tzur-- is equally dangerous, using sex as a temptation to abandon mitzvoth. Korach is a dangerous internal threat, with his intellectual challenges to Moshe’s authority but the Israelite man –whose name is Zimri ben Salu, and who was the leader of the tribe of Shimon--who dares to have public sex with the Midianite woman represents another kind of threat, one who denies all authority not, like Korach because he is seeking power, but because he is seeking a hedonistic life in which any appetite can and will be fed without thought, in which no moral code governs our natural inclinations. Pinchas has the courage to strike a blow against these internal and external threats, and earns God’s everlasting peace.

In the stories of these six people we learn that we live in a dangerous world, filled with threats both internal and external. From these six people we learn that the response to these threats must sometimes be violent and harsh. At the same time from the stories of these six people we learn that there are good people, Jewish and non-Jewish, men and women, who can protect us, shelter us, feed us and teach us, men and women who are role models for us as we make our way through a difficult and confusing world. May we aspire to attain the gift bestowed on Pichas, briti shalom, God’s covenant of peace.

Shabbat shalom.