Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/188

 The Book of Ccncsis

170

love which was ours, to rejoice in the hallowing memory of our dear ones, w^hich abides with us forever, and to approach the tasks of life, which still exist for us, with stronger faith, deeper insight, and holier consecration to the service

Thus alone can we monument in the

of God.

rear unto our loved ones an hearts and lives of men, so

imperishable that their

memory

shall be for a blessing,

even as the Bible

says.

So

Abraham mourned and

grieved.

But

bravely

he

faced the years of loneliness ahead, and prepared to bury It must be a fitting sepulchre. So he bought the Cave of Alachpelah in Hebron for four hundred shekels of silver, a very large sum of money for those days.

beloved Sarah.

his

Thus the Cave of Machpelah passed into the possession of Abraham and his descendants, and there not only Sarah, but Abraham, too, and tions, were buried.

him for three generaEver since the Cave of Machpelah has been a place of veneration for the descendants of Abraham, and ever they have pilgrimed thither and shown their reverence for the memory of their great and noble ancestors.

And

his children after

our religion teaches that after

all,

death

end, but only the beginning of another existence.

is

not the

When

one our great ancestors passed away, the Bible says, "He was gathered to his fathers", not only in the family sepulof

where

were

laid to rest, but in the great,

eternal life of the spirit, wdiich

knows no end and no separa-

chre,

their bodies

And somehow, even here on earth, death is not the end. The rabbis said of Jacob, "Jacob, our father, never died". And in a sense this is true of every righteous man. For the blessing he has wrought during lifetime still continues among those who knew and loved him, and his memory lives on for years and generations, inspiring all to lives of nobility and usefulness similar to his. Truly our Bible says, tion,

but only God's reward and God's blessing.

The memory of

the ri.sjhteous shall he for a hlessing.