Yossi: Isn’t Chevron called Kiryas Arba in the Torah?
Yoeli: It is. The K’li Yakar says it was also called Mamrei and Eshkol. It had four names, so that’s why it’s called Kiryas Arba — the city of the four!
Yossi: Wow! I also remember learning that four giants lived here… and that, of course, are the four heiligeh couples buried here: Adam and Chava, Avraham and Sara, Yitzchok and Rivka, and Yaakov and Leah! Also, it fell in the nachala of Yehuda, Leah’s fourth son.
Yoeli: Yes! The K’li Yakar says that each of the names of the city represent a different way a person’s neshoma returns to Hashem. Because Chevron is the place that many tzadikim would be buried, its names hint to these four ideas.
Yossi: Um….whoa Yoeli, sounds scary… but I’m listening!
Yoeli: The two highest ways tzadikim are niftar are because Hashem decides it’s their time (not because of their aveiros) or something called “misas neshika” – which is reserved for the holiest tzadikim. These two are referred to as “Kiryas Arba,” and “Chevron.” Chevron comes from the word Chibbur… which means a deep connection. When Sarah Imeinu was nifteres, the passuk says she was nifteres “B’Kiryas Arba, hee Chevron,” she was nifteres in a very heiligeh way.
Yossi: Um, Yoeli I think you may have completely blown my mind there. That must be why Avraham Avinu insisted on buying the cave in every possible way.
Yoeli: What do you mean Yos?
Yossi: Avraham asks for an achuzas kever – literally to hold the kever. To Efron, who owned the field first, a kever is just a place to bury. But to Yid, it’s something that he holds. But only until Moshiach.
Yoeli: So why did he have to buy it?
Yossi: Firstly because of the honor of Sarah. But also because Avraham wouldn’t only be using this for a minute. It would be something he held on to until Moshiach!
Yoeli: And look how many of their grandchildren are here right now, davening, learning, still holding on!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 60.
