by Rabbi Katz

In this week’s Torah Portion, we are introduced with Abraham’s tragic loss of his beloved wife Sarah. The scene that we are introduced to in the beginning of the parsha is an image that will be set for the rest of time: Abraham has purchased the Cave of Machpela as a burial ground that will host the Forefathers as he has bargained with the locals while stating and expressing that he has a portion of the Land, to which the Children of Heth oblige.

Within this episode of Abraham, a peculiar use of terminology is expressed, as Abraham says, “גר ותושב אנכי” (I am a stranger and a resident among you). This happens to be the same use of language the Torah employs today for Noahides who uphold the Law while living in the Holy Land. A basic question is: Exactly what is Abraham’s status? Was he the first Jew? Was he a Noahide? And most important for the scope of this text: What was his relationship with Sarah and/or Haggar based on these terms?

First and foremost, The Jewish people are the seed of Abraham and became a proper nation under the umbrella of Mount Sinai. Although Jews come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sinai marks the beginning of the nation; as this distinction means a Jew is from Sinai onwards and Pre-Sinai is another status. The forefathers thus had a quasi - status, as they existed before Sinai and the giving of the Torah, however Abraham kept all of the commandments and fulfilled the entire Torah, beyond that of the required 7 Commandments of Bnei Noach.  Abraham achieved this elevated status due to his acceptance of the Torah that was offered through the hand of Shem, the main influence of Abraham, whom Hashem hand chosen to be the father of the Torah. Abraham thus accepted, and went on to father the eventual Jewish people, bringing Shem’s vision to fulfillment and the advent of Mt. Sinai.

Abraham went on to live a life of commandments, in fine detail, to where he was able to identify and live 613 specific commandments, due to his free will choice. Yet since he was officially not commanded by Hashem to do so, he was not a Jew by law, yet a chose a lifestyle not that of a Noahide. With Abraham’s life remaining a bit unclear in terms of categorization, did his marital life shed any more light onto an unsettled scenario?

The wife of Abraham, of whom this week’s Torah portion is in memory of is Sarah. In Parsha Lech Lecha, Sarah was barren and had offered her handmaiden to Abraham in efforts to build Sarah up so that she may also be able to bear children. In the end, Haggar becomes pregnant right away from Abraham and she eventually bears Yishmael to the world. The story from there, continues that Sarah will eventually be Blessed to bear Isaac into the world miraculously, which will result in Haggar and Yishmael being forced out of Abraham’s Home due to Sarah’s perception that this arrangement was not suitable to Isaac.  Isaac will go through “The Binding of Isaac” (Akeida) and we then arrive at this week’s portion with the death of Sarah. If we were to call Sarah Abraham’s Jewish wife, what then was the reality of Haggar? How could Abraham be with Haggar if she was not Jewish?

Before Mt. Sinai, the Forefathers committed acts against the Torah, that since it was pre-Sinai, they are not considered sins outright. For example Jacob married two sisters, which the Torah forbids in Jewish Law. Yet if Jacob existed before the giving of the Torah, he also enjoyed a quasi-state-of-being, thereby not bearing a guilty soul. If Abraham was Jewish, yet had the quasi - state of existence (as per Talmud Bava Batra 58a), do we see a similar episode by him as we saw in Jacob for example? The answer is yes, Haggar!

After Sarah’s death, Yishmael and Haggar had already been exiled for some time, and Isaac is married to Rebecca…Where does this leave the Patriarch Abraham, after he is still alive and functioning very much so in the Torah at this point of time.

This takes us back to the beginning of the Parsha, when Abraham said, “I am a stranger and resident amongst you.” If Abraham was totally Jewish, this statement would be false! Thus to bring his words into fruition by the end of the parsha, we see a dramatic change of affairs: Abraham married Keturah!

Keturah is none other than Haggar! So what happened?

Sarah died, and the whole time from her exile until her return, Haggar had remained absolutely pure to Abraham, in not being with any other man, thus she had attained a level of Good Deeds and fulfilled commandments – implying the Noahide Commandments. Due to her level, she attained the name Keturah, testifying to her loyalty to Abraham, despite her trials. Now that Sarah has died, the Jewish wife factor in Abraham was gone; Abraham now could partake in his “Non – Jewish” side, and return Haggar as a wife until the death of Abraham, and thereby isolating his Jewish status with the death of his only Jewish wife Sarah.

An interesting point of observation, is that Yishmaelites that are Noahides, are called, “Bnei Keturah”, rather than “Bnei Haggar”, and actually follow an 8^th commandment of circumcision. Was Haggar’s name change to Keturah an elevation in observance? It was suggested to me by a Noahide,  that maybe Keturah was Haggar’s  Noahide Name! Thus her descendants of Noahide Tradition would be called in the name of Keturah rather than Haggar!

With this point of clarity, we can understand, that Abraham may have been married to Sarah in terms of his Judaism, and to Keturah in his role of Bnei Noach, as he was before Mt. Sinai, let  us not forget. After all, they may be Bnei Keturah, yet they are fathered by Abraham, and thus also his children, as Abraham received the Blessing to be the father of Nations.

In closing, Abraham may be the father of the Jews, but Abraham still received the Torah from Shem on an intimate level, and perhaps Abraham helped Shem succeed not only in giving over the Torah, but strengthening the Noahide movement as well, through his offspring with Keturah – A woman who elevated herself from Haggar to Keturah, Keturah meaning a fragrant aroma; an open expression of elevation through a Noahide Name. To this day, the name Keturah has stuck, and it could be that it’s the name that can connect Noahides to their source, after all, the forefather of Abraham and all Noahides, “Shem”, means just that, “A Name.”

In a parsha that ends with the tragic loss of Abraham’s wife Sarah, culminates wonderfully with his reunion to Keturah, highlighting a little clearer, the extent of Abraham’s mission in spreading the light of Shem; is there a better example than Keturah? We can learn many things from Abraham and Shem, but here it is Keturah that shows us her contribution to Bnei Noach, with her Derech Eretz / Proper Conduct, as she acted only for the sake of Heaven, for she remained dedicated to Abraham and his mission; a mission to better the entire world, as it is said, “Shem strengthened Abraham, but also Abraham strengthened Shem…and the Torah given is a Noahide Nation Proud…pure as the name Keturah, a true student of “Shem”, and a wife of Abraham.