Parshas Chayay Sarah deals with the concluding adventures of the days of Abraham. He is in fact not greatly old. When Sarah passes away he has lived 137 of his 175 years or over ¾ of his life. Nevertheless 38 years is a substantial amount of time.
The beginning of the end is the death of his wife Sarah. The Chumash spends a noticeable number of words dealing with the purchase of Machpela (מכפלה - double) Cave as a family cemetery. The point is made that even after Avraham departs from this world his descendants are going to be permanently connected to the Holy Land.
Abraham’s next project is marrying off his son Isaac. Looking towards the future of the nation he is fathering, he requires a woman who will be happy to live in the land of Israel. The story is lengthy with three parts: 1) the instructions to the shadchun, 2) meeting the successful candidate, 3) meeting the girl’s family. At this point Abraham is described as an elder, advanced in years, and blessed with everything. He is generally considered to be wealthy.
After that Abraham remarries and has six sons. Seven grandsons are mentioned and three great grandsons for a total of sixteen descendants. However he sends them all away. The parsha ends with Ishmael. First it mentions that with Yitzchak he buried Avraham, it then recounts his glory as a the founder of a major nation, and finally says he died with honor.
At times it seems to the reader of the Chumash that Avraham was a man with many travails but that life was not kind to him. When the holy One, blessed be He, tells him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars, it adds that Avraham believed it but this was reckoned as charity. So to speak there was enough in the recesses of his knowledge, experience, and intellect to accept this promise but even so it was not entirely rational. It's as if to say he gave charity to G-d by believing this. HaKadosh Baruch Hu lets him know that justice can take time when he says that the nation of Israel will be enslaved but will leave fully compensated.
When Jacob went to Egypt with a family of seventy, it was clear that he would be a nation. Abraham did see the birth of Yaakov and Esau but that really is not enough. However with a family of sixteen from Katura, and great wealth, it's possible to see that Avraham’s prayers were answered and he was justly compensated for his labors. In addition Ishmael was a proper son in the end. However the essential glory of Avraham avinu was being the founder of a kingdom priests, but it may take some mental exertion at this point in the narrative to see that.
What we see is that appearances can be important. It is not enough to be an honest gabbai of tsadaka, one also needs to keep proper records documenting this honesty. It is not enough to be religious in thought and deed, but the proper clothes and haircut must be displayed. This is so glory that may be hidden can be seen by all.
לע"נ הדוד מאיר בן חיים ז"ל נלב"ע כה תשרי תשנ" ב
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