Parashat Chayei Sara
14th November 2025
Week of 9-15 November 2025
Torah portion : Gen. 23 :1-25 :18 Haftarah : 1 Kings 1 :1-31
Theme: The Living one who sees me
After the binding of Isaak in the Parasha of last week, the Torah portion of today opens with the death of Sara and Abraham finding a proper burial place for his wife. After this important matter of paying respect to the dead, Abraham now turns to the future and sets his intention on securing a good wife for his son Isaak which leads to the beautiful story of Isaak and Rebecca meeting at a well, which is not specifically named.
It is therefore a very astonishing detail, that this Parasha mentions yet another well, which does carry a meaningful name. It is mentioned both in this Parasha as well as in last week’s Torah portion and even in next week’s Torah portion, thus connecting all three. A well wrapping up past, present and future so to speak.
In Gen 24:62 the text tells us, that Isaak came from a well, close to his dwelling in the Negev. The name of the well is stated as “Beer-lahai-roi”. This is the very same well, where Hagar’s prayers to God for saving her son Ishmael were answered. Even more specifically, this well is the place where Hagar felt truly seen by God: “And she called the LORD who spoke to her, “You Are El-roi,” (the God who sees me) by which she meant, “Have I not gone on seeing after He saw me!” Therefore, the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it is between Kadesh and Bered (see Gen 16:13-14). The explanation of the well’s name given by the Jewish Publication Society’s translation is “The well of the Living one who sees me”. And in next week’s Parasha this specific well is mentioned yet again, this time as the place where Isaak settles down (f. Gen 25:11).
So first, Hagar names that place, after she had a very personal encounter with God, whom she experienced as a God seeing and saving her and her kin, when everybody else around her had cast them aside. Perhaps Isaak chose to settle at this very place because he also felt seen by the Living One, after he was spared after the traumatic experience of the binding. The fact that today’s Parasha specifically mentions Isaac coming from the “well of the Living One who sees me” could indicate that long before the arranged meeting with Rebecca, God already saw Isaak’s deepest wish to find a loving wife. As the text continues in Gen 24:63 it is mentioned that Isaak went out walking (hebr. lasiach) which leads to the encounter with Rebecca. The Hebrew verb lasiach is interpreted in the Talmud as “praying” (cf. Etz Hayim, p.138). Isaak, went out on a prayerful walk, leaving his comfort zone of a place where he felt seen by God, thus finding his future wife and bringing her back to this special place to settle. The experience of being truly seen at heart level in combination with prayerful trust in God has the potential to result in beautiful outcomes.
For Reflection and Discussion: 1. Do you have a special place where you encounter(ed) God? 2. Do you remember an occasion when you felt truly “seen” either by a person or by God?
Bibliography: Etz Hayim Thora and Commentary (New York: 1999)
This week’s Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Barbara Kauffmann, Germany, Bat Kol Alumna: 2010,2011,2012
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