A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parsha, Parshas Chayei Sarah. In Parshas Chayei Sarah we learn about Avraham Avinu buying the מערת המכפלה in connection to the death of Sarah. We see an interesting thing here. Der Eibershter had promised Avraham Avinu earlier yet that He will give him Eretz Yisrael. And it says Avraham Avinu even, Der Eibershter told him התהלך בארץ לארכה ולרחבה, go the length and the breadth of Eretz Yisrael, and by doing that, he will be קונה ארץ ישראל. And nevertheless, in the open revealed way, in actuality, there was nothing that we saw that Eretz Yisrael became his. But when it came to מערת המכפלה, to Sarah's burial, there is the first time that there was something that happened that showed that Eretz Yisrael belongs to Avraham Avinu, uv'meila belongs to the Yidden. And as, as the pasuk says ויקם שדה עפרון אשר במכפלה לאברהם למקנה, that the field of Ephron, Machpelah came, was picked up to Avraham Avinu for a sale, and Rashi says תקומה היתה לו, it was elevated, שיצאה מיד הדיוט ליד מלך, and went out from the hands of an simple person and it came into the hands of the king, which is Avraham. So by the מערת המכפלה, in connection to Sarah's burial, that's where it actually came, in actuality, that there was something physically, in realistic way, that Eretz Yisrael became Avraham Avinu's. So it's interesting that till then it didn't happen, it was his, Der Eibershter gave it to him, everything, but in actuality there was nothing that showed that it was his that people could see. But from, in time of Sarah, when she had to be buried, this happened.

So Der Rebbe says the reason for this is like this: one of the differences between a man and a woman is that a man could have all kinds of great ideas and should come up with ideas and all kinds of things how the house is supposed to behave, etc., etc. But to bring it down l'maaseh b'poal, to actuality, that's the job of the wife. As the Gemara says that a man brings home wheat and brings home other types of food, but who prepares it that it should actually be able to be eaten? The wife. And the Gemara even says a לשון: נמצא that מאירה עיניו ומעמידתו על רגליו, she lights up his eyes and she puts him on his feet, which means that to use the actual the food that the husband brings, that the wife does. That's what the mother does. And Der Rebbe explains the pshat in the מאמר חז״ל: איזו היא אשה כשרה שעושה רצון בעלה. Pashut pshat means what's a, who's a real proper wife if she does the will of her husband. And Der Rebbe says it means a little bit deeper, not only she does the will of her husband, she is able to do in actuality what the husband has in his will, cuz the husband doesn't necessarily, the man doesn't necessarily have that koach to be able to bring it down to actuality, but the wife does.

And we see that also began here, Rivka and Sarah, Der Eibershter said to Avraham Avinu by Sarah, whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her. And she was able to actuality to be able to see the difference between Yitzchak and Yishmael. Rivka was also able to see the difference between Yaakov and Esav, because a woman has this koach of bringing it down into maaseh b'foal. And u'meila the same thing happened here also. מצד Avraham Avinu, Eretz Yisrael was his and was given to him, all fine and good, but it didn't come down into maaseh b'foal, into actuality. It's only in connection to Sarah, this is what happened, that it came down into actuality that a piece of Eretz Yisrael actually belonged to in to Avraham Avinu, which was even known and seen by the goyim, that they saw that this became something special, this became Avraham Avinu's place. And the lesson from here is that this is how every household is supposed to behave, that the husband is supposed to have the ideas and is supposed to know what is right and what is wrong and give all kinds of ideas, but how to bring it down b'foal, that's the job of the wife, that she's able to bring it down into maaseh b'foal.