When Sarah dies, Abraham does what any devoted husband would do - but more so. Not only does he bury her with the honour that was her due; he uses her passing to acquire the first Jewish property in Israel, the country that is called the Land of Life (Eretz HaChaim).

And immediately afterwards, he embarks upon another life-giving mission. He seeks a wife for his son Isaac to ensure the continuation of Sarah's legacy.

And continue it does - when Isaac betroths Rebecca at the end of the parasha - Sarah's tent returns to its former glory and radiance. It is as if Sarah has never died.

Not for Abraham to create a shrine for Sarah's memory - to leave her tent untouched as at the moment of her death. To think that to do otherwise would be a betrayal of her memory. On the contrary, the pall of sadness that such a shrine would cast would truly ensure that Sarah's death was final. Far from being a tribute to Sarah, it would suck the life of the future into the vortex of the past. What Abraham wanted was that the bitter taste of death should propel her life to an even more glorious future. It is for this reason that the parasha of Sarah's death is called Chayei Sarah - the life of Sarah.

It is also for this reason that although Abraham eulogized Sarah, he cried for her but a little. This is indicated in the Torah's using a diminutive letter "caf" in the Hebrew word for crying, "livcota". Miss her, he most certainly would, and so he did cry. But not for long. A far greater tribute would be to ensure that she lived on - and so he immediately got to work.

Abraham, through his personal example, has taught us the true Jewish response to death, and indeed to difficulties of any kind. It is unnatural not to mourn a loss. The Talmud describes such a person as insensitive. At the same time, however, the Talmud criticises a person who cries too much. Rather than allow a tragedy to pull us down to the past, Abraham has taught us to use it to propel ourselves into an even greater future.

May Hashem spare us from all sadness and sorrow

Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM