Torah Commentary

This moment when people gather to prepare a eulogy is always powerful. At first, they don't know where to begin, what to include, what to leave out. Do we write our own legacy? Not in words but by our character, by our deeds, by our gifts, by our way of walking through the world.

In the beginning of Parashat Chayei Sarah, Abraham introduces himself to the people of Canaan, the land that has been promised to his descendants.

I am an American citizen living in Vancouver, British Columbia, and serving a Canadian Reform congregation for the past six years. This juxtaposition of two increasingly disparate identities has given me a unique perspective on this week’s parashah, Chayei Sarah, and its introduction of the term ger toshav, “resident foreigner.”