Parsha, Chayei Sarah (Genesis/Bereshiet 23:1 through 25:18) is about far more than the “Life of Sarah”. And it has a lot more to teach us even than the fact that it is THE first and most fundamental example of many elements of law, from contracts and “power of attorney” to marriage.

In the Erev Shabbat overview look at the entire section, Mark examines the Torah portion which is probably the most fundamental in the Bible when it comes to understanding the ‘common law’.

The Sabbath Day follow-up begins with a premise that Mark has explored for years: How do America go from a “nation of Law, not of men,” based on the once “self-evident Truth” that there IS a God, and Creator of the Universe, Who made us in His image, and then Wrote instruction for us, to a place where men’s oaths before Him mean nothing.

And that is related to another major element of this parsha, in that Abraham was blessed “in ALL” — even before Yitzak, the son of promise, had a wife. What does that tell us about how we should deal with yet ANOTHER land and time where “lawlessness abounds”?

The combined two-part teaching is here, available for download as well: