I was once touring the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron and as we walked by an excavated home, the guide told our group that they had recently discovered what seemed to be a jewelry box in the dig. He indicated that knowing the time period that the home was from, it is possible that the jewelry box once belonged to our mother, Sarah.
Whether it was hers or not, the notion that I was standing on the hill where Abraham and Sarah actually might have lived was amazing. It brought to life a period of time that often eludes us and seems so distant to us.
Yes, Sarah was a resident of Hebron and Hebron is her eternal resting place. She was real. A person, a mother, the actual mother of the Jewish people.
Sometimes it is easy to allow our speculation about yesteryear to cloud the reality of an amazing national mother (and father) having really existed. Their sacrifice for others is real. Her sensibilities and instincts were real and her commitment to G-d is worth emulating.
May we always remember the greatness and reality of Sarah.
