A Field, Marriage And Connecting To God

The Torah juxtaposes the death of Sarah and her burial in maras hamachpalah and the marriage of Yitzchak.  What is the connection between these two events?  Why is the acquiring of a wife through money learnt from buying a field (as it says in Kiddushin 4a,) and specifically from buying maras hamachpalah? How is the whole saga of the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivka applicable to our lives? What is the significance of the cave being doubled?

The maras hamachpalah is in Chevron which is related to the word chibur which means connection.  The maras hamachpalah in Chevron represents our deep connection to Hashem which always exists subconsciously. Jerusalem is the place which demonstrates our outward love to Hashem.  It’s the place of the Beis Hamikdash where we can serve Hashem in a complete fashion.  However, when we sin, and that connection is no longer apparent then Jerusalem becomes defiled in the hands of the gentiles.  However, we still have the maras hamachpalah which represents that there is a hidden buried connection to Hashem that always remains within us and can never be severed.  The burying of the Avos in the cave represents the Avos which are buried within our heart.  The Chidushay Harim says that we say magan Avrohom in Shemoneh Esrai because there is a little Avrohom which exists within all of us which contains the hidden ahavah to Hashem.  That’s why the doubling of the cave is significant for it represents the both the inner and outward connection to Hashem that we have.   That’s why we learn kiddushin from the acquisition of the maras hamachpala for it symbolizes that in a successful marriage there always must be apparent an inner connection between the husband and wife.  That is why parsha of marriage in the Torah is juxtaposed specifically to the purchase of the cave for marriage is supposed to contain within in a deep connection that will never be severed because of what happens on the outside.  The same thing is true regarding our relationship with Hashem which is referred to as a marriage in Chazal. No matter what actions we take we always retain that eternal connection to Hashem.  (Based upon Emunos Etechah.)  The midrash says that Chevron was given to Caleb and from his hands to the Leviem.  The Rebbe explains that since Chevron is the place of this deep connection to Hashem it’s only fitting that it should belong to the Leviem who are the ones who are charged with the task of bringing a person closer to Hashem.