English translation — עמוד 105

a)

The title "Cave of <b>Machpelah</b>" denotes only that this is a double cave; but from the title there is no proof that these two caves are one on top of the other.

One could just as well interpret that they are "one <b>within </b>the other"<sup>3</sup>.

From where does Rashi take to say,

that "Machpelah" means "a house and an upper chamber upon it"?

b)

The term "Machpelah" is appropriate to say about <b>one</b> thing that contains within itself a doubleness,

but not about two <b>separate</b> things that have no commonality.

According to this, it is seemingly more logical to say,

that the two caves are "one <b>within</b> the other",

because specifically in this manner there is a unified connection between both caves

and therefore it is understandable that the two caves are called by the unified name "Cave of Machpelah" — <b>one</b> double cave.

However, according to the interpretation that the two caves are one <b>on top of</b> the other,

they have between them no connection that would make them like one unit

(because since a cave is in the ground,

the upper cave necessarily does not need to reach the lower one and it can hold itself even when there is no cave beneath it — and on the contrary,

it is then stronger,

not having a cavity beneath it)<sup>4</sup>.

So how does Rashi learn that by "Machpelah" is meant — "a house and an upper chamber upon it"?

3)

"House" and "cave" are not merely two different concepts,

but also — opposites: house means a building built <b>on</b> the ground and cave is a hollow <b>in</b> the ground.

So Rashi,

explaining the doubling of the caves,

should have said "<b>cave</b> and a chamber above it" and not "<b>house</b> and a chamber above it"⁵?

2.

And further Rashi continues in his commentary on "Hamachpela": "Another explanation: because it was doubled with pairs"²

— that there is another interpretation of why the cave is called "Machpela",

because it was doubled with several pairs,

as Rashi says earlier — on "Kiryat Arba"⁶

— that there were buried four pairs: Adam and Chava,

Avraham and Sarah,

Yitzchak and Rivka,

Yaakov and Leah.

A)

As the Ramban asks,

that

(according to the simple meaning)

"there is no need to seek a reason for the names of places".

So too is Rashi's way,

as is evident from Rashi's <b>not explaining</b>¹⁷

: we see in many places,

that Rashi does not explain the reason why a place or a person etc. is called by a specific name,

even though also according to the simple meaning one can give a reason¹⁸.

Moreover: even also then when Rashi himself gives a reason for the name — he gives it on the verse where it is relevant to the simple meaning of the text and not on the <b>previous</b> verses where the name is mentioned,

as we find it regarding the name "Avram"¹⁹.

From the language of the verse "the Cave of Machpelah which is his, which is at the edge of his field" — where the verse places the word "Machpelah" immediately after the word "Cave",

before it mentions further the field — it implies that "Machpelah" refers specifically to the cave.

Therefore Rashi does not want to learn that the epithet "Machpelah" of our verse is the name of the area, as is the word "Machpelah" in the later verses.

However, since from the later verses it is nevertheless proven,

that also the entire surrounding area was called "Machpelah" and that this name of the area <b>did not</b> come directly from the <b>cave</b>

(as above section 3),

therefore Rashi learns "a house and an upper chamber upon it" — meaning that in proximity,

near the cave there was a <b>double house</b>,

a two-story house²².

Therefore the explanation of the first,

the main one: house and upper chamber &lt;b&gt;upon it&lt;/b&gt; — the house holds the upper chamber, as mentioned above.

And the aforementioned difficulty of the explanation "house and upper chamber upon it" is not so strong — because one finds in other places that one gives to an object &lt;b&gt;two signs&lt;/b&gt;.

7.

In Rashi's commentary there is also "the wine of Torah"²⁸.

It stands in the Zohar²⁹

that "HaMachpeilah" — the doubled hei — means the two hei's that are in the Name Havayah.

And with this the Tzemach Tzedek explains³⁰

the explanation of "a house and an aliyah upon it" that "house" is the aspect of the lower hei,

and aliyah — the aspect of the upper hei.

What is the connection of these two hei's of the Name Havayah,

which are hinted at in the word "HaMachpeilah",

to the matter of the Cave of Machpeilah in its simple sense?

One of the explanations of this is:

The purpose of the descent of the soul below is,

that through her service down here she should attain teshuvah: the soul as she is above,

before she comes down below,

is in the category of tzaddik,

and through her service below,

she becomes in the category of baal teshuvah³¹.