Lizchus Chana Leiba bas Necha Gittel, for Bracha and Hatzlacha. 

ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים

  - The Medrash cites the pasuk יודע ה' ימי תמימים ונחלתם לעולם תהיה - "Hashem knows the days of the complete and their inheritance will be forever" and relates it to Sarah. And it says that just as the Tzadikim are complete so are their years [based on the fact that the pasuk mentions both Sarah and her years] . "ונחלתם לעולם תהיה" can be interpreted to mean that the portion of complete people is forever. 

There are two central themes in the Parsha. The burial of Sarah in Eretz Yisrael and the story of the shidduch of Yitzchak. These are alluded to in the pasuk that talks about complete years and an eternal inheritance. Sarah's years were complete, her inheritance of Me'aras Hamechpeila was forever and Yitzchak certainly was a complete person whose years were complete [and his spiritual inheritance is forever]. 

The statement of Sarah that "כי לא יירש בן האמה הזאת עם בני עם יצחק" - B/c the son of the maidservant will not inherit with my son with Yitzchak, received the Bracha of Moshe "וישכון ישראל בטח בדד עין יעקב" - The Jewish people dwelt in security alone, the spring of Yaakov. The promise of security is only when the Jews are alone. This segulah is an inheritance of the inheritance of Yaakov from the fountain of Yaakov.      

"קדש ישראל לה' ראשית תבואתה" - Israel is holiness to Hashem, the first fruits of his produce. From this prophecy of Yirmiyahu it emerges that there are two aspects to the Kedusha of the Jewish people. תרומה and קודש. When it comes to תרומה, the ראשית תבואה, there is a rule that one must leave over some for himself. If he made his entire storehouse into תרומה it is no good!! "שייריה ניכרים". Whereas when it comes to קודש, a person can sanctify ALL of his possessions to the Beis Hamikdash. A Jew has the power to create Hekdesh. The Zohar Hakadosh says that we all must sanctify ourselves like the Avos "לקדשא כל חד גרמיה" [Zohar 3/93]. That is the קודשה of the Jewish people which is the קדושה of the Avos. 

The pasuk says "כה אמר ה' אל בית יעקב אשר פדה אברהם" - So said Hashem to the House of Yaakov who redeemed Avraham. The Gemara expounds [Sanhedrin 19b] that Yaakov Avinu redeemed Avraham Avinu. Yishmael and the sons of Keturah came from Avraham and Esav came from Yitzchak while the bed of Yaakov was complete. All of his children were complete Jews which was the redemption of Avraham. Avraham and Yitzchak were תרומה where some of their seed was holy and chosen while the rest remained mundane. Yaakov in contrast is קודש to Hashem where it is all holy. קודש גרמיה as the Zohar Hakadosh says. 'קדש ישראל לה which leaves no room for the Gentile nations.  ראשית תבואתה symbolizes the relationship between the Jews and Gentiles, for as the Navi said "והלכו גויים לאורך ומלכים לנוגה זרחך" - The Gentiles are going to walk in the Light of the Jewish people. Like תרומה. A symbiotic relationship between what is holy and what is less holy.  

"בהנחל עליון גויים בהפרידו בני אדם יצב גבולות עמים למספר בני ישראל".  - When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. The concept of מספר - number, has no limit. One can count and count and count to no end. This "concept" of infinity relates to the Jewish people. למספר בני ישראל. [The simple meaning of the pasuk is that the Jews were 70 when descending to Egypt, so too the Gentiles are split up into 70 nations]. The Jewish people are infinite with infinite קדושה. As we learned - 'קדש ישראל לה. The nations have no connection to this realm. Then there is the limited קדושה, that of תרומה, where שייריה ניכרים, some holy some not. The fact that this is a limited קדושה, one where there are unsanctified remnants, allows the nations of the world to connect and have a portion. 

The recognition of the nations in the future is dependent on Yaakov. On the vision of Yehsayahu   וְֽהָלְכ֞וּ עַמִּ֣ים רַבִּ֗ים וְאָֽמְרוּ֙ לְכ֣וּ ׀ וְנַעֲלֶ֣ה אֶל־הַר־יְהֹוָ֗ה אֶל־בֵּית֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יַעֲקֹ֔ב -  And many peoples shall go and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Hashem, to the house of the God of Yaacov" Chazal expound "Not like Avraham who called it a mountain, not like Yitzchak who called it a field but like Yaakov who called it a HOUSE" [Pesachim 88a]. As Yaakov says "אין זה כי אם בית א-להים" - This is only a HOUSE of Hashem. Mountains and fields are open spaces. Avraham was open and spread the Word of Hashem to the world. His life's work was publicizing knowledge of Hashem. Yitzchak was מקדש שם שמים to the world. While Yaakov did something different. He created boundaries. Like a house. 12 defined tribes. The קדושה of the Jewish people can only be assured when we are alone. "וישב ישראל בטח בדד". Secure when alone. 

The separation between the Jews and the nations of the world, has a dual purpose. Both to prepare the Jewish people, and to pave the way for the nations to -  "והלכו גוים לאורך", the Gentiles will go according to your Light. When the nations want to connect to Kedusha, they will understand that the Kedusha of the Jewish people is separate from the nations, "לכו ונעלה אל הר ה' אל בית א-להי יעקב" - "Let us go to the mountain of Hashem to the house of the G-d of Yaakov". They want to connect to the separate,distinct Kedusha of the Jews. 

The pasuk says "ראה ויתר גויים" "He saw and permitted the Gentiles" [Chavakuk 3-6] on which Chazal expounded that Hashem saw the seven mitzvos of Bnei Noach and permitted them [Avoda Zara 2b]. Even though they fulfill the mitzvos, they don't receive reward as commanded but the lesser reward as not being commanded. The prohibition of Avoda Zara is included in the 7 mitzvos of Noach. For Jews the mitzva is יהרג ואל יעבור and thus one must die rather than transgress. Gentiles are not commanded with the mitzva of Kiddush Hashem so they have no command of יהרג ואל יעבור. That is why ראה ויתר גוים - He permitted what was "bound together". What binds all mitzvos together is Kedusha. The Gentiles don't have access to the unique kedusha of mitzvos. 

ומאתיים לנוטרים את פריו - Two hundred for those who guard it's fruit. According to the Zohar [זוהר מדרש נעלם חיי שרה] this refers to the level of Kiddush Hashem. Those who guard the fruit are the Jews who keep the mitzvos and particularly the mitzva of Kiddush Hashem which encompasses them all. This level relates to our world but about the future it says

 "וְעָמְד֣וּ זָרִ֔ים וְרָע֖וּ צֹאנְכֶ֑ם וּבְנֵ֣י נֵכָ֔ר אִכָּרֵיכֶ֖ם וְכֹרְמֵיכֶֽם. וְאַתֶּ֗ם כֹּהֲנֵ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ תִּקָּרֵ֔אוּ מְשָׁרְתֵ֣י אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ יֵאָמֵ֖ר לָכֶ֑ם חֵ֤יל גּוֹיִם֙ תֹּאכֵ֔לוּ וּבִכְבוֹדָ֖ם תִּתְיַמָּֽרוּ". 

"And strangers shall stand and shepherd your flocks, and Gentiles shall be your plowmen and your vineyard workers. But you shall be named the priests of Hashem; men shall call you the ministers of our God. You shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their splendor you shall revel."

We see that Chazal explained expressions taken from the realm of working the land, to be veiled references to keeping mitzvos. לעבדה ושמרה  - In Gan Eden, Adam was commanded to לעבדה - keep mitzvos aseh and לשמרה - refrain from transgressing mitzvos lo taaseh [Zohar Bereishis 27a]. From here we see that the notion of Gentiles being plowmen and vineyard workers can be understood as keeping mitzvos. While the Jews will be on a different level: 

  וְנוֹדַ֤ע בַּגּוֹיִם֙ זַרְעָ֔ם וְצֶאֱצָאֵיהֶ֖ם בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעַמִּ֑ים כׇּל־רֹֽאֵיהֶם֙ יַכִּיר֔וּם כִּ֛י הֵ֥ם זֶ֖רַע בֵּרַ֥ךְ יְהֹוָֽה׃ 

And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which Hashem has blessed.

The nations will see, appreciate and acknowledge, that the Jews are endowed with a special, distinct Kedusha and will understand that in order to bestow upon creation more Kedusha they must be elevated and accept the mitzvos as מצווה ועושה - commanded and not merely voluntary performers. The Jews on the other hand, will receive an "upgrade" to being all "כהני השם" and "משרתי א-להינו" - Priests of Hashem and Servants of the Almighty. 

" וַיִּשְׁכֹּן֩ יִשְׂרָאֵ֨ל בֶּ֤טַח בָּדָד֙ עֵ֣ין יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב אֶל־אֶ֖רֶץ דָּגָ֣ן וְתִיר֑וֹשׁ" 

"Israel dwells in safety; the spring of Yaacov alone in a land of grain and wine". 

The term "עין יעקב" relates to a spring, the Jewish people who like a spring of living waters are constantly renewed - מתחדש ומתגבר מעצמו. This is alluded to in our Parsha. Eliezer wanted Yitzchak to marry his daughter, as it says "אלי לא תאבה האשה" - Maybe the woman won't want to come. The word "maybe" is written w/o a "ו" so it can be read "אלי" - to me. Eliezer had a daughter whom he wanted to marry Yitzchak. But Avraham said that you are ארור - cursed [as a כנעני] and I am blessed [for Hashem blessed him] - you can't make a shidduch between blessed and cursed people. We have to understand - Why could Avraham not make a shidduch with Eliezer? Chazal say that Eliezer was דמשק אליעזר - שדולה ומשקה מתורת רבו לאחרים. Eliezer would draw from the teachings of Avraham and pass them on to others. So why not make a shidduch with a devoted talmid? The answer is that he was not original. He would pass Avraham's Torah on to others with no personal input. He was not a מעיין - a self-regenerating spring. The Torah didn't become assimilated into his personality and thus he remained "ארור". He is characterized as "עבד אברהם", meaning a מושפע, one who is impacted by others and is not a משפיע - influencer of others by the force of his own knowledge and personality. שרה was concerned that Yishamel should not inherit Avraham "כי לא יירש בן האמה הזאת עם בני עם יצחק". Hashem agreed [כביכול] with Sarah and the Kedusha of Eretz Yisrael is established by the Jewish people alone.       

The Gemara [קידושין ב] learns that one marries a woman with money from a גזירה שוה of קיחה-קיחה from the field of Efron. Just as the field was purchased with money, so one acquires a wife. This transaction has a קנין aspect to it and a קידושין aspect [one Mishna calls it kiddushin while another Mishna calls it kinyan]. The קנין is בפועל - concrete and actualized by giving money. קידושין implies בכוח, potential, it means to prepare - זימון, הכנה [see Tosfos Kiddushin 2b]. 

The same distinction and classification relates to ארץ ישראל. There is a קנין בפועל - concrete acquisition and a קידושין בכח-potential aspect. The Mikdash is one of the five קנינים that Hashem acquired in this world [Avos 6-10]. Adam was created from the place of the Mikdash [בראשית רבה יד-ח]. Here is the source of his existance בפועל, in a real, concrete way. In contrast we find in the Gemara an expression קדושה ראשונה קידשה לשעתה וקידשה לעתיד לבוא" - זבחים ק"ז ב" - The original sanctification of ארץ ישראל was for then and forever. In other words, there is an aspect of קנין בכוח, an acquisition in potentia. Similarly we find regarding areas added or annexed to Yerushalayim through capture or the ceremony that appends these areas to Yerushalayim proper. Two sides appear. Capturing the area בפועל and establishing קדושה בכח. After the concrete capture, there is the potential, prepared future קדושה added by the Navi, Lachmei Todah [שבועות ט"ז]. So we have a deeper understanding of the גזירה שוה of קיחה-קיחה from the field of Efron  - both the sanctity of the land [as represented by שדה עפרון] and קידושין have a בכח and בפועל aspect. 

Chevron, through the Kivrei Avos, represents a קנין בכח - an acquisition in potentia, pre-capture in the time of Yehoshua. The pasuk compares Chevron to Tzoan in Egypt. וְחֶבְרוֹן שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים נִבְנְתָה לִפְנֵי צֹעַן מִצְרָיִם. Tzoan was a city of kings [יל"ש ח"א סי' תשמ"ג ועי' רש"י סוטה ל"ד "אלמא פרעה בצוען יתיב"] and so in Chevron was the beginning of מלכות בית דוד b/c there is the קנין בכח of all קדושת ארץ ישראל. Tzoan Mitzrayim was the opposite of קדושה בכח of ארץ ישראל. 

The concept of קדושה בכח in ארץ ישראל explains the opinion in the Gemara [Bava Basra 117a] that ארץ ישראל was divided among those who left Egypt and never actually entered the Land. Normally the living inherit what the dead actually possessed בפועל. Here, the living inherited what the dead had in potential בכח.  

This concept of of קדושה בכח is rooted in Hashem's קנין in ארץ ישראל. It says [Vayikra 25-23] "כי לי כל הארץ"-  The entire Land belongs to Me - בכח. Therefore, לא תימכר לצמיתות  - the Land may not be sold forever but only until Yovel. The Yovel year, where freedom is called in the Land - דרור לארץ - the original קדושה is restored and all the Land is returned to the ancestral owners. This is all b/c "גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי" [Vayikra 25-23], you are strangers and dwellers with me, which reminds us of the pasuk it says about Avraham "גר ותושב אנכי עמכם". Hashem's hold on א"י was it's קדושה בכח [which we בפועל'd when we captured it]. So, too, was Chevron the קדושה בכח of ארץ ישראל which was later actualized when we entered the Land as a people. 

When Avraham was commanded [Breishis 13-17] "קום התהלך בארץ לארכה ולרחבה" - Go walk in the length and breadth of the Land. Immediately "ויאהל אברם וישב באלוני ממרא אשר בחברון" - he went to Chevron which is the locus of the קדושה בכח of ארץ ישראל. That is where מלכות בית דוד started which was acquired by the מתים who later [in מצרים] bequeathed the Land to the living. 

Through the first burial in ארץ ישראל of Sarah, the קדושה בכח was established which laid the groundwork for the eternal קדושה of the Land which separates it from the rest of the world. Through the words of Sarah "לא יירש בן האמה" - The son of the maidservant [Yishmael] will not inherit with Yitzchak, came the distinction between the Jews who are all Holy [ועמך כולם צדיקים!!] and the nations of the world.    

That is the pasuk with which we began this fascinating tour-de-force. "יודע ה' ימי תמימים" - Hashem knows the days of the complete, the complete קדושה of the Jewish people [as represented by the days of Sarah], ונחלתם לעולם תהיה - Their inheritance of forever. Through the burial of Sarah the קדושה בכח was established forever. 

[עפ"י דרשת מרן הרב קוק זצ"ל סעודה שלישית חיי שרה תר"ץ]