Machpelah Cave (Me'arat Hamachpelah)

Dear Rabbi,

In reading the text of this week's parashah [Biblical reading], I'm puzzled by a number of elements regarding Abraham's purchase of Machpelah:
If the land was promised to Abraham and his descendants, then why does the Torah teach that Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah in which to bury Sarah? Did Abraham doubt God's promise? Or did Abraham not have the ability (military might, etc.) to convince the local peoples that the land was his? Or perhaps Abraham wanted to eliminate any doubts by conducting a formal purchase transaction? In any case, why does the text present this alternative method of acquiring the land?
I'm also puzzled by how the remaining patriarchs and matriarchs also came to be buried there. Where were Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, and Leah living when they died, and how likely is it that their children would have brought their bodies back to Machpelah for burial? Was it practical, distance-wise? Were family burial plots typical of cultures at that time? And why is it that Jacob's bones were brought back from Egypt to be buried at Machpelah, but his beloved Rachel's bones were not moved to be near him?
Finally, how is it that we know the exact location of Machpelah, but not of Mt. Sinai or Mt. Ararat? What is it about Machpelah that would keep it in our collective memory and national consciousness throughout our slavery in Egypt and allow us to find it upon our return from this and many subsequent exiles?
Thank you in advance for helping to clarify these issues for me.

Answer

I am not an expert on the Biblical period. However, I understand that Abraham conducted business in the way that was customary in the Ancient Near East at the time. It was obvious that the local people would not have recognized his claim to the land; after all at that point there was no Jewish people, just Abraham and his family.
Abraham's family obviously wanted to bury all the patriarchs at Machpela's cave. We can only surmise that Rachel was not exhumed and reburied there - because that may not have been customary in those days.
We cannot be sure that the place we know today as Machpela's cave is the actual historical cave. The Bible did not precisely identify Mount Sinai, Mount Nebo, etc. in order to avoid worshipping places. The only holy place was the Temple Mount. Judaism sanctifies time rather than place (see Abraham Joshua Heschel's book "The Sabbath - Its meaning for Modern man").
For more information you should direct yourself to scholars who specialize in the Bible and the Ancient Near East.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Diana Villa
January 2006