С прошедшим. Хаей Сара.
Сие было написано Ребенком год назад для школьного листка.
This week’s parsha is Parshat Chayei Sarah. Parshat Chayei Sarah talks about many different events, such as Avraham buying the cave of Machpelah, Yitzhak getting married to Rivka, and Avraham’s death, but surprisingly it starts off with Sarah's death. Why is this week’s parsha called Chayei Sarah, life of Sarah, if the parsha talks of Sarah's death?
We learn from this week's parsha that Sarah died at the age of 127. "And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah (Bereshit 23:1)." Rashi comments that the reason the word 'years' is written after every digit is to show that when Sarah was a hundred years old, she was like a twenty year old who has not sinned, and when she was twenty years old, she was as beautiful as a seven-year-old. Rashi also comments that all of the years of her life were equally good.
But from reading the text, it doesn't seem as if Sarah really had a good life. First, she had to travel away from the place she grew up, then there was a hunger. She was kidnapped twice and experienced years of childlessness. Finally, Sarah gave birth to a boy, but not long after, however, Yishmael, the son of the Hagar, began to have a bad influence on him and both Yishmael and Hagar had to be sent away. It seems from the text that Sarah's life was hard and troublesome.
Rabbi Label Lam explains that she had a good life because of the way she looked at it.
If we follow his logic, the negative things that occur in one's life can be a devastation or an opportunity to grow.
The day of a person's death sums up their life, and so we can examine the life of Sarah after her death. "A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's birth (Kohelet 7:1)." When Sarah was born, no one knew who she was or who she was going to become. But when she died, the cloud over her tent disappeared, the challahs no longer stayed fresh, and the candles didn't stay lit until the next Shabbos -- everyone knew she was a tzaddekes.
As one believes that life has a higher purpose than here and now, we can strive to cultivate a life like that of Sarah -- a life of resilience. This week we are being taught the way Sarah saw her troubles, how she reacted to the hardships. In her perspective, everything was for the best, and it was a good life. We learn from Sarah's example that we should live our life in a way where we turn our challenges into opportunities to grow.
This week’s parsha is Parshat Chayei Sarah. Parshat Chayei Sarah talks about many different events, such as Avraham buying the cave of Machpelah, Yitzhak getting married to Rivka, and Avraham’s death, but surprisingly it starts off with Sarah's death. Why is this week’s parsha called Chayei Sarah, life of Sarah, if the parsha talks of Sarah's death?
We learn from this week's parsha that Sarah died at the age of 127. "And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah (Bereshit 23:1)." Rashi comments that the reason the word 'years' is written after every digit is to show that when Sarah was a hundred years old, she was like a twenty year old who has not sinned, and when she was twenty years old, she was as beautiful as a seven-year-old. Rashi also comments that all of the years of her life were equally good.
But from reading the text, it doesn't seem as if Sarah really had a good life. First, she had to travel away from the place she grew up, then there was a hunger. She was kidnapped twice and experienced years of childlessness. Finally, Sarah gave birth to a boy, but not long after, however, Yishmael, the son of the Hagar, began to have a bad influence on him and both Yishmael and Hagar had to be sent away. It seems from the text that Sarah's life was hard and troublesome.
Rabbi Label Lam explains that she had a good life because of the way she looked at it.
If we follow his logic, the negative things that occur in one's life can be a devastation or an opportunity to grow.
The day of a person's death sums up their life, and so we can examine the life of Sarah after her death. "A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's birth (Kohelet 7:1)." When Sarah was born, no one knew who she was or who she was going to become. But when she died, the cloud over her tent disappeared, the challahs no longer stayed fresh, and the candles didn't stay lit until the next Shabbos -- everyone knew she was a tzaddekes.
As one believes that life has a higher purpose than here and now, we can strive to cultivate a life like that of Sarah -- a life of resilience. This week we are being taught the way Sarah saw her troubles, how she reacted to the hardships. In her perspective, everything was for the best, and it was a good life. We learn from Sarah's example that we should live our life in a way where we turn our challenges into opportunities to grow.