What’s in a name? This week’s פרשה, Torah portion, פרשת חיי שרה, Parshat Chayei (Life of) Sarah, is a paradox. The content of the פרשה details the death of שרה and not her life. Additionally, we record the death of אברהם as we close the פרשה. Why is a פרשה about death called “life”? Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l answered this question so poignantly. He shared that often death and how we face it is a commentary on life and how we live it.
Yet, this brings up a deeper paradox. When describing the years that שרה lived it states:
וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה
And it was the life of Sarah, 100 years and 20 years and 7 years were the life of Sarah
- Bereishit 23:1
Many commentaries pick up on the unusual nature of relating how many years שרה lived by repeating the phrase “these were the years of the life of Sarah.” Why? To explain that each year was equally as good as the next. We know that simply is not the case. שרה experience famine, kidnapping, being unable to give birth, ridicule from Hagar - אברהם’s other wife - and the near death of her only son, יצחק. That does not sound like a life to brag about.
When describing אברהם’s death we also encounter another peculiarity:
וַיִּגְוַ֨ע וַיָּ֧מׇת אַבְרָהָ֛ם בְּשֵׂיבָ֥ה טוֹבָ֖ה זָקֵ֣ן וְשָׂבֵ֑עַ
And Avraham breathed his last breath and died at a good and satisfied old age
- Bereishit 25:8
Not true either. אברהם was promised by Hashem that he would be a great nation, that his children would inherit the land and be many. He died without any of these promises fulfilled. אברהם died without his dream and hopes satisfied in the least. Rabbi Sacks’s answer is once again that to understand a death, we have to understand a life.
Friedrich Nietzsche once shared that he who has a why in life can bear almost any how. אברהם and שרה were the supreme examples in history of what it is to have a Why in life. Their entire life was an act of responding to a call, a Divine voice, to leave a home they knew, travel to an unknown place, live in a place without the security they once took for granted and have the faith to believe that by living by the standards of righteousness and justice that they were taking the first steps in establishing a nation, a land, a faith and a way of living that would act as a blessing to all people.
Both אברהם and שרה faced death with serenity that came from a profound tranquility in the face of life. They knew that everything that happened to them in their lives, even the challenging moments, were part of the journey that Hashem had sent them. They had the faith to travel through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil, knowing that Hashem was with them. Regardless of the trevails that they faced, they found serenity in their lives even at the very end. They knew that what makes a life satisfying is not external but internal, a sense of purpose, mission, responding to a call, of starting something that would be continued by those after them, and by bringing something new into the world by the way they lived it.
As we commemorate Rabbi Sacks’s 2nd yahrzeit (anniversary of his death), our students shared in an international day of learning focused on optimism and hope. Rabbi Sacks, like אברהם and שרה, embodied a life of faith, calling, and purpose. He had the unique skills to connect to Jews from all across the pews and even across religious lines to see the beauty of Hashem, the values that we shared and the world that we were gifted with. He showed us the best of humanity and questioned us to see faith in a new light so that we could heal a fractured world and ensure the future of the Jewish family.
Two years ago we lost a giant and I, a Rebbe. While we never met in person, Rabbi Sacks has and continues to have an impact on the lives of Jewish leaders and educators across the globe. His weekly פרשה newsletter, Covenant & Conversation, guided me through the most challenging times of my life and continues to be a source of inspiration and support. I strongly encourage you to check out his adult and family editions. They will certainly enhance your Shabbat table experience.