by Rav Zalman Melamed, yeshiva.co
This week's Torah portion of Chaye Sarah begins with a detailed accounting of the days of the Matriarch Sarah's life: "And Sarah's life was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years – the years of Sarah's life" (B'reshit 23,1). Asks the Zohar: Why does Sarah, of all the women in the Torah, merit to have her years counted? We don't hear how many years Eve lived, nor Moshe's sister Miriam, nor the other Matriarchs – so why only Sarah? What is special about her?
The Zohar answers: Sarah was in fact special in that she was a Prophetess – one of seven – and she lived true, genuine life. This is alluded to by the repetition in the verse: "Sarah's life… the years of Sarah's life" – all of these years were her life of exaltedness, her life of sanctity, her life of upper-worldliness.
Sarah was a Prophetess on such a high level that G-d told Avraham, "Everything she says, abide by it" (21,22). Was she really greater than Avraham Avinu? After all, we can say that Avraham was a Wise Man, a Sage – and the Talmud teaches that a Sage is superior to a Prophet. But there are aspects in which prophecy takes precedence. Let us explain.
Wisdom and Prophecy are two different levels. What is a special property of Prophecy that Wisdom doesn't share? I would say that these two are parallel to Torah and Prayer. Torah is functional at all times, in all periods; it is above our reality. But prayer is "chayei shaah," i.e., for the here and now. Torah is abstract and broad; when one learns Torah, it affects his entire personality, everything he experiences, his entire essence. But prayer has an influence over the here and now.
By this standard, prayer has an advantage, for it is more focused and concentrated, and it is therefore stronger for a given time. True, it is "less" than the Torah, but it can have an effect on a particular request that is needed now. This is why when someone is ill, we sometimes stop our Torah study in order to pray for him. Why should we do this, if Torah has a greater influence over the world? Because when there is a specific difficulty that has to be focused on and requires a particular solution, we need the power of prayer.
The same is true with Prophecy. It is also a type of "here and now" phenomenon. Avraham Avinu is very "encompassing" and general and exalted, whereas Sarah is on a different level, a level of Prophecy that is unique to her, and for certain situations it is her power that stands out. She has the power of Prophecy, to the extent that Avraham must "abide by what she says."
After we are told about Sarah's lifetime, the Torah tells us: "Sarah died in Kiryat Arba, which is Hebron, in the Land of Canaan. And Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to cry over her" (23,2). The Torah is very clear about the location: Kiryat Arba, Hebron, Canaan [Eretz Yisrael]. But doesn't everyone know that Hebron is in the Land of Canaan? Why must it be emphasized that this took place in the Land of Canaan?
The Chessed L'Avraham explains that this "teaches us that the entire Land of Israel felt the absence of Sarah." This is similar to the Rabbinic teaching that "when a righteous man comes to town, the entire town feels it," and when he leaves, his absence is similarly felt throughout.
I would like to add here what the Zohar tells us at the end of Parashat Va'era: Some Sages were sitting together, and one of them gave a very deep sigh. He was asked what the sigh was about, and he said, "Because Sarah gave her handservant Hagar to Avraham, and from this union grew Yishmael, from whom we are suffering greatly."
He said that he also heard from Rabi Shimon bar Yochai that he, too, was very saddened by that, and that he sighed both because of what Avraham said: "If only Yishmael would live before You" (B'reshit 16,18), and because Yishmael had the merit of being circumcised. And this leads us to a question on the Master of the Universe: "What is the difference between Yitzchak and Yishmael that enabled Yitzchak to receive the Divine blessings through Avraham? After all, both of them were circumcised. True, Yitzchak was circumcised at the proper time, eight days of age, while Yishmael was already 13 years old, but still, they were both circumcised."
The Zohar says there that although Yishmael's circumcision was, in a sense, "empty" because it was performed without p'riah (one of the necessary stages of circumcision), in its merit he was given control over the Land of Israel whenever it was "empty" [that is, for the most part, when the Jews are not in control – ed.]. This is because Eretz Yisrael is connected to the merit of Brit Milah, as we see in many places.
Yishmael will thus have control until his merit runs out, and then there will be wars, until Yishmael ultimately falls. This is what is meant by the final words of Parashat Chaye Sara, translated literally as, "He fell upon all his brethren" (B'reshit 25,18). The Baal HaTurim commentary states there that when he falls, Israel will arise – as the next verse, the beginning of Parashat Tol'dot, states: "And these are the generations of Yitzchak." [That is, Yitzchak's growth comes on the heels of Yishmael's fall.] We pray that this will occur very soon.
The story of Avraham sending his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Yitzchak begins with these words: "G-d blessed Avraham bakol, with everything" (24,1). What does this really mean? How can he be blessed "with everything?" Is there such a concept? Does it have any limits? How can a person receive "everything?!" Did G-d bless him with great wealth, with health, and with lots of silver and gold? If so, there is always more – so how can he receive "everything?!" There is no limit!
The explanation is that G-d blessed Avraham that he should always feel that he is lacking nothing and has everything! He should feel that he truly has everything he needs, that he can recite with 100% confidence the blessing that we say daily, "G-d Who has given me all my needs." Avraham's blessing is that he will have an inner tendency, from his soul, that tells him that everything he needs, G-d gives him and nothing is missing. Yes, Avraham was wealthy and had much livestock – but this was external, vis-à-vis the world. But within himself, true wealth comes from inner happiness and satisfaction; this is a trait that is part of his inner nature – and Hashem blessed him with this trait.
In Pirkei Avot (5,19) the Sages teach the differences between the students of Avraham and those of Bil'am, and among them is that the former have a "lowly soul and a good eye," i.e., they are happy with their lot. When Avraham met with the King of S'dom, he told him, "No, I don't want the booty you gathered; I want nothing from you."
I would like to explain a bit more about bakol, the "everything" with which G-d blessed Avraham. It can be explained very literally: Avraham felt that he was connected to the entire reality of the world - everything. He saw the world as unified, as something totally inter-connected – and he felt himself to be an integral part of this "everything." He saw that everything around him was a creation of G-d, and he sensed G-d in everything he perceived. In his every encounter with "things," he encountered the Master of the Universe. This strengthened him greatly in his connection with G-d. He was able to advance and progress constantly in his belonging and his cleaving to G-d, because everything he saw around him was "of G-d." Everything serves his service of G-d; everything is a manifestation of G-d.
For instance, who gave him his power of speech? Of course it was G-d appearing to him, and he knows that he must go beyond the words he hears from Him to see what Hashem truly wants. A person who looks at things in that way and sees the entirety of the world, sees the world's beauty and goodness and perfection, of our existence. But when a person looks only at the here and now, at the details, he perceives the world as incomplete and lacking. But it is actually his viewpoint that is lacking, while the way Avraham sees the world is the "complete viewpoint."
Pirkei Avot (1,6) further teaches that we must judge all people favorably. The literal translation of this teaching is, "Judge the whole person favorably." If a person judges his fellow simply based on one specific act that he now saw him do – he is missing the entirety of the picture; he cannot judge him favorably in this manner. But when he judges the "entirety of the person," his whole personality, all of his behavior throughout his life – then one can see the positive, the light, the goodness, and can truly judge him favorably.
The same is true for the entire world: If we look at it in its entirety, we can see its beauty, the goodness of people, and the perfection of Creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment