Genesis

בייה

Genesis 23 Sarah’s Goodness

This Study is in the Loving Memory of Gertrude & Otto Devore ז”ל.

Dear family and friends, as we proceed in our chapter-by-chapter study of Genesis. We are almost halfway. Our discussion continues in Genesis 23 with the physical death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, partner, sister, and Isaac’s Mom. Over the past ten chapters, we have grown close to Sarah. Early in our studies, we learn Sarah cared more for Abraham’s well-being than her own. In (Genesis 12.13) Ha Torah Informs us that she willingly embraced the role of being Abraham’s sister instead of his wife to protect him. Louis Ginzberg reveals an interesting story about Abraham and Sarah’s three-month sojourning in Egypt in his book The Legends of the Jews 1.5 – [1909]

Scarcely had Abraham established himself in Canaan when a devastating famine broke out–one of the ten God-appointed famines for the chastisement of men. The first of them came in the time of Adam when God cursed the ground for his sake; the second was this one in the time of Abraham; the third compelled Isaac to take up his abode among the Philistines; the ravages of the fourth drove the sons of Jacob into Egypt to buy grain for food; the fifth came in the time of the Judges when Elimelech and his family had to seek refuge in the land of Moab; the sixth occurred during the reign of David, and it lasted three years; the seventh happened in the day of Elijah, who had sworn that neither rain nor dew should fall upon the earth; the eighth was the one in the time of Elisha when an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver; the ninth is the famine that comes upon men piecemeal, from time to time; and the tenth will scourge men before the advent of Messiah, and this last will be “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

The famine in the time of Abraham prevailed only in Canaan, and it had been inflicted upon the land to test his faith. He stood this second temptation as he had the first. He murmured not, and he showed no sign of impatience toward God, who had bidden him shortly before to abandon his native land for a land of starvation. The famine compelled him to leave Canaan for a time, and he repaired to Egypt to become acquainted there with the wisdom of the priests and, if necessary, give them instruction in the truth.

On this journey from Canaan to Egypt, Abraham first observed the beauty of Sarah. Chaste as he was, he had never before looked at her, but now, when they were wading through a stream, he saw the reflection of her beauty in the water like the sun’s brilliance. He spoke to her thus, “The Egyptians are very sensual, and I will put thee in a casket that no harm befall me on account of thee.” At the Egyptian boundary, the tax collectors asked him about the casket’s contents, and Abraham told them he had barley in it. “No,” they said, “it contains wheat.” “Very well,” replied Abraham, “I am prepared to pay the tax on wheat.” The officers then hazarded a guess, “It contains pepper!” Abraham agreed to pay the tax on pepper, and when they charged him with concealing gold in the casket, he did not refuse to pay the tax on gold and, finally, on precious stones. Seeing as Abraham did not hesitate to any charge, however high, the tax collectors, made thoroughly suspicious, insisted upon his unfastening the casket and letting them examine the contents. When it was forced open, the whole of Egypt was resplendent with the beauty of Sarah. Compared to her, all other beauties were like apes compared to men. She excelled Eve herself. The servants of Pharaoh outbid one another in seeking to obtain possession of her. However, they believed that so radiant a beauty ought not to remain the property of a private individual. They reported the matter to the king, and Pharaoh sent a powerful armed force to bring Sarah to the palace, and so bewitched was he by her charms that those who had brought him the news of her coming into Egypt were loaded down with bountiful gifts.

Amid tears, Abraham offered up a prayer. He implored God: “Is this the reward for my confidence in Thee? For the sake of Thy grace and Thy lovingkindness, let not my hope be put to shame.” Sarah also implored God, saying: ‘O God, Thou didst bid my Lord Abraham leave his home, the land of his fathers, and journey to Canaan, and Thou didst promise him to do good unto him if he fulfilled Thy commands. And now we have done as Thou didst command us to do. We left our country and our kindred and journeyed to a strange land unto a people we knew not heretofore. We came hither to save our people from starvation and now hath this terrible misfortune befallen. O Lord, help me and save me from the hand of this enemy, and for the sake of Thy grace, show me good.’

An angel appeared unto Sarah while she was in the king’s presence, to whom he was not visible, and he bade her take courage, saying, ‘Fear naught, Sarah, for God has heard your prayer.’ The king questioned Sarah as to the man in the company of whom she had come to Egypt, and Sarah called Abraham her brother. Pharaoh pledged himself to make Abraham tremendous and powerful, to do for him whatever she wished. He sent much gold and silver to Abraham, diamonds and pearls, sheep and oxen, and enslaved men and women slaves, and he assigned a residence to him within the precincts of the royal palace. In the love he bore Sarah, he wrote out a marriage contract, deeding to her all he owned in the way of gold and silver, and enslaved men and women slaves, and the province of Goshen besides, the province occupied in later days by the descendants of Sarah, because it was their property. Most remarkable, he gave her his daughter Hagar as an enslaved person, for he preferred seeing his daughter the servant of Sarah to reigning as mistress in another harem.

His free-handed generosity availed naught. During the night, when he was about to approach Sarah, an angel appeared armed with a stick, and if Pharaoh but touched Sarah’s shoe to remove it from her foot, the angel planted a blow upon his hand, and when he grasped her dress, a second blow followed. At each blow he was about to deal, the angel asked Sarah whether he would let it descend, and if she bade him give Pharaoh a moment to recover himself, he waited and did as she desired. And another great miracle came to pass. Pharaoh, his nobles, servants, the walls of his house, and his bed were afflicted with leprosy, and he could not indulge his carnal desires. This night in which Pharaoh and his court suffered their well-deserved punishment was the night of the fifteenth of Nisan, the same night God visited the Egyptians later to redeem Israel, the descendants of Sarah.

Horrified by the plague sent upon him, Pharaoh inquired how he could rid himself thereof. He applied to the priests, from whom he found out the actual cause of his affliction, which Sarah corroborated. He then sent for Abraham and returned his wife to him, pure and untouched, and excused himself for what had happened, saying that he had intended to connect himself in marriage with him, whom he had thought to be the brother of Sarah. He bestowed rich gifts upon the husband and the wife, and they departed for Canaan after a three months sojourn in Egypt.

Arrived in Canaan, they sought the same night shelters at which they had rested before to pay their accounts and teach by their example that it is not proper to seek new quarters unless one is forced to.

Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt was of great service to the country’s inhabitants because he demonstrated to the wise men of the land how empty and vain their views were. Also, he taught them astronomy and astrology, which were unknown in Egypt before his time.

We return to my narrative. While Sarah was held captive in the king’s harem, Pharaoh attempted to force her to marry him. He was so taken with her beauty. Sarah prayed all night to Lord, requesting Him to intercede on her behalf. Her prayers were answered.

Not only was Pharaoh taken with Sarah’s beauty but her grace, charm, and nobility. Later when Abraham and Sarah were about to be exiled from Egypt, Pharaoh had his daughter; the princess, brought before them. Pharaoh said it was better for his daughter to serve in Abraham/Sarah’s tent than to be a princess in his palace.

Again, we observe Sarah’s selflessness when Lord prevented her from having children. She desired to give Abraham children. So she gave Hagar to Abraham so he could have children.

Sarah was ethical. She followed a set of moral principles. She was not about to stand idly by while the much younger Hagar flaunted her pregnancy. She confronted Abraham because he did not discourage Hagar’s parading, showing off, and bragging. Sarah had a sense of moral responsibility. She did not permit Yishmael to harm Isaac. She spoke up when Yishmael was playing with spears around Isaac. She told Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son’ (Genesis 21.9). Sarah tried to be balanced on all sides of her life. That is why our Parshat Says, ‘Sarah Lived! Sarah invested in the lives of others. She was loving and kind, yet principled. Sarah was balanced. Our goal should be to live a balanced life. We should invest our goodness into the lives of others.

Mothers are known for taking an interest in their children. The Midrash shares how Sarah died. She took an interest in Isaac. She was overcome with grief when she learned what Abraham did. Dear Ones, our Sages Teach that Sarah’s Death resulted from the news that Avraham had attempted to sacrifice Isaac. The Midrash teaches that his mother questioned him after Issac returned from being offered as a sacrifice.

(Medrash Vayikra Rabba 20.2) Explains Sarah’s physical death. [Sarah] said to [Isaac]: ‘Where have you been, my son?’

Isaac said to her: ‘My father led me up mountains and down hills. He took me up on one of the mountains, built an altar, arranged the wood, prepared the altar pile, and took the knife to slay me. Had not an angel from heaven called him, I would have been slain.’

She confirmed what she heard to be accurate by repeating the event to Isaac.

Isaac Said, Yes.

Sarah uttered six cries, corresponding to the six blasts of the shofar. She had scarcely finished speaking when she died.

One can only imagine how Sarah felt upon hearing this news. She was devastated. Why? Her lifetime dream of having a son almost vanished before her. Her hope of grandchildren bouncing on her knees disappeared.

Even though Isaac survived, Sarah would not survive. She collapsed and died. She would not live to see Jacob and Esau.

Avraham did not share the א – Aleph – the first Letter of his name with the other patriarchs. Sarah did not share the שׂ – Sin – the first Letter of her name with the other patriarchs or matriarchs.

אַבְרָהָם– Abraham

שָׂרָה – Sarah

יִצְחָק – Isaac

יַעֲקֹב – Jacob

רִבְקָה – Rebekah

רָחֵל – Rachel

לֵאָה – Leah

Why?

Abraham and Sarah share the first Letter of their name. אַבְרָהָם – Abraham – א Aleph for אֱלֹהִים – Elokim and שָׂרָה – Sarahש Shin for שְׁדָאִי Shaw Dahi and שְׁכִינָה Shechinah. When the two letters are combined, we Mystically observe that the א Aleph and the ש Shin spell אש Aysh [fire]. This Mystically represents Ur Kasdim [the Fire of the Chaldees] from which Lord delivered Abraham. For Sarah, this means the Shabbat Fire. ,i.e., the Shabbat Candles, the Shabbat Oil that she lit every Erev Shabbat to symbolically rekindle the light of the world that Chavah/Eve extinguished with the first sin. In addition, our sages state that the flame, the fire from Sarah’s light, lasted all week. The fire would only go out just before Sarah rekindled it for the approaching Shabbat. We are also told that Sarah’s challah fed the world. Her challah represented Lord’s care in providing the world and that the Divine Presence never left the entrance to her door. The Shechinah, in the form of a cloud, remained above the entrance to Sarah’s tent door until her death at the age of 127.

When Sarah died, the Shabbat light went out. The Shechinah, the Presence of Lord God, Hovered over the entrance to Sarah’s tent as a cloud departed. Challah stopped flowing from Sarah’s tent. All humans instantly became noticeably old. People showed their age. Youthfulness departed. (Genesis 24.1) says, ‘And Abraham became old and well advanced in age, and Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.’

Sarah was mourned, eulogized, and buried in the field of Machpelah, the burial place of Adam and Chavah/Eve, which Avraham purchased from Ephron, the son of Cheis, in (Genesis 23.19).

Classmates, there are many, many lessons that we learn from Sarah.

As we journey towards Erev Shabbat, may we have rest, comfort, unity, peace, lovingkindness, good health, and financial success. May each of us have a wonderful week and a beautiful Shabbat.

Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk

Author