THE LIFE OF SARAH - PARASHAT CHAYEI SARAH
Andre Widodo
© ORI
Shalom,
The Torah Portion on this Shabbat entitled "Chayei Sarah (the Life of Sarah)", but paradoxically, it deals entirely with events that occurred after the Death of Sarah.
If the Torah Portion this Shabbat deals with the Death of Sarah, then why is the title named "the Life of Sarah (Chayei Sarah)"?
It is because the Jewish tradition believes in the life after the death. We believe in "the resurrection of the dead (techiat ha'meitim). Techiat ha'meitim states that in the Messianic Era, our souls will be restored to our resurrected bodies. B"H!
1 Qorinti'im (Corinthians) 15:42
וּכְמוֹ־כֵן בִּתְקוּמַת הַמֵּתִים נִזְרַע בְּשַׁחַת־בְּלִי וְקָם לְחַיֵּי־עַד
u.chmo-chen bit.qu.mat ha.me.tim nitz.ra be.sha.chat-b'li ve.qam le.cha.yei-ad
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. When the body is “sown,” it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay.
One of the fundamental beliefs of Judaism is that the life does not begin with birth, nor does it end with death. This is articulated in the verse in Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)
Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 12:7
וְיָשֹׁב הֶעָפָר עַל-הָאָרֶץ, כְּשֶׁהָיָה; וְהָרוּחַ תָּשׁוּב, אֶל-הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר נְתָנָהּ
v'ya.shov he.a.far al-ha.a.rets k'she.ha.ya v'ha.ru.ach ta.shuv el-ha.e.lo.him a.sher n'ta.na
And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to G‑d, who gave it.
The Talmud go even further than that, stating that there is a level on which life extends beyond death without interruption. "Jacob did not die." Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, 1040-1105 CE, the greatest of the biblical and talmudic commentators) explains, "He seemed to them as if dead, but in truth he was alive."
The same thing with Sarah.
Bereshit (Genesis) 23:1
וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה, מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים--שְׁנֵי, חַיֵּי שָׂרָה
va.yih.yu cha.yei sa.ra me.a sha.na v'es.rim sha.na v'she.va sha.nim sh'nei cha.yei sa.ra
The life of Sarah was one hundred years, twenty years and seven years; these were the years of Sarah’s life.
Why did the Torah split Sarah's years into three parts?
The Sages in Madras HaGadol says:
"Why does the Torah split up the tally of her years into three parts (“one hundred years,” “twenty years” and “seven years”)? This is to tell us that every day of her life was the equivalent of them all. At the age of one hundred years she was like age twenty in strength, and at age twenty she was like age seven in modesty and purity; at age seven she was like age twenty in intelligence, and at age twenty she was like age one hundred in righteousness."
In Hebrew, larger numbers are described in singular (שָׁנָה), whereas smaller numbers are describes in plural (שָׁנִים), which suggests that what is small in this world will be regarded as great in the world to come, and what is great in this world will be regarded as small in the world to come (Mark 9:35).
Markos (Mark) 9:35
וַיֵּשֶׁב וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־שְׁנֵים הֶעָשָׂר וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם מִי־הֶחָפֵץ לִהְיוֹת רִאשׁוֹן עָלָיו לִהְיוֹת אַחֲרוֹן לְכֻלָּם וּמְשָׁרֵת לְכֻלָּם׃
va.ye.shev va.yi.qra el-sh'nim he.a.shar va.yo.mer alei.hem mi-he.cha.fetz li.he.yot ri.shon alav li.he.yot acha.ron le.ku.lam um.sha.ret le.ku.lam
He sat down, summoned the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.
