Parshas Chaye Sarah - Thoughts on the first Rashi

“Sarah’s lifetime was one hundred years, and twenty years and seven years the years of Sarah’s life” (Bereishis 23:1). Rashi comments, the fact that the word “shanah” (years) is repeated, the Torah was adding a message – that of, when Sarah was 100 years old, she was like 20 years old regarding sin – there is no liability for divine punishment until 20. When she was 20 years old, she was like a seven year-old for beauty.

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l commented that a person goes through different stages in life – infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age and old age. Normally, when we complete one stage and advance to the next stage we leave the earlier stage behind us. We may cherish fond memories, but that chapter of our life is closed. At age 100, a person would have acquired much wisdom – wisdom that only comes with life experience. At 20, a person is full of energy, vitality and idealism. The age of 7 represents innocents and purity.

Chazal are teaching us, that regardless of how old Sarah was at any point in her life, Sarah had within her the attributes of a 7 year old (purity & innocence), the attributes of a 20 year old (vitality and idealism) and the attributes of 100 year old (wisdom and experience).

To a 7 year old, G-d is a reality. When you want something, you simply ask Hashem for it. Their prayer is pure. Most of us no longer have this innocence in our prayer. We have been swayed by the unpredictable happenings of life. The 20 year-old is full of idealism, and the 100 year-old is full of wisdom.

Sarah, on the other hand, was able to blend these characteristics together throughout her life. At the age of 50 (or any age), she had the purity and innocence of a 7 year-old in her belief in G-d as the Almighty was real and untainted. At the same age, she had youthful idealism and energy of a 20 year-old. With this, she had the wisdom of an old lady. She never left behind the stages of life that she “outgrew” rather she took the positive attributes of each stage and applied them as she continued to advance through life’s stages. The goodness of her life was equally distributed. She was at the same time a child in her total faith, youthful in her exuberant enthusiasm and an adult in her maturity and judgment.

May we learn this lesson of how important it is to build on life’s experiences, to mature to greater heights and grow with life’s experiences. 

Guest posting

by Rabbi Shlomo Ziegler

VP Technology

Tullett Prebon Americas Corp.