| And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah. | א. וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה: |
Why does the pasuk repeat the word years so many times? isnt it a bit repetitive and unnecessary?
Arielle Samuel- What is the hidden meaning behind the word Vihayu? The Baal HaTurim says that in gematria, Vihayu is 37 which symbolizes the 37 years that she really enjoyed living. The 90 years prior, she was childless, but now that she had Yitzkach she was really living.
ReplyDeleteMidrash Hagadol a similar concept to that of Rashi. He says, At 100 years she was like 20 years in strength. At 20 years she was like 7 years in purity and modesty. At 7 she was like 20 years in intelligence. At 20 she was like 100 in righteousness.
ReplyDelete“the years of the lifetime of Sara”
ReplyDeleteWhy does the pasuk end with “the years of the lifetime of Sara”? Didn’t the pasuk already mention that at the beginning? The Chasam Sofer explains that our sages identify different eras by the outstanding individuals who lived in them. Sara was such an outstanding and influential person that her name becomes synonymous with the era that she lived in. Additionally, Rabbi Yaakov kaminetsky offers a different explanation. Rashi points out that Sara’s death immediately follows the Akeidah, for one lead to the other. Some consider that sara’s tragic death was caused by the Akeidah and if not for that Sara would have lived longer. But that is incorrect - Sara had lived to her allotted number of years. Had the Akeidah not happened Sara still would have died the same time by other means. That is why the end of the pasuk is repetitive - to emphasize that it was Sara's time to die.
Shabbat Shalom!!!
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ReplyDeleteRabbi Benji Landau days that it is written this way to emphasis that these were the only years allotted to Sarah. writing it as 100,20, and 7 breaks it up in a way that emphasizes how long she had lived.
ReplyDeleteIn the Zohar Chayei Sarah, it says that although most people think that Sarah was the only woman who's death was mentioned in the Torah, it's not actually true. The torah talks about Rachel's death, Miriam's death, Devora's death, and Yehuda's wife's death. However, Sarah is the only one who's age is so specified. "One hundred years and twenty years and seven years" is not the standard way to say someone's age. You would normally just say 127. The fact that the torah emphasizes Sarah's life so much shows what an important figure she is.
ReplyDeleteRashi comments on this saying that the reason the word years is written after every digit, because all of Sarah's years were equally good.
ReplyDeleteBut how is this possible if she had no children for many years, and was also help captive by Paroh? Well, the gemara tells a story of a man named Nachum Ish Gamzu, who always looked at everything like it was for the good, no matter how bad it seemed. One night, when on a mission to deliver jewels to the king, the jewels were stolen and replaced with sand. When he brought the box to the king, the king opened it and saw sand. Eliyahu Hanavi appeared and suggested that perhaps it was magical sand, which would act like bullets and kill enemies. They tested it and it worked, resulting in Nachum being gifted with gems like the ones he was supposed to bring to the king. Like he always said - it was for the good.
This teaches us that even when Sarah was faced with challenging times, she would always remember that this too was for the good, thus resulting in all her years being great!
(idea from Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky)
The Midrash Hagadol says that the Torah repeats the word “years” to split up the years of Sarah's life into 3 parts. It is done so to tell is that each day of her life was equal to all of the other ones. At the age of 100 she was as strong as a 20 year old, when she was 20 she was like a 7 year old in modesty and purity, and at age 7 she was as intelligent as a 20 year old. At the age of twenty it was as if she was at age 100 in her righteousness.
ReplyDelete- Sarah Eisenstadter
Ariella Rand
ReplyDeleteAnother Rashi says that it says years so many times because they were all equally good. So it says years so many times because its comparing them all together as being equally good.
in the gemara (taananit a) there was a famous tanna known as "nachum is gamzu" because even when bad things happened to him he would say "gam zu letovah" when rashi says that sarahs life was filled with equal goodness he means that even when sarah came upon bad situation she to would also say "gam zu letovah"
ReplyDeleteJordana Lowy
ReplyDeleteWhy does the pasuk repeat the word years so many times in this one pasuk?
Rashi, ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע, says that when Sara was 100 years old it was like she was 20 with her sins. When someone is 20 they are not liable for the sins they commit so this means that Sara did not sin. When it says that when Sara was 20 it was like she was 7 because of her beauty. The second Rashi for this pasuk, שני חיי שרה, says the years of the life of Sara were all equally good and by saying the word 'year' many times in this pasuk it shows that her years were good from when she was 7 to 20 to 100 it didn't matter how old she was.
The reason that the pasuk writes Sara's age as 100 years and 20 years and 7 years was to say that when she was 100 it was as if she was a 20 year old (considered as if she has never sinned) and when she was 20 years old she was compared to a 7 year old in regards to her beauty
ReplyDeleteBut isn't a 20 year old more beautiful than a 7 year old?
The Yeshuos Malko says that yes, a 20 year old is more beautiful than a 7 year old but they each notice the beauty in different ways. A 20 year old knows that she is beautiful whereas a 7 year old is innocent and oblivious to her beauty. Chazal is calling her a 7 year old in the sense that her beauty didn't "go to her head" and she remained modest about it which is a trait that we should try to emulate.
The posuk says earlier, ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים שני חיי שרה,Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years,and twenty years,and seven years; the years of Sarah's life . Again it repeats שני חיי שרה, & Rashi says it's telling us כולן שוין לטובה, They were all equal for good. First of all, where do you see that all her years were good? She had many troubles. Also, what are the repeated words coming to teach us? Explains רבי יהושע אהרן צבי, אב"ד מורגרטן, when chazal say רשעים בחייהם קרויים מתים that the wicked even in their lifetime are called deceased, they mean that the days of a person's life that count are the days that one does good deeds. However, if one just wastes his day, & does nothing to serve his creator, it's not considered as if he lived those days. This is what the posuk is telling us. שרה lived out each day doing good, bringing people closer to 'ה, & that's why it's considered שני חיי שרה - that she lived fully all her days.
ReplyDelete