Chayei Sarah: Bresheet (Genesis 23:1 - 25:18) Part 1 Skip to Part 2
Endeavoring to Understand the Midrash - Our Sages associate the verse, "Sarah's life was 127 years...," with the quote: "G-d knows the days of the righteous," and explain: "Just as they are perfect, so too, their years are perfect." The Midrash continues, explaining that this concept was exemplified by Sarah whose years were complete. There was nothing lacking in the years with which she was endowed.
The question arises: Before and after Sarah's life, there were many righteous men and women whose "years were perfect." Why is Sarah chosen as the paradigm to exemplify this concept? The continuous Divine service of other righteous men and women was rewarded with G-d's blessing: "I will fill the span of your days," i.e., they were given a long lifespan. It is no wonder that their days were perfect. When for whatever reasons, years were taken from the lifetime of a righteous man, that person's Divine service was in fact lacking.
Sarah, by contrast, passed away before her time because of an external factor - her soul expired when she was told of the binding of Yitzchak - and yet "her years were perfect." Since this is a unique phenomenon, her example is cited to illustrate this concept. Nevertheless, since the concepts taught by the Torah are extremely precise, it is unlikely that this is the sole reason why the Midrash associates this idea with Sarah. Indeed, the reason stated above - that she was able to have full days despite the fact that she died before her time - does not contribute anything to the understanding of the concept itself. Instead, the implication is that the concept of "complete years" shares a particular connection with Sarah, more than to other righteous men.
Another question also arises: What is the intent of the description of the righteous as "perfect"? The intent is not that they are perfect in their observance of the 613 mitzvos, for this can be inferred by their very description as "righteous." This applies even when considering the simple meaning of the term "righteous." How much more so is it relevant when taking into consideration the meaning of that term as described in Tanya. As such, with the use of the term "perfect," the Midrash appears to be pointing to another positive attribute possessed by the righteous in addition to their observance of the mitzvos. What is this quality?
When the Torah associates two concepts, the connection between them is not mere circumstantial. Instead, the implication is that there is an inner connection between them or that one of the concepts leads to the other. As such, when the Midrash says: "Just as they are perfect, so too, their years are perfect," implied is that the perfection of the righteous shares an inner connection or leads to the perfection of their years. This is difficult to understand. On the surface, the very fact that these individuals are righteous and have carried out their Divine service in observance of the mitzvos is sufficient reason for "their days to be perfect." (As stated above, the blessing "I will fill the span of your days" is given in reward for continuous Divine service.) It is thus necessary to
understand why the Midrash associates the perfection of a righteous person's years with the attribute of perfection they possess?
IS ADVANCED AGE AVRAHAM'S GREATNESS? The above difficulties can be resolved through reference to a different comment of the Midrash on another verse in this Torah reading. On the verse, "Avraham was old, advanced in years," the Midrash comments: "There are men who are old, but who are not advanced in years, and others who [appear] advanced in years, but not old. In this instance, his age paralleled his advancement in years, and his advancement in years paralleled his age." The commentaries to the Midrash explain that there are times when a person appears elderly although he is not advanced in years, e.g., R. Elazar ben Azariah who looked like an old man, despite the fact that he was merely eighteen years old. Conversely, there are men who are advanced in years whose external appearance is like that of a young man. In Avraham's instance, his external appearance matched his chronological age.
This entire passage is somewhat problematic, because both of these qualities: an elderly appearance and chronological age, are seemingly superficial qualities which do not express the greatness of Avraham our Patriarch. "Avraham possessed singular uniqueness." In a world of idolaters, he was the only one who worshipped the one G-d. It was he who "began to illuminate," reflecting G-dly light within the world. Avraham began an entire new epoch in the world's history, "the two millennia of Torah," in which the Torah was spread throughout the world. Why then did the Torah choose to associate Avraham's greatness with these qualities: chronological age and an elderly appearance? Yet, the fact that the Torah makes such an association indicates that there is a dimension of these two qualities which does in fact express Avraham's greatness.
SPIRITUAL, RATHER THAN MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES - The terms used by the Torah for these two qualities: "zaken" and "ba bayamim" are both the subject of interpretation by our Sages: Zaken is interpreted as "one who acquired wisdom." Ba Bayamim is interpreted as meaning: "He comes with his days," i.e., there was not a single day in which Avraham did not observe mitzvos. (This refers, of course, to the mitzvos as they existed before the giving of the Torah.).
Thus the two qualities mentioned by the Torah refer to two different spiritual qualities. Zaken refers to the perfection of Avraham's soul, that his soul acquired wisdom. Ba Bayamim refers to what he accomplished, that he was able to fill each day with mitzvos. The advantage is not merely that Avraham had performed many mitzvos, but that each of his days was filled with mitzvos. Were the intent to be merely that his mitzvos contributed to his personal development, it would not make any difference whether he had fulfilled these mitzvos on every one of his days, or that he had performed the same amount of mitzvos on one day. For with regard to his soul, we are speaking about the same amount of mitzvos. The attribute of ba bayamim reflects what one has accomplished in these days. As such, it is significant that each day is associated with aparticular mitzvah.
TWO DIRECTIONS OF GROWTH - To explain the above concept: In general, the difference between the Torah and its mitzvos can be explained as follows: The Torah is G-d's wisdom, an intellectual and spiritual entity. When a Jew studies Torah, he advances and develops his soul. Mitzvos, by contrast, are enclothed in material entities. Their performance is not intended primarily for the development of the soul of the person who observes them, but rather to illuminate the material dimensions of the world at large, and in this way transform the world into a dwelling for G-d. Therefore, when speaking about wisdom (i.e., Torah), our Sages use the expression: "one who has acquired wisdom," for the intent is that he brings the Torah's wisdom into his soul.
However, when speaking about the performance of mitzvos, the Torah uses an expression, ba bayamim, that implies that the person's energy is directed outward. Through his observance of the mitzvos, he refined the world. This is reflected in the effect on time, a fundamental characteristic of our material realm, as indicated by the expression "advanced in years." There is another point alluded to by the use of an expression involving time. In contrast to other material entities which remain unchanged, e.g., the heavenly bodies, the sun and the stars which are "as strong as they were on the day they were created," time involves change.
Even on the earth, there are entities that have been endowed with a measure of eternity, e.g., the Sanctuary ark and the anointing oil made by Moshe are eternal. At present, they are entombed, but in the Era of the Redemption, they will emerge. G-d's intent, however, is that a dwelling for Him be established in this material world, the lowest of all realms. As such, the dwelling must encompass even those aspects of material existence which are affected by change. This is implied by using the expression "advanced in years." Working With Oneself and With Others.
Based on the above, we can understand the uniqueness of the fact that Avraham's chronological age paralleled his appearance. The implication is that his personal development (zaken) was coupled with his achievements in the world at large (ba bayamim). These are two different - and to a certain degree, opposite - thrusts and there are few who can combine the two together. For example, the text Maggid Meisharim relates that R. Yosef Karo was told that he had merited to die as a martyr, and to be burnt al kiddush HaShem, for the Sanctification of G-d's Name. Afterwards, however, because of an incidental factor, he did not merit this opportunity.
Had he died a martyr's death, he would have reached the peaks of personal development (zaken), but he would not have been able to compose the Shulchan Aruch, the text which serves as the guideline for Jewish law for all ages, and instead, the merit of the composition of that text would have been granted to another individual. In fact, R. Yosef Karo was the one who authored the Shulchan Aruch. As such, he possessed the advantage of achieving in the world at large (ba bayamim), but this came at the expense of failing to achieve the peaks of martyrdom.
For himself, his personal development would have been crowned by such self-sacrifice, and indeed, having that rung withheld from him is considered as a punishment. In Avraham's instance, there was no such dichotomy. His personal development and his achievements in the world at large were coupled in complementary perfection. As such, the Midrash appropriately states that it was Avraham who began to illuminate the world with G-dly light.
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