Chayei Sarah
In this week’s sidra we find the passing of one wife of Avraham – Sarah – and the advent of another – Keturah. What significance do these two wives have to the inner world of every Jew?
Let us begin with a lesson which I heard from Reb Nachman of Horodnoka.* He received a message in a dream that a doctor who heals through a sweet, palatable medicine is superior to one who uses a bitter medicine. This refers to two approaches in service of Hashem. One consists of a regimen of self-abnegation, through fasting and constant study. A negative outgrowth of this lifestyle is the embitterment of its practitioner, conditioning him to look askance at everyone else who doesn’t hew to the same standard. The second is a relatively more relaxed approach, one that allows for appreciating the divine in all that is wonderful in life. One who lives this way has a positive disposition, seeking the constructive betterment of the world and its creations. In truth, both of these approaches are necessary for one’s self-growth: one starts with the first and graduates to the second. An example of this paradigm is R. Shimon b. Yochai and R. Elazar. Upon their emergence from their first stay in the cave, they were operating on the first model. Therefore, they destroyed all that they laid their eyes upon. Upon their second emergence, they were on the second tier, and so they looked positively at the mundane world, bringing blessing upon all that their gaze alighted upon.
I suggest that this model is alluded to in a mishnah in Niddah.** There are two signs of female puberty, pubic hair and breast growth. Although it is the former which is the real sign of maturity, the latter alone is sufficient to establish a girl as an adult. This is because, in the opinion of the Sages, it is impossible for the latter to occur before the former. Thus, although there is no pubic hair to be found, the breast growth is proof that the hairs must have been there and fell out.
The female is representative of the physical dimension of Man. The two aforementioned signs represent the two prongs of Hashem’s interaction with our world: Hair symbolizes Din, Judgement, while breasts represent Chesed, Kindness (which provide the nourishing milk). Thus, our mishnah can be decoded to read that it is impossible for the positive tier of one’s service to precede the restrictive one.
We can also apply these concepts to the second verse in our sidra. ותמת שרה,*** And Sarah died – living on the lower tier brings to depression, which is a corollary of the Dark Side and disrupts the unity of the four letters of the Tetragrammaton – קרית ארבע היא חברון, the City of Four, which ought to be connected with one another. Hence, ויבא אברהם לספד לשרה ולבכתה, And Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and bewail her, all signs of Din. Subsequently, though, Avraham graduated to the higher tier. ויסף אברהם ויקח אשה ושמה קטורה, And Avraham continued and married a woman whose name was Keturah.**** The root of the name Keturah is the Aramaic for “knot,” indicating the union of the letters of the Tetragrammaton which joyful service of Hashem can bring. We can now appreciate the significance of Avraham’s two wives.
With this scheme we can also interpret the opening verse of the next sidra, Toldos. אלה תולדות יצחק בן אברהם אברהם הוליד את יצחק, These are the offspring of Yitzchak son of Avraham; Avraham bore Yitzchak. Yitzchak is the patriarch who represents Din, while Avraham is that of Chessed. Hence, “Yitzchak son of Avraham” is the process of elevation from the lower tier to the higher one. The consequence is that “Avraham bore Yitzchak,” i.e., Avraham was able to produce the צחוק, the pleasant medicine mentioned at the outset. The result was the bifurcation of the two elements in Yitzchak’s progeny: Yaakov embodied Rachamim, Eisav – Din.
There is yet another verse that lends itself to this line of interpretation. ואברהם זקן בא בימים וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, Avraham was elderly, getting on in days, and Hashem blessed Avraham with everything.***** What does one have to do with another? Allow me to offer three possible explanations.
One is based on a passage in Moed Katan****** in which one sage eulogizes another with נשים לילות כימים על משים לילות כימים, let us make nights like days for one who made nights like days. I take this to mean that the subject had been successful in correcting the sinful ways of others: he made “nights,” i.e., the wicked who perform their deeds in the dark of night, into “days,” i.e., righteous. Hence,******* ויהי ערב ויהי בקר יום אחד – “evening” and “morning” should be made one through the betterment of the wicked. And similarly, אם לא בריתי יומם ולילה חקות שמים וארץ לא שמתי,******** the mission of the Tzaddik, the “covenantal” (בריתי) figure of the world, to unite the “daylike” righteous and the “nightlike” wicked through the edification of the latter, is the raison d'être of Heaven and Earth.
Furthermore, the Talmud********* tells us that so long as there is rebuke in the world, there is blessing in the world.
Thus, ואברהם זקן, a זקן is, as the Talmud defines********* it, זה שקנה חכמה, one who has acquired wisdom. Avraham used this wisdom to influence others for the better, converting them from wicked into righteous. Hence, in his lifetime he was בא בימים, with the accruement of “Days,” the variety made from “Nights.” This accomplishment of successfully rebuking his generation allowed a flow of blessing into the world. As such, וה' ברך את אברהם בכל.
Another approach takes its start from the mishnah in Avos**********, הקנאה והתאוה והכבוד מוציאין את האדם מן העולם, Jealousy, desire, and honor remove a person from the world. While on its face it describes the detrimental outcome of negative character traits, this text can also be taken as describing positive qualities which allow transcendence of the physical world.
We find Jealousy of a positive sort, that of another’s accomplishments. The classic example is Rochel, who, the Sages*********** inform us, was jealous of her sister Leah’s superior deeds. This jealousy was so intense that she declared ואם אין, if I don’t achieve her deeds, מתה אנכי, I will be dead from the longing.
We also find Desire which is positive. One can desire proximity with Hashem – to the point that he sublimates himself into spirituality. As the Bris Menuchah************ wrote, this is the meaning of the incident of Kivros ha-Ta’avah, the Graves of Desire.
And regarding Honor, אין כבוד אלא תורה, there is no true honor but Torah**************. Being that Torah study demands that one “kill himself over it,”*************** what we have is Honor which can indeed remove one from this world.
We thus see that intense fixture on a character trait can “remove one from the world” in a positive sense. The Reishis Chochmah**************** quotes R. Yitzchak of Acco’s anecdote to this effect, of the individual who waiting in single-minded fixation for a woman and achieved transcendence through his dereliction of all of his other worldly matters.
We also know that This World is referred to as לילה, night, and the World to Come as ימים, days, as per the Talmud.***************** We can therefore interpret our verse as follows: ואברהם זקן בא בימים, due to his intense deveikus with Hashem, Avraham achieved transcendence while still alive, living more in the World to Come than in this one. Consequently, וה' ברך את אברהם בכל, this great closeness prompted a flow of material blessing, as per the analogy which I have quoted before from the Besht: A king allows each of his subjects to make one request of him. A wise individual requests the right to be in the king’s company every day. Impressed, the king instructs that this petitioner be led in and out of his presence through the royal treasure room.
The third approach to our verse draws on the account in Berachos****************** of R. Elazar b. Azariah’s ascension to the presidency of the Sanhedrin. He consulted with his wife, who pointed out his lack of white hair. A miracle occurred and his hair turned white. What meaning lies behind this enigmatic passage?
The Alshich******************* tells us that when Hashem wants to bestow mercy upon someone, He provides him an opportunity to be merciful to another, which prompts a flow of heavenly mercy upon him. As it says, ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך, ******************** and He shall give you an opportunity for merciful behavior and He will then be merciful to you.
This was the objection of R. Elazar b. Azariah’s wife, his lack of sufficient compassion, which may prompt the Attribute of Din upon himself or the world. Once he accepted the challenge that this was a necessary change for him, his hair (which is symbolic of Din) turned white (which is the color of Rachamim*********************) giving him an elderly appearance (which is also associated with Rachamim **********************).
As such, ואברהם זקן בא בימים, once Avraham was pronounced in his compassion – as indicated by his elderliness and the “days” (also indicative of compassion) which he had accrued, he brought compassion, and blessing, into the world.
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* Reb Nachman (d. 1765) was one of the earliest and closest of the Besht’s students, and eventually settled in the Land of Israel with the first wave of chassidic pilgrimage. His grandson Reb Nachman of Breslov bore his name. ** 6:1.*** Bereishis 23:2. **** Ibid., 25:1. ***** Ibid., 24:1. ****** 25b. ******* Bereishis 1:5. ******** Yirmiyah 33:25. ********* Tamid 28a.********** Kiddushin 32b. *********** 4:21. ************ Bereishis Rabbah 71:6. ************* 1. ************** Avos 6:3. *************** Berachos 63b. **************** Sha’ar ha-Ahavah, ch. 4. ***************** Chagigah 12b.****************** 27b. ******************* Mishlei 3:27. ******************** Devarim 13:18. ********************* Zohar, Shemos, 20b. ********************** Mechilta, Shirah, 4.