Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Aviad Boukris
This week’s parasha talks about Sara Imenu’s Petira and burial, and ends off with Avraham Avinu’s burial. The Parasha starts off by telling us the age at which Sarah Imenu left this world; as the Pasuk states:
†״ויהיו ×©× ×™ ×—×™×™ שרה מ××” ×©× ×” ושבע ×•×¢×©×¨×™× ×©× ×”
“And Sarah’s days were one hundred years, and twenty and seven.â€
Our sages ask why does the pasuk quote the years separately, stating each number, 100 years and 20 years, and 7 years? Chazal answer that the Torah comes to teach us a special lesson about Sarah Imenu’s life and how each number is an indication of her greatness. Sarah, at the end of her days, was clean from any sin as when she was 20 years old (which is the age that is punishable from heaven) and she remained as beautiful as she was in her youth. Her years were all equal, perfect, throughout her life.
The same is true about Avraham Avinu, as the verse tells us about his life:
״ו×לה ×©× ×™ ימי ×—×™×™ ×שר ×—×™ מ××” ×©× ×” ×•×©×‘×¢×™× ×©× ×” וחמש ×©× ×”×´
“And these are the years which Avraham lived; One hundred and seventy and five.â€
This is a truly remarkable idea, being able to keep the same level of Kedusha an entire lifetime. But what could we learn from here? We are so far from being even close to the level of these tzadikim.
Our sages teach us that anyone who does real Teshuva, Hashem will forgive. However, when a person does Teshuva from love, Hashem doesn’t only forgive, but he also turns Averot into Zechuyot, making them equal. And that is the secret of maintaining a certain level of Kedusha throughout our lifetime.
We should all בעזרת ×”×©× be able to live with continuous growth in Ruchniyut and Kedusha throughout our lives.