(א) וְאַבְרָהָ֣ם זָקֵ֔ן בָּ֖א בַּיָּמִ֑ים וַֽיהוָ֛ה בֵּרַ֥ךְ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּכֹּֽל׃
(1) Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Intro: Parashah is full of death (Sarah, Abraham, Ishmael). Ironically begins with the word "life"
Focus on this pasuk in two parts. First the old part, second the being blessed in all things
Zaken- zeh sh'kana chochma
Haftorah: refers to David as Zaken, ba'bayamim
Translation is advanced in "years" but literally it's "days"
And it's BA'yamim. They came WITH their days. Zohar: they took advantage of each day and so they reached their old age "with a rich harvest of days that truly mattered"
(יא) וְאַבְרָהָ֤ם וְשָׂרָה֙ זְקֵנִ֔ים בָּאִ֖ים בַּיָּמִ֑ים חָדַל֙ לִהְי֣וֹת לְשָׂרָ֔ה אֹ֖רַח כַּנָּשִֽׁים׃
(11) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years; Sarah had stopped having the periods of women.
Ba'im in the present- easier to see in the plural
Three times Abraham referred to as old. Here when he is 99. Our parasha when he is 137. And again in again at end of parasha when he dies at 175 (25:7-8)
(ז) וְאֵ֗לֶּה יְמֵ֛י שְׁנֵֽי־חַיֵּ֥י אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֲשֶׁר־חָ֑י מְאַ֥ת שָׁנָ֛ה וְשִׁבְעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְחָמֵ֥שׁ שָׁנִֽים׃ (ח) וַיִּגְוַ֨ע וַיָּ֧מָת אַבְרָהָ֛ם בְּשֵׂיבָ֥ה טוֹבָ֖ה זָקֵ֣ן וְשָׂבֵ֑עַ וַיֵּאָ֖סֶף אֶל־עַמָּֽיו׃
(7) This was the total span of Abraham’s life: one hundred and seventy-five years. (8) And Abraham breathed his last, dying at a good ripe age, old and contented; and he was gathered to his kin.
Here the word seivah is introduced instead of ba ba'yamim. That's how he was gathered to his kin
Interestingly, Ishmael's death at 137 (mentioned a little later 25:17) also gathered to his kin but no mention of being old.
(א) וְאַבְרָהָ֣ם זָקֵ֔ן בָּ֖א בַּיָּמִ֑ים וַֽיהוָ֛ה בֵּרַ֥ךְ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם בַּכֹּֽל׃
(1) Abraham was now old, advanced in years, and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
bakol has same gematria as ben - 52
didn't feel fulfilled until he had a son with Sarah (15:2)
Baal Haturim on perek 24 says that Avraham being old means he couldn't come in or go out or give or take - and it was at that time dafka that he was blessed.
D. Rashi and Baal Haturim have two gematriahs. yamim is 100 and bakol is gematria ben, so when avraham had come to "100" he was blessed with "a son"
“Maybe ‘and God had blessed Abraham in everything’ doesn’t mean God gave him a daughter? R. Levi gave three [interpretations.] ‘Everything’–he ruled over his desires. ‘Everything’–that Ishmael achieved reconciliation in his [Abraham’s] lifetime. ‘Everything’-that his storehouse never lacked for anything. R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama: It means that God did not test him again.” Genesis Rabbah 59:7
per the midrash) while Avraham is having eliezer get a wife for Yitzchak, Yitzchak is getting a wife for Avraham (i.e. getting Hagar to go re-marry Avraham). This midrash is all the more poignant considering the response of Yitzchak to getting married bringing rivkah to visit his mother's tent . . . But the parallel is beautiful - father gets son married. Son gets father married.
What gave this study its unusual longitudinal scope is that in 1930 the nuns, then in their twenties, had been asked by the Mother Superior to write a brief autobiographical account of their life and their reasons for entering the convent. These documents were now analysed by the researchers using a specially devised coding system to register, among other things, positive and negative emotions. By annually assessing the nuns’ current state of health, the researchers were able to test whether their emotional state in 1930 had an effect on their health some sixty years later. Because they had all lived a very similar lifestyle during these six decades, they formed an ideal group for testing hypotheses about the relationship between emotional attitudes and health.
The results, published in 2001, were startling. The more positive emotions – contentment, gratitude, happiness, love and hope – the nuns expressed in their autobiographical notes, the more likely they were to be alive and well sixty years later. The difference was as much as seven years in life expectancy. So remarkable was this finding that it has led, since then, to a new field of gratitude research, as well as a deepening understanding of the impact of emotions on physical health...
Since the publication of the Nun Study and the flurry of further research it inspired, we now know of the multiple effects of developing an attitude of gratitude. It improves physical health and immunity against disease. Grateful people are more likely to take regular exercise and go for regular medical check-ups. Thankfulness reduces toxic emotions such as resentment, frustration and regret and makes depression less likely. It helps people avoid over-reacting to negative experiences by seeking revenge. It even tends to make people sleep better. It enhances self-respect, making it less likely that you will envy others for their achievements or success. Grateful people tend to have better relationships. Saying “thank you” enhances friendships and elicits better performance from employees. It is also a major factor in strengthening resilience...
Part of the essence of gratitude is that it recognizes that we are not the sole authors of what is good in our lives. The egoist, says Andre Comte-Sponville, “is ungrateful because he doesn’t like to acknowledge his debt to others and gratitude is this acknowledgement. La Rochefoucald put it more bluntly: “Pride refuses to owe, self-love to pay.” Thankfulness has an inner connection with humility. It recognizes that what we are and what we have is due to others, and above all to God. Comte-Sponville adds: “Those who are incapable of gratitude live in vain; they can never be satisfied, fulfilled or happy: they do not live, they get ready to live”
R. Jonathan Sacks "Power of Gratitude"