וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה׃
Sarah lived to be 127 years old-such was the span of Sarah’s life
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יהוה לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃
The LORD said, “My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years.”—
וּמֹשֶׁ֗ה בֶּן־מֵאָ֧ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּמֹת֑וֹ לֹֽא־כָהֲתָ֥ה עֵינ֖וֹ וְלֹא־נָ֥ס לֵחֹֽה׃
Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor had not departed.
וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה (בראשית כג, א), (תהלים לז, יח): יוֹדֵעַ יהוה יְמֵי תְמִימִם וְנַחֲלָתָם לְעוֹלָם תִּהְיֶה, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהֵן תְּמִימִים כָּךְ שְׁנוֹתָם תְּמִימִים, בַּת עֶשְׂרִים כְּבַת שֶׁבַע לְנוֹי, בַּת מֵאָה כְּבַת עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה לְחֵטְא. דָּבָר אַחֵר, יוֹדֵעַ יהוה יְמֵי תְמִימִם, זוֹ שָׂרָה שֶׁהָיְתָה תְּמִימָה בְּמַעֲשֶׂיהָ
"And the lifespan of Sarah was 100 years" Psalms 37:18: "Adonai is concerned with the days of the blameless and their portion lasts forever." Just as their name is blameless and thus they are given blamelessness. A 20 year old is like a 7 year old in beauty, a 100 year old is like a 20 year old in sin. Another thing, "Adonai is concerned with the days of the blameless", this is Sarah who was blameless in her actions.
בִּֽישִׁישִׁ֥ים חָכְמָ֑ה וְאֹ֖רֶךְ יָמִ֣ים תְּבוּנָֽה׃
Is wisdom in the aged And understanding in the long-lived?
שני חיי שרה. כֻּלָּן שָׁוִין לְטוֹבָה:
שני חיי שרה THE YEARS OF SARAH’S LIFE — The word years is repeated and without a number to indicate that they were all equally good.
רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן כִּי הֲוָה מְסַיֵּים סִפְרָא דְאִיּוֹב, אָמַר הָכִי: ״סוֹף אָדָם לָמוּת וְסוֹף בְּהֵמָה לִשְׁחִיטָה, וְהַכֹּל לְמִיתָה הֵם עוֹמְדִים. אַשְׁרֵי מִי שֶׁגָּדֵל בַּתּוֹרָה וַעֲמָלוֹ בַּתּוֹרָה, וְעוֹשֶׂה נַחַת רוּחַ לְיוֹצְרוֹ, וְגָדֵל בְּשֵׁם טוֹב וְנִפְטָר בְּשֵׁם טוֹב מִן הָעוֹלָם, וְעָלָיו אָמַר שְׁלֹמֹה: 'טוֹב שֵׁם מִשֶּׁמֶן טוֹב וְיוֹם הַמָּוֶת מִיּוֹם הִוָּלְדוֹ'״.
When Rabbi Yoḥanan would conclude study of the book of Job, he said the following:A person will ultimately die and an animal will ultimately be slaughtered, and all are destined for death. Therefore, death itself is not a cause for great anguish.
Rather, happy is he who grew up in Torah, whose labor is in Torah,who gives pleasure to his Creator,who grew up with a good name and who took leave of the world with a good name.
Such a person lived his life fully, and about him, Solomon said:“A good name is better than fine oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1); one who was faultless in life reaches the day of his death on a higher level than he was at the outset.
Dr. Leon Kass
“[A] flourishing human life is not a life lived with an ageless body or an untroubled soul, but rather a life lived in rhythmed time, mindful of time’s limits, appreciative of each season, and filled first of all with those intimate human relations that are ours only because we are born, age, replace ourselves, and die – and know it. . . . It is a life that stretches toward some fulfillment to which our natural human soul has been oriented . . . It is a life not of better genes and enhancing chemicals but of love and friendship, song and dance, speech and deed, working and learning, revering and worshipping.”
Rabbi A. J. Heschel
Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time...There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at that moment, exclusively and endlessly precious. Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of the year. The Sabbaths are our great Cathedrals... To observe the Sabbath is to celebrate the coronation of a day in the spiritual wonderland of time, the air of which we inhale when we "call it a delight."
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||