Rashi: All Good Years
Why doesn’t Torah just say, “Sarah lived one hundred and twenty seven years?” The wording is repeated to indicate that all of her years were equally good.
R. Yehudah Aryeh Leib of Ger (Gerer Rebbe): Rashi—What?
There must be differences, variations, and changes during a person’s lifetime. There are special times during a person’s youth and special times during a person’s old age. But the ones who are truly righteous find fulfillment in all their days. . . Fulfillment, wholeness, completion—these can be found in every place and at every time. Thus, ‘They were all equally good.’”
Commentary on S’fat Emet (Lawrence Kushner and Kerry Olitzky):
Our teacher accepts Rashi’s explanation but wonders how Rashi came to the understanding He ties this phrase to the verse he reads just one chapter later. It is not merely that the years of Sarah’s life were equally good. Rather, each and every one of them was good—even amid the seemingly regular disillusionments and disappointments we all must face. The S’fat Emet teaches us that we must live our lives trying to emulate Sarah.
Talmud Berachot 18a: The righteous are called living even after death, while the wicked are called dead even in life.