5785/2024
This week's Parashah, Parashat Chayei Sarah, starts with the Pasuk “וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה” “And the life of Sarah came to one hundred and twenty seven years”. Why does the Pasuk divide the years of Sarah’s life and not just say Sarah lived to 127 years old? There are many explanations on this Pasuk including Rav Shimon Schwab’s in his Sefer, the Maayan Beit Hashoeva. He shares that the Midrash says the days of tzadikim are full. What does this mean? A regular person who lives to the age of 70 may waste a lot of time every day, so over the course of their lives they end up losing decades of productivity and potential of serving Hashem. If you do the math for a 70 year life, it would come out that the productive time only comes out to about 30 years. On the other hand, a tzadik does all his activities for Hasehm’s sake so if he lives to the age of 70, he would've actually lived 70 productive years. That's why regarding Sarah, the Pasuk first says she lived until 127 then reiterates, “the years of Sarah's life” to stress that every moment of her life were devoted to Avodat Hashem. Nowadays, distractions are many, but we should keep in mind how much time we waste every day and how many years it will eventually add up to. Hopefully the lessons we learn from Sarah Imeinu will motivate us to keep track of our time and maximize our Avodat Hashem.