The Rabbi Midrash Archive
Jackson Snyder Biblical
Literature ArcCenter
Chaye Sarah 5762
I would like to share with you a D’var Torah from the Piasatzner Rebbe, Kalman Kalanimous Shapira, also known as the Warsaw Ghetto Rebbe because that’s where he was during the Shoah (Holocaust), in which he perished.
In these very difficult times we are facing in the wake of September 11, we are all somewhat tuned in to the theme of “suffering,” and are sensitive to how many innocent people suffered a terrible death, and how many families continue to suffer from the loss of a loved one. The Piasatzner Rebbe brings an interesting teaching on this subject from this week’s Torah portion, Chaye Sarah.
The parsha starts out with a statement “and this was the life of Sarah, one hundred years, and twenty years, and seven years were the life of Sarah.” The repetition of “years” after each number, unusual even in Hebrew is explained by Rashi as meaning that even past 100, Sarah was like a girl of 20 in being free from sin, and like a girl of 7 in beauty and fairness, and all the years of Sarah were equal in goodness. In the interpretation, Sarah comes off even ahead of Abraham in goodness.
The Piasatzner then brings a quote from the Maor U’Shemesh, comparing the covenant of salt and the covenant of suffering. Just as a little bit of salt prepares the meat and makes it suitable for consumption, but too much salt renders the meat inedible, it spoils the meat, a little bit of suffering is acceptable, it may draw compassion on us, but too much suffering will destroy us.
Rashi explains that the reason the episode of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, in last week’s parsha is right next to the death of Sarah in this week’s parsha is because she couldn’t bear the suffering of knowing what was happening with Isaac, and her soul fled, she died. The Piasatzner explains that Moses put the death of Sarah next to the Akedah (yes, an Orthodox rabbi said that Moses was responsible for the editing, not God!) is to give good advice, and to show, God forbid, what is the effect of suffering that is too much to bear, it causes the soul to flee. If it could do this to such a great righteous person like Sarah, who was as innocent at 127 as at 20, all of whose years were equal in goodness, and yet she could not bear this suffering, all the more so to the rest of us mere mortals.
The Piasatzner says that Sarah accepted this great suffering on herself, even at the cost of her life, for the benefit of Israel. SHE DID IT TO WARN GOD, to show God that it would be impossible for Israel to bear excessive suffering. That even someone like herself, who by the grace of God could remain alive, too much suffering breaks up her strength and spirit and wisdom, and these are broken and disappear from her.
Based on the merit of Sarah’s sacrifice, he prays that God will take mercy on us and on all Israel, and save us quickly, spiritually and physically with revealed lovingkindness.
This teaching of the Piasatzner’s is all the more remarkable when put in the context that the week before he gave over this teaching, on Shabbat Shuva, he saw his own son killed. As one of my teachers, Rav Mimi Feigelson, said it’s as if he was saying to God, you’re putting the binding of Isaac on us every day, we can’t take it.
I don’t want to leave you with the picture of great suffering and nothing to do with it, so I will try to close with a more hopeful message. Rambam says that the majority of the suffering we experience is simply a result of being human—it’s the way God created the world, when we get sick we’re not being punished, it’s just the nature of physicality. Similarly, a Buddhist teaching I learned some years ago says that about one third of the suffering we experience in life comes with the territory of being human—people get sick, people die. But two thirds of our suffering is self-induced, we do it to ourselves, with wanting things we can’t have, with choosing careers we aren’t suited for, by ignoring our essential selves.
May we all succeed in avoiding unnecessary suffering, and may we, and God, remember the lessons of Sarah and show compassion to our fellow creatures.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Barry