Making sense of the sedra: Chayei Sarah
True beauty comes from the joy within
One of the core concepts of Judaism is that we are more than our physical essence. Every morning, Jews are required to say the following words: “My God, the soul that you placed within me is holy.” In this way, we remember what is inside that really matters. Solomon expressed this idea succinctly when he wrote “beauty is vanity”.
It is therefore surprising that when Rashi discusses the death of Sarah, he suggests that beauty is more than just a present wrapping for what is inside. The Torah tells us in this week’s parsha Chayei Sarah that she was 100 years and 20 years and seven years. Why, ask the sages, does the Torah separate out each set of years with the extra “and”? Rashi answers that when she was 100, she was like a lady of 20 who is not held responsible for her sins, and when she was 20, she was as beautiful as a girl of seven.
Sarah is being praised for her physical beauty. She didn’t need Nivea oils or other skin products. Her skin was as supple as a seven-year-old’s. If physical beauty is indeed vanity why does the Torah praise Sarah in this way?
There are a few hints from this comment that would suggest that beauty is not skin deep. When one is 20 years of age, the skin is still firm and supple. It would have been useful when she was 100 to look like a 20-year-old debutante, with fresh glowing skin devoid of wrinkles. Rashi points out that she was as morally innocent at 100 as a young lady of 20, not as beautiful as a young woman of 20.
For these reasons, we need to see beauty in a different light.
There are many beautiful things about seven-year-olds, which I as a father of two girls have witnessed and delighted in, but I would like to focus on just one. Little girls are just… so happy! They have a joy that bubbles out of them, expressing itself in overflowing ripples of laughter, smiles and dance moves, which appear spontaneously at any given time. This joy and happiness is so beautiful to see, and is contagious, no matter how silly the joke.
Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Berlin (1840-1880) says that Sarah had this irrepressible joy all her life. She was in a constant state of joy and this, according to our sages, allowed her to have even greater divine inspiration than her husband Abraham, the beloved of God. Sarah did not have an easy life by any means. The Torah opens its description of her as barren. She lived 90 years without having children, and this would have broken many a woman’s heart.
Furthermore, Sarah was kidnapped, not once, but twice – first by Pharaoh, and then later on by Avimelech. Both events could easily have traumatised her and broken her will to have joy. We are therefore told, in praise of Sarah, that she possessed irrepressible joy all the days of her life. It isn’t easy to do. It takes massive strength of character, resilience and inner peace despite all the fates that befell her. To be happy when you want to cry, to dance when all seems lost, is true beauty and it is for this reason that the Torah mentions her inner beauty for all to see.
May we all merit to have the strength to be beautiful all the days of our lives – every one equal in joy and happiness, no matter what comes our way.
Rabbi Stephen Dansky is at Cranbrook United Synagogue
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