Parasha From a Poet's Perspective: Parashas Chayei Sarah - Life of Meaning

 Parashas Chayei Sarah.

So many beautiful points, so many concepts to work with. Yet we take the inspiration from some point at the beginning of the Parasha.

At the start of this weeks Torah Portion we read about the death of Sarah Immeinu, and her subsequent burial at Meoras HaMachpela. We know that the verse reads,

"וַיִּהְיוּ֙ חַיֵּ֣י שָׂרָ֔ה מֵאָ֥ה שָׁנָ֛ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וְשֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֑ים שְׁנֵ֖י חַיֵּ֥י שָׂרָֽה"

"Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of Sarah's life."

The famous question is why does the Torah mention "Sarah's lifetime was... the years of Sarah's life." why use that double expression? Futhermore, why not just say "Sarah's lifetime was one hundred and twenty-seven years?" Why make the split between the hundreds, tens and units?

Rashi says that in terms of the split when informing you of Sarah's age, the Torah was showing you that "when she was a hundred years old, she was like a twenty-year-old with respect to sin." Rashi explains this point as follows: "Just as one who is twenty-years-old is considered as if she has not sinned, for she is not liable for punishment, so too, when Sarah was one-hundred-years-old she was without sin, and when she was twenty-years-old she was like seven years old with regard to beauty."

Then, Rashi continues and explains that in regard to the double expression "Sarah's lifetime... The years of Sarah's life" is written to show you that "they were all equal for goodness."

Now, based on those explanations and understanding, I think it's fair to say that Sarah Immenu lived a true "Life of Meaning", a life of truth, a life of G-dliness and a life walking upon paths of love, unity and unparalleled greatness and kindness.

With that in mind I present to you, the "Parashas Chayei Sarah" poem, titled quite obviously "Life of Meaning". Follow along with the recording here :)

I hope you like it.

Your friend,

Yitzy Schweitzer

Parasha From a Poet's Perspective: Parashas Chayei Sarah - Life of Meaning

There is a life we all strive to live,
A live we all travel towards throughout our days,
It is a life of meaning, a life of goodness and G-dliness.
A life where we fully walked upon the beauty of His ways.

Each one of us, one day at a time,
Searches, yearns, and strives to find our meaning our reason,
For each one of us, it’s one step and then another, we know,
Towards a life of simple, true, honest achievement.

Our own individual purpose, our talents and gifts,
Are given to us all from the moment we were born,
Throughout our lives we are led to find it all,
By G-d’s guidance and kindness and the love to us that He shows.

We may face challenges, we may see hard and dark days,
But with the right perspective, with a true prayer, we will emerge victorious,
We may need to walk through storms, only to find our true selves,
When we do, we will find real meaning, and we will find a serenity so glorious.

We must learn from Sarah Immenu, our Matriarch Sara,
Whose life was rich in meaning, without blemish and true complete beauty,
We must try, as best we can, to follow the path she blazed,
To live with belief in ourselves, and live with love, kindness, joy and unity.