For an explanation of the methodology of this series, see the introduction.

"And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah." (Gen. 23:1)

Peshat (basic meaning):

Rashi: "the years of the life of Sarah"
They were all equal for goodness.

"And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years"
The reason that the word "years" was written after every digit is to tell you that every digit is to be expounded upon individually: when she was one hundred years old, she was like a twenty-year-old regarding sin. Just as a twenty-year-old has not sinned, because she is not liable to punishment, so too when she was one hundred years old, she was without sin. And when she was twenty, she was like a seven-year-old as regards to beauty.

Remez (hinted meaning):

Baal HaTurim: The word for "And was/'Vayihyu'" in gematria is 37, which represents here primary years, those which followed Isaac's birth, for she was ninety when he was born, and the total number of her years was 127.

Derash (interpretive meaning):

The years in which Sarah "really lived"...were only the last 27 years of her life...

Ohr HaHayyim: "The life of Sarah": The Torah alludes to the almost 100 years that Sarah suffered either the anguish of childlessness or the animosity which developed between Ishmael and the son she bore at age 90. The years in which Sarah "really lived" therefore were only the last 27 years of her life which she was able to enjoy Isaac's development in undisturbed tranquility.

"The years of the life of Sarah":
alludes to the fact that "she completed" the years of the life allotted to her, but that the immediate cause of her death was the information brought to her by the Satan about the attempted sacrifice of Isaac.

Lubavitcher Rebbe: The Zohar teaches that Sarah represents the body, while Abraham represents the neshama. (1:122b) Even after death, the soul still remains related to the body. Thus "Abraham--the soul--came to eulogize Sarah--the body--and to weep for her. (V. 2)
Chassidut emphasizes the body as a tool to serve G‑d. Since the ultimate purpose of creation is to sanctify the physical world, the body has a distinct advantage over the soul, in that it is the means by which G‑d's Will is enacted. Therefore G‑d told Abraham (the soul) "Whatever Sarah--the body--tells you to do, listen to her voice", (21:12) indicating an inherent superiority of the body over the soul. Although the soul is much more refined than the body, at the time of Mashiach's imminent coming we are promised that the body's superiority will be revealed such that the soul will be animated by the body."

Sod (esoteric, mystical meaning):

...why is Sarah the only one whose death is mentioned in Torah?

Zohar Chayei Sarah 122:
And Sarah's life was...": of all the women in the world, why is Sarah the only one whose death is mentioned in Torah? Rabbi Hiyya answered, This is not so, for it is written: "And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Efrat", (Gen. 35:19) "and Miriam died there", (Num. 20:1) "and Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died", (Gen. 35:8) and "the daughter of Shu'a, Yehuda's wife died". (Gen. 38:12)
Rabbi Yosi answered: But it is not written of them as it is written of Sarah, of whom it is said, "And Sarah's life was a hundred and twenty seven years old: these were the years of Sarah's life". (Gen.23:1) No other woman's days and years were specified as they were for Sarah. Furthermore, none of them has a portion of the scriptures devoted to them, as does Sarah.

Come and see: Eve came into the world and clung to the serpent. He injected impurities into her, and she brought death to the world and to her husband. Sarah then came and went down, and she rose again without anything clinging to her, as it is written: "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had". (Gen. 13:1) When Noah came to the world, it is written that "he drank of the wine, and was drunk, and he was uncovered within his tent". (Gen. 9:21)
Because Abraham and Sarah did not cling to it, Sarah earned supernal life for herself, her husband, and her son after her. This is the meaning of the verse: "Look at the rock from where you are hewn and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug out ". (Isaiah 51:1) Therefore, it is written: "And Sarah's life was...", for she merited all. It is not so for the rest of the women: "And Eve 's life was..." and so on. Sarah clung to life. Therefore, her life was her own.

BeRahamim LeHayyim:
Psalm 23 ends:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the L-RD for ever"
Psalm 93 ends:
"Thy testimonies are very sure, holiness becomes Thy house,O L-RD, for evermore"

...her [Sarah's] 100 years, her 20 years, and her 7 years were all in G‑d's service.

Notwithstanding the difficult Midrashim concerning Sarah's death—interpretations offered to fill in the gap at the end of the Akeidah episode and the recitation of the years and not her death — we are sure that her life was full, "long days." She spent her life in holiness, elevating the sparks that had fallen into our earth plane, making souls, doing mitzvot. One can say of her: "She lived long days," not just years. For her 100 years, her 20 years, and her 7 years were all in G‑d's service. We don't care for a long life in secular years as much as "long days" in G‑d's house witnessing His testimonies. What is the essence of this "long days"?
It is to access the highest of all emanations: Keter Elyon, the supernal crown. For the good name one achieves at the end of his or her long days is the highest crown. (R. Shimon, Avot, 4:17) The Kavanot/ devotions for both of the above Psalms indicate that those phrases represent the Crown, the crowning achievement of a life of long days. (Keter David p. 89, 375)
How did she get this crown, and how can we dedicate our days to the same? She searched for the Holy in everything she did during her entire life. She saw light and she nurtured it. The last three initial letters in the final verse from Psalm 93 above hints to the Divine Name Yud-Lamed-Yud, which is a Name used to elevate holiness from the shells that seek to withhold it. Sarah helped to extract the light trapped in the kelipot of our earth plane, perhaps through the use of this very Name. And for this she achieved "long days" and the aforementioned Keter Shem Tov, the crown of a good name.

The Zohar says that Sarah's life was her own. She recognized her essential nature, and her essential mission, and she did it to completion, to 127 years, corresponding to the 127 territories in the known world from Hodu until Kush in the Book of Esther, to mention another heroine who knew her Name.
It is the work of a lifetime, "to thine own self be true," (as the bard said) and to align oneself according to the "still small voice" of one's soul's calling. How to do this? Meditation and contemplation helps. Hitbodedut/isolation with G‑d talking to Him in His role as Eternal Friend helps. Torah, mitzvot, deeds of kindness, all help.


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