The Blood Libel Machine
This week’s Torah portion begins with the verse, “And the lifetime of Sarah was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years. The years of Sarah’s life.”1 Rashi comments that all the days of her life were equally good.
There is an interesting Midrash, that points to the significance of Sarah’s life span:
Rabbi Akiva was sitting and expounding, and his audience began to slumber. He said to them, “Why was Esther seen fit to rule over one hundred and twenty-seven countries? ‘Let the daughter of Sarah, who lived 127 years, rule over 127 countries.’ ”2
Rabbi Akiva certainly did not mean to bring this parallel as a light-hearted jest, simply to waken his audience from their slumbers. There must have been some deep significance to his words, intended to waken them from their spiritual slumber, so to speak, by inspiring and encouraging them.
Perhaps the point of his message was as follows. The students dozed while their rebbi was expounding an important Torah lesson, “Tying crowns to the letters of the Torah,” as our Sages say.3 Torah can only be mastered by those who apply every iota of their strength to its pursuit. This was the path of our forefathers, which we must follow. They utilized every day to its fullest potential. Our matriarch Sarah lived for 127years. “All the days of her life were equally good,” as Rashi explains. She sanctified every moment of her life, by applying each and every waking moment to the service of God.
This lesson was the basis for Rabbi Akiva’s astonishing ascent from an ignorant shepherd to a giant of Torah wisdom. Our Sages tell us that Rabbi Akiva’s wife sent him away from home to study in a distant yeshivah. After having spent 12 years there, he came to visit her. Before he entered his home, he overheard his wife saying to a neighbor, “If he would ask me, I would send him to learn for another 12 years.” Rabbi Akiva did not even pause to greet his wife, but immediately returned to the yeshivah for an additional 12 years.4
Since he had already made the journey home, why did he not take the time to at least greet his wife before returning?
Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz, Rosh Yeshiva of Mir, explained that had he done so, he would have had two 12-year periods of study, rather than one period of 24 consecutive years. When calculating years spent in Torah study, 12 plus 12 does not equal 24.
Rabbi Akiva and his righteous wife understood that this is the key to greatness in Torah: utilizing time to its fullest. This was the path of our forefathers, as we learn from Sarah, whose days were all equally good.
Queen Esther merited to rule over 127 countries. Ruling over even one country is difficult enough. How does one succeed in ensuring the peace and prosperity of the many countries under their reign? Obviously, one who wished to rule over 127 countries needs to pay individual attention to each and every village, to ensure that there were no sparks of rebellion anywhere in the kingdom, which might then catch fire and spread to the surrounding regions. Only by paying careful attention to every province is it possible to consolidate one’s rule.
Esther learned this approach from Sarah, who consolidated the years of her life into harmonious perfection, by paying careful attention to every moment of precious life.
King David had one request that epitomized the sole desire of his entire being, “One thing I asked of God; that shall I seek: Would that I dwell in the House of God all the days of my life, to behold the sweetness of God, and visit His Sanctuary.”5
The commentaries note that this prayer begins in the past tense (“I asked of God”), and continues in the future tense (“that shall I seek”). Most people’s lives are divided into different periods. Their dreams and aspirations may vary from one period to another. The dreams of a young child are not the same as those of an old man, and the aspirations of a pauper are not the same as those of a millionaire. However, this was not true of King David. “God raises the needy from the dust, from the trash heaps He lifts the destitute.”6 David began his career as a lowly shepherd, ostracized by his own family, and rose to become king of Israel. Yet through all the stages of his life, he had only one desire: “Let me sit in the House of God all the days of my life, to behold the sweetness of God, and to visit His Sanctuary.” He wanted nothing else, but to devote his entire life to the service of God.
Another interesting point in this prayer is the apparent contradiction implied in David’s request to “sit in the House of God all the days of my life,” and to “visit His Sanctuary.” By definition, a visitor is a temporary guest. How could David sit in the House of God all the days of his life, yet still remain a visitor?
Often, people take interest in something that is new, but lose interest in it over time. King David prayed that he might sit in the House of God, studying His holy Torah, all the days of his life; and still experience the same sense of novelty and interest as if he had just come to visit.
