26 Oct HOW DID SARAH LEAVE THIS WORLD?

Without a
question, one
of the greatest
women in the
history of the
world was Sarah
Imeinu. The
posuk testifies
that when she was one hundred
years old, she was absolutely free
of sin like an innocent twenty
year old. And when the posuk
then repeats, “Shnei chaiyei
Sarah – The years of the life of
Sarah,” Rashi adds the incredible
explanation that, “Kulon shavin
l’tovah – All of her years were
equal in their goodness.”
It is therefore quite puzzling
that, moments before her death,
the Satan was given license to
shock her with the news that
Avraham was taking her only
son to slaughter on the alter. It
was on this shocking note that
her perfect life came to an end.
Why would Hashem choose
such a traumatic moment to be
the finale of such a beautiful and
picture-perfect life?
Perhaps even more perplexing
is the fact that we are taught that
the only way to earn entry into
the rarified grave of the Meoras
HaMachpelah is to be one of
the elite few who died by ‘misa
b’nashika,’ through the kiss of
Hashem. How do we know
this? The posuk says, “Vayakom
Avraham mei-al penei meiso –
Avraham got up from the face of
his dead.” The word ‘face’ seems
to be superfluous. In explanation,
our commentators say that upon
the sword of the angel of death
are three drops of poison. One
of these drops causes the face
of a deceased to begin turning
green and decompose. When
Avraham got up from Sarah’s
face and saw that there were
no signs of decomposition and
discoloration, he knew that she
did not die at the hands of the
Satan. Rather, he knew she had
died through misa b’nashika.
Therefore, he was able to pursue
his plan to bury her in the Meoras
Hamachpelah.
So now we have quite a paradox.
On the one hand, Rashi says that
the death of Sarah was recorded
in the Torah in proximity to the
Akeidas Yitzchak to inform
us that it was the scare of the
news of the Akeida that brought
about her demise. Here we have
established that she passed away
from the kiss of Hashem. Which
one is it?
I would like to suggest the
following possibility. The
Panei-ach Raza (one of the early
Rishonim) asks why the Satan
was permitted to scare Sarah
Imeinu. He answers that it was
an element of midah k’neged
midah, Hashem’s retribution
measure for measure. When
the three angels told Sarah that
she would have a son, we know
she laughed inwardly. Avraham
subsequently questioned
her about this, as it says,
“Vat’chacheish Sarah
– Sarah denied having
laughed.” And therefore,
says the Panei-ach Raza, for
this lie she was punished:
Satan was given license to lie
to her about the Akeida, and
to say that her only son had
been slaughtered.
The Gemora tells us that
four groups of people will
not be allowed to greet the
Shechina. One of the four
is the ‘kat hashakronim,’
those who have said lies.
We therefore understand that
there was a problem when
it came the time for Sarah
Imeinu to leave the world
– for she was to exit from
the world through the very
highest means, namely misa
b’nashika. But, in its very
definition, this would mean
that she would be, ‘M’kabeil
hapnei HaShechinah,’ she
would be greeting the face of
the Divine Presence. But the
incident of ‘Vat’chacheish
Sarah,’ where she denied
having laughed, stood in the
way of this. She therefore
had to be cleansed from this
episode – moments before her
death – through the punishment
of the shocking lie of the Satan.
Then, having been purged of
this indiscretion, she was able
to leave the world through misa
b’nashika.
I believe it is for this reason
that Rashi, in his Chumash
commentary, does not tell us
about the episode of the Satan
scaring Sarah on the words
“V’tamas Sarah – Sarah passed
away.” Rather, he says this on
the heading, “Lispod l’Sarah
v’livkosah,” for it is not an
explanation of how Sarah
died, for she died through misa
b’nashika and not from this
shock.
Thus we see how careful we
have to be in training ourselves
never to veer from the truth. In
the merit of our Torah study,
may we be blessed with good
health, happiness and everything
wonderful.