07 Nov HAYEH SARAH: “I GOT THIS”

One of the most
famous passages in
Rashi’s commentary to
the Humash is found in
the beginning of

Parashat Hayeh-Sarah.
The Torah tells us that Sarah Imenu
lived 127 years, and then repeats,
“these were the years of Sarah’s
life.” Rashi explains that the Torah
repeated this to teach us that “they
were all equally good.” All of Sarah’s
years were “equally good.”
The explanation of Rashi’s comment
is well-known. Sarah went through a
lot of hardship during her life. She and
Avraham moved from place to
place. She could not bear children
until she was very old. She dealt with
famine. Twice she was abducted by
kings. Nevertheless, all her years were
“equally good.” She had so much
strength, and so much faith in Hashem,
that she handled everything calmly
and with composure, and felt that

everything in her life was good.
However, in the very next pasuk,
Rashi makes another comment, which
seems to contradict this depiction of
Sarah.
Rashi writes that Sarah died as a
result of akedat Yitzhak. The Satan
came and told Sarah that her husband
bound her son on an altar and
slaughtered him as a sacrifice. When
Sarah heard this, she went into shock,
and her soul departed.
We must ask, if Sarah was so strong,
and capable of handling even the most
difficult situations, then why did she
fall apart now, after hearing about the
akedah? Why was she able to remain
composed during every difficult test
she went through during her life, but
not this one?
The answer might be that Sarah could
not handle the news of her son being
slaughtered because her son was not
actually slaughtered. What killed

Sarah was not the
akedah itself, but
h e r
imagination. She
thought Avraham
killed Yitzhak,
when in fact he
did not. She could
handle everything
that happened to
her, but not that which she mistakenly
thought happened to her.
This teaches us something very
powerful. So often, what breaks us is
not the reality, but our perception of
the reality. The situation itself, even
when it’s difficult and challenging,
can be handled. We get into trouble
when we overthink, when we start
imagining things about the situation
which get us anxious, angry,
aggravated or distraught.
When we face a challenging situation,
we need to tell ourselves: “I got this!!”
We have to believe in ourselves, we

need to trust that we can pass tests,
that we can deal with adversity, we
can overcome challenges. The
problems start when we begin
imagining things and reaching
conclusions about what’s going on,
making the situation seem so much
worse, so much more serious, and so
much more difficult than it really is.
As long as we are dealing with what’s
really happening, instead of dealing
with our misguided perception of
what’s happening, we got this, because
Hashem is always with us, and assures
us that we can pass every test He sends
our way.