Shabbat Shalom, Family and Friends
The Parashah that I read from today is called Hayei Sarah. The section from which I read states that Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 127 years is a very long time and a long life. Coincidently, my parashah actually begins on page 127 of your Humash! It seems to me that 127 must be a very special number.
If you look on page 127 you will see that in the Hebrew text Sarah’s age is written as “one hundred years and twenty years and seven years”. The Rabbis thought this was interesting, and I thought this was interesting too. Why does it say one hundred years and then twenty years and then seven years? Why doesn’t it just say “one hundred and twenty seven years? The midrash explains that the separation of the number into three parts is to demonstrate that at one hundred years old, Sarah was as sinless as she was at twenty years old, and at twenty years old she was as beautiful as when she was at seven years old. This teaches us that the quality of Sarah’s life experience contributed to her strong moral character, while at the same time she still possessed the beauty and innocence of her youth.
I found another interpretation of Sarah’s age, in the Plaut Commentary on the Torah which was even more interesting for me. Rabbi Plaut states that the reason that the Torah says that Sarah lived to be one hundred and twenty seven years old is because one hundred and twenty seven years represents a combination of the ideal life span of one hundred and twenty years, plus the number seven which Judaism considers to be a special, holy, number.
Why is one hundred twenty years the ideal lifespan? A popular Jewish wish is “May you live to be one hundred and twenty years like Moshe” because we learn in Parashat V’Zot HaB’rakhah, toward the end of Sefer Devarim, that Moshe lived to be one hundred and twenty years. But what is so significant about the number one hundred and twenty that it was credited with Moshe’s lifespan? Rabbi Plaut points out that the number one hundred and twenty is the product of the first five whole numbers – 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 = 120. This number came to represent the ideal of longevity. It is considered an ideal length of time to live for an ideal person.
What made Sarah’s life ideal? One of the things we first learn about Sarah is that she was willing to leave the city of her birth and her family to follow her husband, Avraham, to an unknown land. Most people thought Avraham to be crazy to leave his family and his homeland. It is important to recognize that Sarah also demonstrated remarkable faith without any guarantee of what her new life would be like. Additionally we know from the Torah that she was a good wife to Avraham, supporting him and helping him in his dealings with others.
To me, an ideal life is one that demonstrates G’milut Hasidim, “Acts of Kindness”, belief in God and following our traditions. It is a life of deep commitment and involvement in the community. It is a life, like Sarah’s life, of devotion to one’s family and belief in one’s destiny.
I am named for my paternal great grandfather, Sam Greene, and my maternal great grandfather, David Feldman. Both were men who died at an old age and lived a holy life of importance and good deeds. Sam was a successful businessman who generously gave tzedakah throughout the Jewish community and demonstrated acts of hesed throughout his life. David was a kindhearted man who was deeply devoted to his family and helped others. Although I never had the honor of meeting either of them, I certainly feel as if I knew them because I have heard so many wonderful stories about them from my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I know that the two men for whom I am named, lived ideal lives and were holy people.
I feel fortunate to have learned about ideal lives from both biblical characters and special people in my life. I have role models from within my community here in the Library Minyan, Temple Beth Am, Pressman Academy and Camp Ramah. My family members on both coasts demonstrate commitment to Jewish life and remind me of the importance of being part of a community.
I hope that like Sarah, my family and I will be blessed with lives that are both ideal and holy. I wish all of you “Ad Meyah V’Esrim V’Shevah”.
I would like to thank everyone who helped get me ready for today, especially the wonderful teachers I have had at Pressman Academy. I would like to particularly thank Hillel Tiguy who spent many hours with me reviewing the tefillot and Torah readings. I am grateful to Hazzan Jeremy Lipton who spent time with me helping to guide me through my preparation. I would also like to thank Rabbi Joel Rembaum who spent time discussing my parashah with me.
I would like to thank my two brothers, Noah and Yoni, for accepting the fact that the time I spent practicing for my Bar Mitzvah, took time away from their time with our parents. I appreciate their patience and understanding. I am really happy and thankful that so many family and friends are here with me to celebrate my Bar Mitzvah. We have special guests here today from Florida, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, both Southern and Northern California and the Canadian Provinces of British Colombia and Ontario, It is really nice to have all of my school and Camp Ramah friends here to celebrate with me.
I mostly want to thank my two great parents who helped me with everything from telling me to practice to letting me have a say in all of the decisions we needed to make in preparing for today. I am grateful for their patience and guidance.
Shabbat Shalom.