This weeks Parsha starts with the following pasuk (verse):

 “וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה”

“And the years of Sarah’s (life) were 127 years those were the years of Sarah’s life.”

Rashi (רש”י the famous 11th-century commentator of the Torah) asks why the Pasuk seems to have extra words of “..those were the years of Sarah’s life.” Rashi answers that these words teach us that all of Sarah’s years were equally good. 

Question: Weren’t many of Sarah’s years filled with pain and troubles? Here are a few examples: A. Sarah could not have children for many years. B. Sarah was kidnapped twice once by the king of Egypt, and once by the king of Gerar. C. Her maid Hagar mistreats her. D. Her stepson Yishmael endangers Yitzchak’s life and has to be sent away for being a bad influence. How can the Torah then hint to us that Sarah viewed all her years as being good?

Answer: Sarah’s perspective in life was  “-גם זוּ לטוֹבה”-”Gam Zo Letovah” = whatever Hashem gives to me, or causes to happen to me is for the best. Sarah did have pain and troubles but faced them with the perspective that if this challenge is from Hashem then I can become a better person from it, there is something I can learn from this experience, and therefore she registered the experience as positive.

Life Lesson: In all situations, especially tough ones search for how you can become a better person and use the experience as a means for spiritual growth.

Have a wonderful and growth-oriented Shabbat!

Rabbi Yair Steinberg

This D’var Torah is based on the book Growth Through Torah, by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin.