Appreciate Life by Contemplating Death

In this week's Torah portion, Chayei Sarah חַיֵּי שָֹרָה (Life of Sarah), we are challenged to contemplate our end—everyone's final destination: the grave. The title is misleading, promising us an overlook of Sarah's life, but the first verses of the portion are these:

"Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her." Genesis 23:1-2

This portion does not mention her life at all. It begins proclaiming her death, followed by a mourning period, and then quickly switches topics. Are we witnessing the first incident of clickbait? In Scriptures? It isn't until we dig deeper that we begin to see the lessons demonstrated by this wonderful section of scripture. Adonai is teaching us the brevity of life and reminding us to leave behind a legacy worth remembering.

Every year, this lesson seems to be emphasized in my life because it seems always to be accompanied by a significant death of a member of the body of Christ. I've been doing Torah portions now for 3 years. This year is my fourth cycle, and every single year so far, this portion for me was accompanied by death. I almost dread this part of the year. I'm finding it to be a disturbing coincidence that someone dear to me, who is part of my spiritual family, has passed away. It simply increases the impact of an already important message: "Treasure every moment, for you don't know when your end will arrive... Cherish every relationship because you never know when it may be their last day on this earth."

These are the times when scriptures like this one make a whole lot of sense:

"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:2

So, what can we learn from Sarah's death? For one, Sarah was one of the few women in the scriptures whose death was recorded. The Hebrew further demostrates something unique about her life (not death). It is stated as follows:

23:1  וַיִּהְיוּ חַיֵּי שָׂרָה מֵאָה שָׁנָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָה׃

If translated literally, it doesn't say she was 127 years old, but it says she was 100 years, and 20 years, and 7 years old. It's a very odd way to register this number. You see, in Hebrew, they could have said she is 127, like this:

מאה ועשרים ושבע שנים

The way the numbers were registered is not a coincidence. As always, Adonai is intentional. These three numbers represent three distinct stages in Sarah's life. The number seven is HaShem's holy number, representing wholeness and completion. It was the period of Sarah's life when she was innocent and pure. She wholly depended on Adonai for everything, indicating her faith as a child's faith.

Next, we have the number 20. It is represented by the letter Caf כ, which is the palm of one's hand. This period in Sarah's life was filled with strength. It was the period that she both received grace (open palm or Caf Sofit ך) and offered service to Adonai by serving others (regular Caf כ). She was a faithful spouse who supported her husband and loved unconditionally. The letter Caf is used to indicate when something belongs to others. When this letter is added to the end of a Hebrew noun, it becomes your "item." An example is Av אָב, a word that means "father" in Hebrew, but if you add the Caf, Avicha אביך, the word now means "your father."

Lastly, we have the number 100. It is represented by the letter Kuf ק, symbolized as the back of the neck. Often representing wisdom. This period of her life is filled with knowledge and wisdom. It also represents generosity and compassion.

Sarah lived a full life. However, what stands out is that in all parts of it, she was faithful to Adonai, and Adonai was loyal to her. She retained her innocence, strength, and wisdom through it all. During my meditations this time of year, I often find myself pleading with Adonai that I follow her example. So that the following verse is also true upon my own death:

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants." Psalm 116:15

When you live a full life and pour it all into God, your death is not a sad event but a celebration. It is the moment you will meet your beloved Creator. The moment you get to embrace Yeshua as you hear his words echo into your heart:

"'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!'" Matthew 25:21

Take an extra moment to appreciate your loved ones today, and don't hold back forgiveness and love so that you, too, may be remembered as a righteous and humble servant. I love you all. Shavuah Tov Ve'Shalom!