#chayei_sara

[rebbestorah]

Your Candles, Your Home

וַיְבִאֶהָ יִצְחָק הָאֹהֱלָה שָׂרָה אִמּוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת רִבְקָה וַתְּהִי לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַיֶּאֱהָבֶהָ וַיִּנָּחֵם יִצְחָק אַחֲרֵי אִמּוֹ  - בראשית כד, סז 

And Yitzchak brought her to the tent of his mother Sarah, and he wedded Rivka and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Yitzchak was comforted after losing his mother. (Bereishit 24:67)

He brought her to the tent, and beheld that she was alike his mother Sarah… As long as Sarah was alive, the candle burned from one Shabbos eve to the next, blessing was found in the dough, and a cloud hovered on the tent. These things ceased when Sarah died, but when Rivka arrived they resumed. —Rashi

With Sarah's passing, Avraham (and Yitzchak) assumed the duty of lighting the candles in their tent each Friday in honor of Shabbos, (as the Halacha requires in circumstances where the woman of the house can not light them).  We see from Rashi, however, that the miracle of the Shabbos candles burning all week long, as Sarah's had, was only restored with the Shabbos candles lit by the three-year-old Rivka when she arrived on the scene.

The exclusiveness of this miracle to the Shabbos candles lit by Sarah and Rivkah and not to those kindled by Avraham and Yitzchak, reflects the woman's unique ability to cultivate and nurture her home and family from within. As the Talmud rhetorically asks (Yevamos 63a), "If a man brings home wheat, does he then chew raw wheat?" Mirroring the respective qualities of men and women, it was only the Shabbos-candles lit by the matriarchs that brightened their home in a miraculous manner all throughout the week.

In a spiritual sense, the same is true of the Shabbos candles kindled by every Jewish woman and girl, for whom the deeds of Sarah and Rivkah are recounted to serve as an example. The Jewish woman's Shabbos candles impact and illuminate her entire home with a light of Mitzvah observance that endures throughout the entire week. In this regard, the candles lit by a girl under Bat Mitzvah, like Rivkah who was only three years old at the time, are imbued with a power that even the candles lit by Avraham did not have.

—Likutei Sichos vol. 15, pp. 168-171

[rebbestorah]

Aging Well

וְאַבְרָהָם זָקֵן בָּא בַּיָּמִים  - בראשית כד, א 

And Avraham was old, advanced in days… (Bereishit 24:1)

When Avraham passed from this world, he rose and vested himself in his days, for he was not lacking even one of these precious garments... —Zohar

When the Torah depicts an aging person as "advanced in days", this refers not to the length of his life, but to the effect that each day of his life has have left on him.

This is the meaning of the twofold expression, "old, advanced in days", for it is possible for someone to be old, but not advanced in days. No person's life is uneventful, but most people mellow with age, attributing less and less significance to the events that each day brings. The expression "advanced in days", on the other hand, describes someone who advanced – entered and immersed himself – in the happenings and changes of every day of his life. Understandably, deeply experiencing all of life's ups and downs takes its physical toll. The Torah therefore finds worthy to mention that Avraham was not only in elderly in years, but that the effects of being "advanced in days" had also left their mark.

This explains why the Zohar (vol. 1, 224a) interprets the words "advanced in days" to mean that none of Avraham's days were "missing"; he had utilized every single day of his life in the service of G-d. For Avraham, whose love of G-d animated his very being, life was not defined by the experiences of his flesh, but by the experiences of his soul. Therefore, when the Torah states that Avraham was "advanced in days", having been profoundly impacted by every day of his life, this refers not only to a physical impact, but to a spiritual impression as well.

The Zohar therefore teaches that each and every day of Avraham's life had been a spiritual experience. There had not been even one day in his life in which he had not immersed himself in the spiritual calling of the moment.

—Likutei Sichos vol. 35, pp. 90-92