Vayeira: Our Salvation Is Born from the Impossible

Sara, the wife of Avraham, is known to us as ‘Sara Imeinu,’ Sara, our mother. Sara’s primary identity is not only as the mother of Yitzchak, but the mother of the whole Jewish nation. Interestingly, Sara only became a mother at the age of 90 and she passed away at 127. For most of her life, Sara was not a mother. Yet, we know that Sara lived each day of her life to the fullest and absolutely maximized her potential. Sara’s dream was to be our mother, but that dream was only actualised towards the end of her life. Many of us have goals, dreams or visions of how we would like our spiritual life to look. We can take both chizuk (encouragement) from Sara that these can come to fruition anytime as well as learn to surrender to Hashem’s even greater dreams for us when ours don’t materialize.

Hashem specifically made Sara birth Yitzchak in such a miraculous way to make the Jewish people’s existence hinge on a principle called “yesh m’ayin” something from nothing. Our very birth as a nation came from nowhere; it made no logical sense and completely defied nature. Yet this created the reality for the Jewish people that nothing is too hopeless or difficult for us, because our nation was born from infertility. Our existence is miraculous because it began from a scientific impossibility.

The Torah emphasizes the biological impossibility of Sara becoming a mother in these pesukim. The pasuk¹ reminds us that Sara is old and tells us that she was no longer experiencing her monthly cycle. Miraculously, the day on which the angels came to Avraham and Sara’s tent, is the day that Sara began her cycle once more. Sara herself laughs at the possibility of having a child, looking at her aged body and worn skin. The Midrash Tanchuma³ adds that Sara laughed² at the possibility of her womb to carry a child and her body to produce milk to feed. There was truly nothing external in Sara’s favor to allow her to have a child. 

Hashem specifically made Sara birth Yitzchak in such a miraculous way to make the Jewish people’s existence hinge on a principle called “yesh m’ayin” something from nothing. Our very birth as a nation came from nowhere; it made no logical sense and completely defied nature. Yet this created the reality for the Jewish people that nothing is too hopeless or difficult for us, because our nation was born from infertility. Our existence is miraculous because it began from a scientific impossibility. King David wrote in Tehillim 121 “mei’ayin yavo ezri” which is translated as “from where will my help come?” Based on the above pesukim, we can also understand this phrase to mean “me-ayin” from nothing, my help will come. Our salvation will be born from an impossibility.

This thought can greatly empower us at times of great difficulty, when we remind ourselves that nothing is insurmountable. We were each born to a barren woman, so nothing should discourage us from believing in dreams, goals and visions that seem impossible to achieve. 

That being said, we equally remind ourselves of another truth. Sara waited many years until having a child. Her miracle came, but only after a long period of childlessness. Many of us are waiting for our own personal salvation and while the fact that Sara became a mother may be miraculous, we cannot forget that she spent most of her life not being a mother. She suggested that Avraham build a family with Hagar and through that “ulai ibaneh mimena,”⁴ perhaps it would build her dynasty. Sara faced mockery and taunting from Hagar who claimed that she was more righteous than Sara as she merited to bring children to the world. Waiting for a yeshua (salvation), of course, is no indication of someone’s righteousness or lack thereof. It was Hashem’s plan that Sara would be a wife to Avraham, help him mekarev the world and inspire all the women who drew near to her tent – and only later bear a child. 

There are countless examples of duality in the life of a Jew. We serve Hashem with simcha, yet we can mourn the Beit Hamikdash. We pray for our needs, yet accept that whatever we need we have. We do hishtadlut, while knowing that it alone does not achieve anything. Here too, there is an incredible duality which we can learn from Sara Imeinu. She desired deeply to mother the Jewish people, to bring a Yitzchak to the world and achieve true greatness as one of the Imahot. Yet, she simultaneously was able to infuse every day of her life with meaning, productivity and fulfillment – without being a mother. She did more than surrender to her situation– she rose to it with grace. The same joyous mother who held her newborn Yitzchak rejoiced every day over her opportunities in avodat Hashem.

It is for this reason that Sara, together with Avraham, is called “zakein, ba bayamim,“⁵ “old, coming on in days.” Sara did not pity herself for her days before she became a mother. She used every one of those days. We can be sure that the self-work she did over that long period of her life made her an even holier mother for Yitzchak, and for us. 

While we should hold onto our dreams of building the most beautiful Jewish homes, we should not feel that the waiting period is worthless. Or hopeless. Or that it indicates that we are not good enough to be wives or mothers. Such is the view of Hagar. Sara Imeinu’s very life calls out to us to believe and pursue our holy dreams – but to use every day of the process to our maximum. We ask ourselves: how can we prepare ourselves to be the best wives and mothers – before the salvation comes?

We can empower and encourage ourselves from the life of Sara Imeinu that salvation is never impossible. Yet we must also learn to gracefully live the life Hashem presents us with, even when it takes us down a completely different path. Sara’s greatness was that she was Sara Imeinu even before she was a mother. She was just as holy when she was childless as she was when she became a mother. We are her daughters and we too, can be our greatest selves even before Hashem bestows blessings on us. And when Hashem’s plan is so different from what we planned for ourselves, we can pray to emulate the serenity of our mother Sara.  

¹ Bereishit 18:11

² Bereishit 18:12

³ Shoftim 18

⁴ Bereishit 16:2

⁵ Bereishit 18:11