The life of Sarah was 127 years.... [These] were the years of Sarah’s life. She would get up late in the night and provide nourishment for her household and food for her children.
When the Torah describes someone’s life, חי, it often refers to their good deeds. A life full of good deeds can truly be called living. Furthermore, a righteous person is called living due to their good deeds. As such, when the Torah says that חיי שרה, Sarah lived 127 years, it’s a bit perplexing. It would imply that every one of her 127 years was filled with good deeds. Is that something that can really be true? If we take into account her childhood, how can all her years be equal? Her youth couldn’t have been as full of good deeds as when she was an adult.
Shlomo HaMelech describes a woman of valor as one who gets up late at night to provide nourishment for her household and food for her children. Our Sages tell us that these praises can be referring to Sarah. However, what does the double expression mean? What’s the difference between providing nourishment for her household and food for her children?
The answer is that a truly righteous person will try all they can to rectify and perfect any defect from their earlier years. There may have been years lacking in good deeds, but those years can be fixed. How so? Sarah would stay up late at night, doing good deeds. When everyone was sleeping, she would make sure there would be delicious food waiting and ready for everyone in her household. She would withhold sleep from her eyes until all those years were rectified.
This is alluded to in Shlomo HaMelech’s praise. “She would get up at night” and withhold sleep. This was in order to “provide nourishment for her house.” The house here is a reference to the World to Come, which is a person’s main living space. Her good deeds were “building” the reward awaiting her in the future. She would also provide “food for her children.” The word used here is נערותיה, which could also be translated as her childhood, i.e., her years of נערות. She would use this time to perfect those years gone by, which weren’t as full of good deeds.
