The Key Called Eishet Chayil
Rabbi Noach Gad Weintraub shared the following story (Biyeshishim Chochmah, p. 124):
The holy Rabbi Elazar of Bialystok sat in the beit midrash before an open Gemara, his soul restless within him.
A storm of feelings and doubts surged through his heart. Unable to find peace, he rose from his place and went out into the field. There he sat down on a stone, closed his eyes, and began to speak privately to G-d:
"Master of the universe! For many long years I was bound with heart and soul to my teacher and rebbe, the Saraf of Kotzk. And now he has passed away. I do not know where to turn. Should I remain with his son, Rabbi David, or should I travel to another rebbe?"
His thoughts continued to churn. True, the most natural thing would be to remain with the Rebbe's son. Yet he could not bring himself to do so, for Rabbi David concealed himself completely. His ways were hidden, his inner world covered over, and Rabbi Elazar did not feel capable of deciding whether to accept him as his rebbe.
His heart cried out for help, and tears of self-pity rolled down his face, and suddenly, he heard his own inner voice, saying: Go to Rabbi David's wife, and let her tell you about her husband. Perhaps through the stories you hear from her, you will be able to decide whether to accept Rabbi David as your rebbe.
Rabbi Elazar rose, wiped away his tears, and began walking toward Rabbi David's home.
He knocked gently on the door. The door opened, and Rabbi David stood there, his face burning like fiery coals. A brief silence followed. Then Rabbi David began to speak:
"Elazar, my dear friend, come and hear.
"Through his holy deeds and pure thoughts, Avraham Avinu brought a tremendous flow of blessing into all the upper worlds. Myriads of heavenly angels received their vitality from his actions.
"In Heaven, there was great awe and admiration for Avraham Avinu. What was he doing down below? How was he able to bring such delight to the Creator?
"Surely, they imagined, his entire world must be nothing but Torah and Divine service. Surely all of his 248 limbs and 365 sinews burned with sacred fire without interruption, day and night. Surely his holy body had become consumed in the flame of his superhuman, unceasing avodah.
"Then the Holy One, blessed be He, summoned three angels — Michael, Gavriel, and Rafael — and said to them: 'I have a mission for you. Go to Avraham Avinu and bring him the news: "At this time next year, behold, Sarah, your wife will have a son"' (Bereishit 18:10).
"The angels were filled with excitement. At last they would meet Avraham, this legendary figure.
"They clothed themselves in human form and descended to the earth, near Avraham Avinu's tent.
"But to their astonishment, they saw Avraham running toward them, busying himself with cattle and baking. He looked like an entirely ordinary person. They could discern no extraordinary level in him at all.
"The angels said to one another: This is Avraham? Where are the flames, the fiery sparks rising up to Heaven? Perhaps if we speak with his wife, Sarah, she will reveal something of his avodah.
"So they turned to Avraham and asked, 'Where is Sarah your wife?' (ibid., v. 9).
"And Avraham answered, 'Behold, she is in the tent' — meaning: she is modest and hidden, and you will not succeed in drawing anything out of her either."
When Rabbi Elazar heard this Torah and realized that Rabbi David had grasped his very thoughts, he said, "If so, you are the Rebbe," and he remained a devoted disciple of Rabbi David of Kotzk.
As Rabbi David explained, Sarah Imeinu revealed nothing about her husband, Avraham, and the true image of Avraham has remained hidden and concealed to this very day.1
Yet we were given another key — a key that allows us at least to peer through the cracks and catch a glimpse of the greatness of Sarah Imeinu, and that key is hinted to at the beginning of this week’s parashah:
“The life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; these were the years of Sarah’s life. Sarah died in Kiryat Arba, which is Chevron, in the land of Canaan, and Avraham came to eulogize Sarah and to weep for her” (Bereishit 23:1–2).
The Midrash Tanchuma (Chayei Sarah 4) teaches that when Avraham Avinu stood beside his wife’s bier, he began to weep over her and recited: “Who can find a woman of valor?” (Mishlei 31:10) — continuing to eulogize and recite the entire chapter.
In that eulogy, Avraham Avinu opened a small window for us, allowing us to glimpse something of Sarah Imeinu’s greatness and exalted stature as an Eishet Chayil.
The Midrash goes on to explain the verses of Eishet Chayil, showing how each verse illuminates another facet of Sarah Imeinu’s character.
But now we wish to focus on a different point.
Wellsprings of Wisdom
1. Rabbi Chaim Yitzchak Isaac Sher writes in Avraham Avinu (p. 33) that when we try to picture the Avot, we must remember that our concepts are largely products of our own imagination. When a person attempts to imagine a reality that lies beyond his grasp, he inevitably draws it into the familiar terms of his own world, because the mind cannot form a true picture of what is higher than itself.
This affects the way we read the stories of the Torah. When we hear that Avraham Avinu welcomed guests, we may imagine a tall, noble, kindhearted man running about with trays of warm food. When we read that the Avot were involved in material matters — tending property, increasing wealth, preparing food, and caring for guests — we may imagine that these activities interrupted their attachment to Hashem, and that their true closeness to G-d was expressed only when they stood in Torah and prayer.
But this is our human view, not the Torah’s view. It is the image of lower beings, not the image of the exalted and righteous ones. In the light of Torah and Chazal, the holy Avot — Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — were beyond our comprehension. Chazal therefore found only one way to define them: they were a merkavah for the Shechinah. Every limb, faculty, and movement of theirs was sanctified and devoted solely to the will of Hashem.
