This week’s parsha begins with the account of the sudden death of Sorah Imeinu. Rashi (23:2) explains that after the Akeidah, Sorah was told about what happened, and she died of the shock of the news.
Reconciling the Ramban With the Gemara - Some Post
Some sources state that the ‘person’ who told Sorah the news about the Akeidah was in fact the Satan, who was attempting to infringe on the success of the Akeidah by causing Sorah to die as a result of the news. However, Rashi himself makes no mention of the Satan. Accordingly, Rav Shimshon Pincus (Tiferes Shimshon) understands that a regular person gave Sorah the news with noble intentions of relating to her how Yitzchak survived.
However, when he told her the news, he began by saying how Yitzchak was brought to be slaughtered, and only after that, he added that in the end, Yitzchak was spared. However, after Sarah heard the initial words about Yitzchak being brought to be slaughtered, she was so shocked, that she immediately died without hearing the subsequent news, that he was fine.
Rav Pincus writes that the person bearing the news should have started by saying that Yitzchak was alive and well, and then relate the events of the Akeidah. Had he done that, then Sorah would not have felt such shock and she would not have died. However, a lack of attention to the use of his wordage by starting with the ‘negative news’ and only after that, relating the positive, had disastrous consequences.
Rav Pincus writes that this is a great warning of the importance of being very careful with how we speak. In his words:
“Events happen every day, where one tells his friend a certain matter, such as, ‘your son travelled on a trip with the school right? I heard that there was a car crash – but everyone is fine.’ The small moment between the mention of the accident and the informing that everything was okay, is enough to cause the heart of the father to jump, and even if we do not see someone die on the spot or get a heart attack [from such news] but there was here, an arrow to the heart, and the relater of the story, unless he is the Satan, is a friend...the examples are too great to mention, and fortunate is the man who looks at his actions and sees into the consequences of events.”
Rav Pincus continues with the idea that the ‘the positive is greater than the negative (mida tova merubah mi’mida ra’ah)’ which means that the reward for good deeds is greater than any negative consequences for bad actions. Therefore, if one can cause great harm with thoughtless words, then all the more so, he can do great good with thoughtful words.
For example, if a person is a bit late to return home, if he takes a few seconds to call home to tell his wife or mother, that everything is fine and that he delayed, then he saves unnecessary worry on the behalf of his loved one. Even if these words seem of minor significance, we see from the example of Sorah, that such seemingly insignificant words, can have a great affect. And even if they do not have a major effect, we should not downplay the significance of even a slight show of care that gives a person a small amount of comfort or joy.
May we all merit to be careful in our words to cause joy to others, and to never cause even the slightest pain.
