Rabbi Yosef Antebi, the Rav of Damascus (Vayitzbor Yosef, Bereishis 12:11), raises a fascinating question: When Avraham Avinu realized the grave danger that Sarah’s extraordinary beauty posed to both of them as they descended to Egypt, why did he not daven, as Rabbi Yitzchak ben Elyashiv did in the Gemara, that Sarah lose her beauty? Such a tefillah could have spared them both from danger.
Rabbi Antebi offers an original and insightful explanation. He writes that Avraham indeed would have davened for this, but a technical obstacle prevented him. Rashi (Bereishis 12:11) cites the Medrash on the words, “Now I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance.” The question arises: Only now? Avraham had been married to Sarah for decades. Why did he only now realize her beauty?
The Medrash explains that due to their extraordinary modesty, Avraham’s deep respect and love for Sarah were rooted entirely in her inner greatness, not her outer appearance. He had simply never taken note of her physical beauty. Sarah, for her part, always concealed and downplayed her appearance.
“Only now,” upon entering Egypt, they came to a river. And there, for the first time, Avraham noticed her physical beauty. Some say he saw her reflection in the water; others suggest that as they crossed, her garments lifted slightly, revealing her form.
Then, after entering Egypt, Avraham could no longer daven, for the land was filled with idolatry and impurity. As Moshe Rabbeinu later told Pharaoh (Shemos 9:29), he would daven only after leaving the city, since, as Rashi explains, tefillah could not be offered in a place overrun with idols.
Rabbi Antebi’s answer is clever, yet the difficulty remains as the same episode later repeated itself with Avimelech, king of Gerar. Moreover, the Maharsha (Ta’anis 24a) asks this question and answers that one should not daven for such a thing without explaining why.
The Mashgiach, Rabbi Chaim Zaitchik (Ma’ayanei HaChayim, Parshas Vayera, Yofi HaBriyah), attempts to explain this matter:
Beauty, he writes, is one of the profound secrets of creation, imbued with deep spiritual significance. Avraham Avinu therefore refrained from davening for its removal, for to do so would mean tampering with the Divine order and the creative design through which Sarah had been fashioned. He could not daven against the Creator’s intent, nor disturb the harmony and mystery embedded within creation itself.
