The LORD Knows the Days of the Blameless and Sarah's Whole Years

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 102:6

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Portion of Hayyei Sarah (Genesis 23:1). "The LORD knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance shall be forever" (Psalms 37:18). Just as they are blameless [tamim, whole], so are their years whole. At twenty she was like one of seven in beauty; at one hundred she was like one of twenty in freedom from sin.

Themes

MatriarchsRighteousProvidence

Continue Reading

Pesikta RabbatiThe Lord Remembered Hannah and the Prayer That Was AnsweredHannah stood in the sanctuary year after year, her lips moving, her voice unheard, while her rival's children filled the house with noise. The verse that opens Yalkut Shimoni on TorahAbraham Worries Over a Wife for Isaac After the BindingWhen Abraham came down from Mount Moriah, his heart was unsettled. The knife had not fallen, but the thought of what nearly happened would not leave him. He turYalkut Shimoni on TorahThe Sun of One Righteous One Rises Before Another's Sets"The sun rises and the sun sets," says Ecclesiastes, and the sages asked what such an obvious line could be teaching. Their answer reaches far past astronomy. BYalkut Shimoni on TorahWhy Leah's Eyes Were Tender and Rachel Gave Away the SignsThe Torah says Leah's eyes were tender, and generations of readers assumed it was a blemish. The sages refused to leave it there. If Scripture takes pains to spYalkut Shimoni on TorahRachel's Modesty Rewarded Through Saul and EstherOne quiet act can ripple across centuries. When Rachel handed her wedding signs to Leah and held her silence rather than expose her own claim, that restraint diYalkut Shimoni on TorahLeah's Swift Births and Why Dinah Was Named for JudgmentThe pace of this household was startling. Leah carried each of her children for only seven months, and within the span of seven years Jacob's family had grown t