Sarah Rachel and Hannah Remembered on the New Year

On Rosh Hashanah, Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah were remembered. From where do we learn this? Rabbi Eleazar said: it is derived by a verbal analogy, "remembering" from "remembering," and "visiting" from "visiting." It is written of Rachel, "And God remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22), and it is written of Hannah, "And the LORD remembered her" (I Samuel 1:19); and "remembering" is derived from "remembering" from Rosh Hashanah, as it is written, "a remembrance of the blast" (Leviticus 23:24). And "visiting" is derived from "visiting": it is written of Hannah, "For the LORD had visited Hannah" (I Samuel 2:21), and it is written of Sarah, "And the LORD visited Sarah" (Genesis 21:1). Wherever you find the words of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosi the Galilean in aggadah, make your ear like a funnel. By thirty-two rules is the aggadah expounded. One of them is amplification. How does amplification work? There are three terms: "et," "af," and "gam." "Et" comes to include. How so? "And the LORD visited et [the object marker] Sarah." Had it said only "He visited Sarah," I would say Sarah alone was visited; when it says "et," it teaches that all the barren women were visited like her, and so it says, "He has made laughter" (Genesis 21:6). Likewise, "et the face of the discerning is wisdom" (Proverbs 17:24) - had it said only "the face of the discerning," I would say for his time alone; when it says "et," it includes all, for generations upon generations, and so it says, "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come" (Proverbs 31:25). "Gam" comes to include. How so? "Take gam your flocks gam your herds" (Exodus 12:32) - had it said only "your flocks and your herds," I would say He gave them only their own flocks and herds; when it says "gam," it includes, teaching that He gave them a gift from His own, to fulfill what is said, "gam you shall give into our hands sacrifices" (Exodus 10:25). Likewise you say, "and gam the two of them shall die" - had it said only "the two of them," I would say a woman liable to death they wait for until she gives birth; the text teaches "gam" to include the unborn child for death. "Af" comes to include. How so? "And he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, af he too struck the waters" (II Kings 2:14) - it teaches that greater miracles were done for Elisha at the splitting of the Jordan than for Elijah, for the first time the merit of two righteous men stood by, but the second time only the merit of one righteous man, and so he said, "Let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." You find eight wonders by the hand of Elijah and sixteen wonders by Elisha. Likewise, "af He loads the thick cloud with moisture" (Job 37:11) - it teaches that the rain clouds are made firm, and the Creator burdens them to supply rain. One might think the rain does not fall in full measure; the text teaches "af" - it includes. "And Sarah conceived and bore" (Genesis 21:2) - it compared her conceiving to her bearing: just as her conceiving was without pain, so her bearing was without pain.