When Sarah died, Abraham aged overnight. The midrash says it plainly: old age came upon him the moment he buried her, as the verse notes — "Abraham was old, coming with days" (Genesis 24:1). The spirit of prophecy looked at this moment and quoted Proverbs: "A Woman of Valor, who can find her?" (Proverbs 31:10). The whole poem, the rabbis said, was composed about Sarah.
She was the sea that the ship captain navigated for decades — the currents and winds that shaped his every voyage. When she was gone, the midrash offers a parable about a great ship captain who survived pirates, treacherous straits, and storms at sea. Then his ship arrived at port — and the mast broke. The danger of the whole voyage had been survived. The safety of port brought the disaster. The man who outlasted everything, the rabbis say, sometimes does not outlast his own grief.
Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of Machpelah, in Hebron, in the land God had promised him — land he had to pay for because he did not yet legally own any of it. The irony is sharp and the rabbis did not miss it: the first piece of the Promised Land Abraham actually acquired was a burial plot. Not for himself. For the Woman of Valor. The land began, for him, as a place to bury the person who had made the journey possible.
Chapter 33 Writings: [1] "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord" (Psalm 112:1). This means that in the end, everything will be heard by God: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). How does one ultimately succeed? Nothing is more beloved than one who fears the Almighty, as it is written, "In the end, everything will be heard," etc. In the custom of the world, one person says to his friend, "I am rich and have plenty of wheat, oil, and wine." His friends tell him, "You have everything, where will you put it? If you have no storage, you have nothing." Similarly, one who is rich and wise in knowledge, but does not have fear of sin, has nothing, as it is written, "In the end, everything will be heard," etc. For this reason, David said, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord." This refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Now I know that you fear God" (Genesis 22:12). "He delights greatly in His commandments" (Psalm 112:1). This refers to Abraham, as it is written, "Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). "His descendants will be mighty on earth" (Psalm 112:2). This refers to Isaac, as it is written, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called" (Genesis 21:12). What is written afterwards? "And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great" (Genesis 26:13). "The generation of the upright will be blessed" (Psalm 112:2). And Abraham was old and well-stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things" (Genesis 24:1). Similarly, God blessed Isaac after Abraham's death, as it is written, "And after the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son" (Genesis 25:11). Therefore it is said, "The generation of the upright will be blessed."
