The Beit HaMikdash was the Home of Holiness, and Sara Imeinu's home was also a home of holiness, a place of unsurpassed sanctity in the world at that time.
In Beresheit 23:2, the Kli Yakar says that while Avraham Avinu eulogized her, he initially:
In Beresheit 23:2, the Kli Yakar says that while Avraham Avinu eulogized her, he initially:
"...did not weep over her because he knew that she had ascended to the Heavenly Apex [Marom], to a place precious and honorable beyond where she had been in this land of darkness."
Please note that the Kli Yakar says that Avraham Avinu knew [yada]. He did not believe or think or assume Sara Imeinu had risen to the heights of Heavenly Bliss.
Avraham Avinu KNEW it.
Then the Kli Yakar expounds:
Avraham Avinu KNEW it.
Then the Kli Yakar expounds:
And then afterward, he wept over the Beit HaMikdash that was destroyed in his days just like the angels of peace [malachei hashalom] wept over our Destruction...the weeping was over that which seemed to him as the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed in his days.
(According to footnote #31 in this parshah in Elihu Levine's fantastic translation of the Kli Yakar, the Metzudat David on Yeshayahu 33:7 interprets "malachei hashalom" as "messengers of peace," referring to those who were sent to bring tidings of peace to Yerushalayim, yet ended up weeping over the Destruction.)
So...
Sara = Beit Hamikdash
Sara's passing = The Destruction of the Holy Temple
That's a very powerful equation!
Think about everything the Churban (Destruction) meant:
Sara Imeinu's passing was EQUAL to all that.
Then the Kli Yakar states that Avraham Avinu knew that while Sara Imeinu's "sun had set only in This World," she was now eating the fruits of her deeds in Olam Haba.
The Kli Yakar also explains that the verse "Sara died in Kiryat Arba, also known as Chevron" hints that Sara died the death of only the most exalted tzaddikim like Moshe Rabbeinu.
Sara Imeinu was in the most wonderful place possible. The loss wasn't hers.
It was the world's loss.
As the Kli Yakar exalts her:
So...
Sara = Beit Hamikdash
Sara's passing = The Destruction of the Holy Temple
That's a very powerful equation!
Think about everything the Churban (Destruction) meant:
- the cessation of the atoning korbanot
- no more miraculously protective Ketoret
- the end of the unimaginable joy of Simchat Beit HaSho'evah
- an end to the soul-stirring music of the Levi'im
- an end to the beautiful & holy service of the Kohanim
- a withdrawing of tangible closeness to Hashem
- the shattering of its astounding splendor...
Sara Imeinu's passing was EQUAL to all that.
Then the Kli Yakar states that Avraham Avinu knew that while Sara Imeinu's "sun had set only in This World," she was now eating the fruits of her deeds in Olam Haba.
The Kli Yakar also explains that the verse "Sara died in Kiryat Arba, also known as Chevron" hints that Sara died the death of only the most exalted tzaddikim like Moshe Rabbeinu.
Sara Imeinu was in the most wonderful place possible. The loss wasn't hers.
It was the world's loss.
As the Kli Yakar exalts her:
...because she was a sarah over all the world in her wisdom and her deeds...
Sara Imeinu's name is also a title: sarah (שרה).
It's the feminine form of sar (שר).
A sar is a ruling minister, a prince, or the ministering angel over an entire nation.
So when the Kli Yakar states that Sara Imeinu was a "sarah al kol ha'olam," he was saying that her wisdom & deeds made her a princess, a ruling minister over the entire world.
This is our role model.
This is our mother.
It's the feminine form of sar (שר).
A sar is a ruling minister, a prince, or the ministering angel over an entire nation.
So when the Kli Yakar states that Sara Imeinu was a "sarah al kol ha'olam," he was saying that her wisdom & deeds made her a princess, a ruling minister over the entire world.
This is our role model.
This is our mother.
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