Chasidut zu Bereschit 18:13
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם לָ֣מָּה זֶּה֩ צָחֲקָ֨ה שָׂרָ֜ה לֵאמֹ֗ר הַאַ֥ף אֻמְנָ֛ם אֵלֵ֖ד וַאֲנִ֥י זָקַֽנְתִּי׃
Da sprach der Ewige zu Abraham: Warum lacht denn Sara und spricht: Soll ich wirklich noch gebären, da ich doch alt bin?
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 18,13. “the Lord said to Avraham: ‘why did Sarah laugh and say…that I am too old?” Our sages in Yevamot 65 point out that in this case G’d, i.e. His angels, deliberately misquoted what Sarah had said, by quoting her as describing herself too old to bear a child, whereas actually, she had described her husband as being too old. The Talmud uses this example to teach that a “white lie” is justified when it serves the purpose of preserving harmonious relations between husband and wife.
It is difficult to understand this example as Avraham himself had described himself as being too old to sire a child, when he said: הלבן מאה שנה יולד, “is a 100 year old man going to have child born for him?” (Genesis 17,17) Why would it bother him if his wife would merely confirm what he himself had already said? We may have to understand what Sarah said as being slightly different from what is commonly perceived. Sarah’s reaction to the angel’s prophecy [at a time when she was not even aware that he was an angel. Ed.] had referred to the miracle she had just experienced, i.e. אחרי בלותי היתה לי עדנה, “after I have stopped having the periods of women, I have suddenly been rejuvenated!” Her comment about her husband’s old age simply meant that as long as she had not observed a similar process of rejuvenation in her husband, how would her own rejuvenation alone contribute to the fulfillment of the prophecy? She may also have meant to imply that if G’d had wanted her to bear a child, why had He waited until after she had become too old for this to happen unless He performed a miracle?
The subject has been discussed in Yevamot 64 where one answer is that G’d is so anxious for the tzaddikim to pray to Him, that He will wait and delay His timetable, in order to be able to give credit to the tzaddikim who have turned to Him in supplication.
Sarah being an extremely humble person, never considered herself as being on the level of a tzadeket, a righteous woman, so that it never occurred to her that almighty G’d would feel in need of her prayers of supplication. On the other hand, she was not entitled to think that her outstandingly righteous husband had not seen fit to pray for children, so that when she referred to him as “old,” she meant that in spite of his prayers he had not been granted children, and that by now it was too late for this. If her real words had been reported to Avraham, this would have caused him anguish, so that the Torah, (G’d, i.e. His angel) decided to substitute the word אני for אדוני. A person’s humility must not be carried to the extent that he is humble on someone else’s account. This is the reverse of ‘humility,’ and borders on arrogance.
It is difficult to understand this example as Avraham himself had described himself as being too old to sire a child, when he said: הלבן מאה שנה יולד, “is a 100 year old man going to have child born for him?” (Genesis 17,17) Why would it bother him if his wife would merely confirm what he himself had already said? We may have to understand what Sarah said as being slightly different from what is commonly perceived. Sarah’s reaction to the angel’s prophecy [at a time when she was not even aware that he was an angel. Ed.] had referred to the miracle she had just experienced, i.e. אחרי בלותי היתה לי עדנה, “after I have stopped having the periods of women, I have suddenly been rejuvenated!” Her comment about her husband’s old age simply meant that as long as she had not observed a similar process of rejuvenation in her husband, how would her own rejuvenation alone contribute to the fulfillment of the prophecy? She may also have meant to imply that if G’d had wanted her to bear a child, why had He waited until after she had become too old for this to happen unless He performed a miracle?
The subject has been discussed in Yevamot 64 where one answer is that G’d is so anxious for the tzaddikim to pray to Him, that He will wait and delay His timetable, in order to be able to give credit to the tzaddikim who have turned to Him in supplication.
Sarah being an extremely humble person, never considered herself as being on the level of a tzadeket, a righteous woman, so that it never occurred to her that almighty G’d would feel in need of her prayers of supplication. On the other hand, she was not entitled to think that her outstandingly righteous husband had not seen fit to pray for children, so that when she referred to him as “old,” she meant that in spite of his prayers he had not been granted children, and that by now it was too late for this. If her real words had been reported to Avraham, this would have caused him anguish, so that the Torah, (G’d, i.e. His angel) decided to substitute the word אני for אדוני. A person’s humility must not be carried to the extent that he is humble on someone else’s account. This is the reverse of ‘humility,’ and borders on arrogance.
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