Lech L’cha: The Truly Meaningful
Oh, He Finally Noticed?
Our Parsha speaks of the journey made by Avraham and his wife Sarah to the land of Egypt. Fearing for Sarah’s safety in the face of Egyptian immorality, he said to her “ Behold I have noticed that you are beautiful”, and proceeded to outline a plan that would ensure their mutual safety.
Many commentators have wondered why Avraham indicated to his wife that only now had he noticed her beauty. Sarah, at this point, was sixty-five years old and had been married to Avraham for several decades. Surely Avraham would have taken notice of her earlier?
Inner Beauty and Outer Allure
We are constantly bombarded by the allure of worldly temptations. Those who are attracted by material and outer beauty submit to temptation. Those who possess an appreciation for inner spiritual beauty struggle against this temptation and work to achieve discipline.
At the gates of Egypt, which in those days represented the gateway to immorality, Avraham was compelled to gauge Sarah from the perspective of temptation for the very first time. Demonstrating his genuine insight into her personality he correctly predicted that the allure of the material would hold no appeal for her.
According to Kabbalah the relationship between husband and wife is analogous to the relationship between body and soul. This then, was the inner meaning of the words that Avraham, the soul, said to Sarah, the body.
“Behold”- says the soul to the body. “ I have noticed’” – only now in the presence of immorality, “that you” – will be confronted by the temptations of the material and will not capitulate to those temptations, because you “are beautiful” – you have a strong spiritual base and will always remain steadfast in your values.
It would seem that Sarah our matriarch could serve, as an inspiring example to us today.
Tags: beauty, meaning