Notable Sources
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Sarah, Mother of NationsTANAKH
Sarah, Mother of Nations
TANAKH
Sarah — the first of the matriarchs in the book of Genesis — did not have a child until she was ninety years old. God’s covenant with her husband, Abraham, includes promises for her as well.
Sarah’s Struggle for MotherhoodCOMMENTARY
Sarah’s Struggle for Motherhood
COMMENTARY
Sarah's infertility is a central theme in her narrative, and her eventual conception of her son, Isaac, is nothing short of a miracle. Rabbeinu Bahya, the thirteenth-century Spanish rabbi and biblical commentator, explores the severity of Sarah's infertility and the steps she and Abraham took to overcome it.
Sarah’s Spiritual LegacyKABBALAH
Sarah’s Spiritual Legacy
KABBALAH
While most of the biblical narrative about Sarah centers around her role as a wife and mother, later Jewish traditions emphasize her role in spreading Jewish religion, especially to other women. The Zohar, the foundational text of Jewish mysticism, suggests that alongside Abraham, Sarah helped others perform ritual immersion in the mikveh, or ritual bath.
The First ProphetessTALMUD
The First Prophetess
TALMUD
According to talmudic tradition, seven biblical women received prophecy, and Sarah was the first of them. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Megillah claims that Sarah received divine revelation and demonstrates that the Torah uses an alternate name for her, Iscah, the meaning of which hints to her prophetic powers.
Sarah’s Miraculous MotherhoodTALMUD
Sarah’s Miraculous Motherhood
TALMUD
Sarah becomes a mother at the age of ninety, giving birth to her son Isaac after a dramatic visit from three angels. This talmudic story from Bava Metzia claims that the miracles did not stop once Sarah became pregnant but that they continued through Isaac’s early childhood.
Sarah’s Ten TestsJEWISH THOUGHT
Sarah’s Ten Tests
JEWISH THOUGHT
Sarah’s husband, Abraham, famously withstood ten tests. A midrash in Dirshuni, the contemporary women-authored midrashic collection, understands key moments when Sarah was forced to make sacrifices for God and for her family’s legacy as Sarah’s own “ten tests.”
A Life of RighteousnessCHASIDUT
A Life of Righteousness
CHASIDUT
While some righteous people become pious after powerful life experiences or only when approaching death, some have those qualities from the beginning. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, in his nineteenth-century Chasidic commentary on the Torah, the Sefat Emet, argues that Sarah was righteous throughout her entire life.
Sarah’s HospitalityMIDRASH
Sarah’s Hospitality
MIDRASH
Sarah was famous for her hospitality, which she demonstrates when she prepares food for a group of visiting men, later revealed to be angels. The early medieval Midrash Tanchuma connects Sarah’s hospitality to God’s gift of manna to the Israelites during their journey in the desert.
Sarah’s Prophetic PowersMUSAR
Sarah’s Prophetic Powers
MUSAR
Biblical prophets received revelation in different ways: from God’s messengers, in dreams, and with more or less effort. In Ohr HaTzafun, a twentieth-century compilation of lectures on ethical topics, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel notes that Sarah’s way of receiving the word of God differed from that of most prophets.
Barrenness and BlessingMIDRASH
Barrenness and Blessing
MIDRASH
The story of Sarah, who was barren but later became a mother, becomes a paradigm in the Jewish tradition of hope after despair. Eikhah Rabba, the ancient midrashic collection on the book of Lamentations, uses Sarah’s story to express a hopeful message about the future redemption of Zion.
Emulating the MatriarchsLITURGY
Emulating the Matriarchs
LITURGY
The matriarchs of the Bible are held up as role models for future generations of Jews. On Friday nights, the blessing with which parents traditionally bless daughters invokes Sarah, expressing a hope that our daughters will grow to be like her.
The Untold Story of Sarah’s DeathMIDRASH
The Untold Story of Sarah’s Death
MIDRASH
Toward the end of Sarah’s life, her husband Abraham nearly kills their son Isaac as a sacrifice to God, and the biblical text does not explain Sarah’s role in or reaction to the story. The midrash in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer links those events with Sarah’s death, connecting her reaction to the news to the wailing sound of the shofar, the ram’s horn, that is blown on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
Listening to Sarah’s VoiceMUSAR
Listening to Sarah’s Voice
MUSAR
Sarah and her husband Abraham did not always agree about the best course of action, and on one occasion, God explicitly tells Abraham that he should just listen to Sarah. In this anonymous fifteenth-century ethical work, the author uses the story of Sarah and Abraham to illustrate the reward that can come from heeding the words of others.