Innocence - Chayei Sarah

Innocence
Parshat Chayei Sarah

This week's Torah portion of Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah) ironically opens with the account of her passing. Our matriarch Sarah, had a long and beautiful life. The Torah describes her passing
ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים שני חיי שרה"
Sarah's lifetime was one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years; the years of Sarah's life."

Understandably, our commentaries want to understand the strange structure of this verse "one hundred years, twenty years, and seven years" when it would have been much simpler to just state; she lived one hundred and twenty seven years. Rashi (France 1040-1105) explains (Bereishis Rabbah 58:1) that it is teaching us that at the age of one hundred she was free of sin like a twenty year old (the heavenly court does not punish prior until age twenty). At the age of twenty, she was beautiful and innocent like a seven year old. The Chuzkuni (France 13th Century) elaborates on this and says that just as a seven year old has a natural beauty, so too, Sarah, had that quality. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Belarus / US 1895-1986) explains that although Sarah was so beautiful, yet her beauty did not cause others to see her in an  inappropriate manner. Rather, she was viewed in a beautiful, spiritual and innocent way.

We may wonder why it seems that the Torah commentaries are focused on explaining this verse with a focus on innocence and beauty. Can't we just say that Sarah was beautiful and leave it at that?

We live in the information age. Between the development of smartphones, computers and hi-speed internet capability, the world is at our fingertips. We have access to practically anything and everything  we want, and can buy, sell, trade, watch, teach and study in a much quicker way than ever before. The world has become a smaller place, with us able to communicate, text, chat, and video call with people from all over the globe, and view events happening in real-time wherever they may be. But along with these exciting developments and changes in our world comes a dangerous pitfall. Our children have access to many inappropriate and negative things as well. From the inappropriate and vulgar music, video games and TV shows, to the downright exploitation of women and things of a sexual nature, our children are more exposed than ever before in the history of the world.

As such, as parents and educators, it is of the highest priority to keep our children far away from these negative influences. The innocence of our children is something that we ought to preserve, as long as possible, before they become exposed to the dark side of our world.

Perhaps our Torah portion is teaching us this important lesson. Innocence is a beautiful and important quality and a vital component of raising children. Let's not be in a rush to have our children grow up and be exposed to everything out there. Rather, like Sarah our matriarch, let our children have the blessing of innocence, purity and childhood for as long as possible.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Y. Marrus