Parshas Chayei Sara: Rav Zeidel Epstein - Sara The Seven Year Old Beauty
"Vayihiyu Chayei Sara Meiah Shana V'Esrim Shana V'Sheva Shanim." (Chayei Sara 23:1) Rashi famously quotes the words of Chazal that the Torah writes this language to tell us that Sara was beautiful like a seven year old. Why does the Torah, when summing up the greatness of Sara's life, refer to Sara's external beauty as one of the highlights of her character? Furthermore, seven years old is not the peak of a woman's beauty, which comes only as the woman physically matures.
Rav Zeidel Epstein zt"l, the Mashgiach of Torah Ohr, answers (see L'Sitcha Elyon) that beauty is a great gift from Shamayim, but it is a double edged sword. Beauty is a chief cause of haughtiness if used improperly. "Age twenty," says Rav Zeidel, "is the year a woman is most susceptible to sensing her own beauty and misusing this gift and corrupting the spirit. A seven year old girl, no matter how beautiful, is more than happy to play in the sand without caring about the effect on her outward appearance.
Despite that Sara was one of the four most beautiful women to ever live (Megila 15a), she always conducted herself like a seven year old, by not paying heed to her own beauty and keeping herself well grounded and modest. This was one, indeed, of the highlights of her great personality!"
RS, Gateshead, 2011-11-15 04:14:34 I have always understood this Rashi not to be referring to physical beauty at all - but rather an INNER beauty, which enamates from her innocence and purity of spirit. Shiv'im Ponim LaTorah!
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