Miracles
– In Memoriam of Mr. David M.
Warren (Menchem Dovid ben Harav
Yosef Z’L)
At eighty-nine years old, Sarah
hears the news that G-d will
grant her a child. “And Sarah
laughed internally saying,
‘After I have waxed old, shall
my skin become smooth?” (Genesis
18:12 following Rashi’s
translation)
“G-d said to Abraham, Why did
Sarah laugh? . . . Is there
anything too wondrous for G-d?”
(Genesis 18: 13-14)
On the simplest level, Sarah, an
elderly woman laughs at the
thought of her having a child to
which G-d responds that nothing
is beyond Him.
The problem is this simplistic
understanding does not describe
the Sarah we know. Sarah was a
prophetess. (Talmud Megillah
14A; 200 CE – 500 CE) She was
personally saved by G-d in Egypt
and had witnessed miracles
secondhand through her husband,
Abraham, who was miraculously
saved from Nimrod and
miraculously defeated the “Four
Kings”.
Surely, Sarah didn’t doubt that
G-d could perform miracles. Why,
then, did Sarah laugh? And why
did G-d respond that nothing is
“too wondrous” for Him?
The answer can be found in Rashi
(1040 1105) As Rashi explains,
when the Torah says Sarah
laughed “internally” it means
Sarah laughed after looking at
her “internal organs” and
recognizing she was completely
incapable of bearing and nursing
a child. In other words, Sarah
laughed because the only way she
could possibly have a child was
through a miracle.
Why then does G-d respond “Is
there anything too wondrous for
G-d?” Following Onkelos, Rashi
translates “too wondrous” as “is
anything concealed”; the verse
should be read “Is there
anything concealed from G-d?”
Rashi then expands the verse as
follows: “Is there anything too
wondrous, too distant, or too
concealed to do My will?”
G-d forbid that Sarah ever
doubted G-d’s ability to perform
miracles. Rather, at that
moment, Sarah had forgotten that
what appears to us as miraculous
is no more an extension of G-d’s
will then what appears to us as
natural. Just as Sarah’s body
aged according to G-d ‘s will,
so would it bear and nurse a
child according to G-d’s will.
When Sarah looked at her body,
she should have never questioned
what her body is capable of
doing; her body will do, and
will only do, what G-d wills for
it. If G-d wills the body to
age, the body will age. If G-d
wills the body to have a child,
the body will have a child.
Nothing happens unless G-d wills
it to happen.
The recognition that everything
flows from G-d’s will creates
many questions and poses many
challenges. Why did this happen?
Why did that not happen?
Yet, there is also great comfort
knowing G-d is intimately
involved in our lives. We know
He is constantly with us. We
know everything that happens
does so for a reason. And we
know G-d is merciful and kind.
Whatever happened, G-d willed
it. And whatever G-d wills shall
happen. “Is there anything too
wondrous for G-d?”
May it be G-d’s will that this
year be a year of redemption and
joy for all of us.
Shabbat Shalom
