Hello friends,
How are you doing?
First, I want to thank you for clicking on this page. Not because I need "likes" (although approval doesn't hurt), but because as soon as I share, even if it is with one person, I feel like "mission accomplished". It does not matter to me to be right or wrong in my content. What matters is that we share our personalities, insecurities, victories and knowledge mixed with some of our fates. Along her life, Sarah's fate caused her identity to change 3 times. Why and how it reflected in her life ?
As feelings, as thoughts, as emotions, words are as well vibrations. They create reality.That is why we talked earlier of "conscious communication" and the game changer of speaking from the heart. Especially in conflict or when emotions are triggered. Being capable of dropping one's guard and pride, is a great deal. For by restricting the familiarity, transformation occurs. That is the power of words. One creates what they speak according to their intention behind it. It takes practice and being willing to be changed. Sarah's journey reflects that concept gloriously; the three faces of Sarah. As she is reconnecting and accepting all part of her inner self, even the most shameful ones, her outside world changed. And so her names. Everything is vibration. Are you recognize it instantly within? Words and sound can absolutely be use for healing.
Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was the first mother of her people. Sarah Imeinu, Sarah our Mother, our Matriarch. She is known as someone to emulate, someone to look up to someone to respect and honor. But who was this woman, really? What made Sarah tick? What was she like? What were her values and beliefs? Where did she come from? And ultimately, what can we learn from her and relate to our lives as women today?
"She was not a girl following her heart, but a woman following her soul", commentators said. It was at the height of this city’s life that Sarah, daughter of Haran, was born and raised. And it was from this city that she fled into the desert with her husband, Abraham, to live a comparatively monastic existence as a nomadic tent-dweller and preacher of the One G‑d. So why would a cosmopolitan girl like Sarah do a crazy thing like that? Was she just a lovesick girl, willing to follow her dashing preacher husband into the desert?
All of these answers are found within the pages of the Torah, and they are further discussed amongst the sages of the Talmud, biblical commentators and mystics across the ages. The greatest insight we can gain into this woman is, most interestingly, in her name. Words and names are not given haphazardly. In most cases, we can find very clear meaning and insight into something or someone based on the name. So it is not superfluous that Sarah had, in fact, three names in her lifetime.
It appears that each time Sarah changed her name, it was symbolic of a greater spiritual refinement. Thus, we can assume that Sarah went through three transformations in her life, each reflected in a name change.
In the Play, Sarai is called YISCAH in Act 2. What is YISCAH means?
There are two qualities for which Sarah is most noted by the sages: her prophecy and her beauty. It is written that as a young girl she was known as Yiscah, which literally means “to see.” There are two interpretations as to why this name was given to Sarah. First, she is said to have been born blessed with divine inspiration. Second, it is said that she was exceedingly beautiful to behold. Both of these attributes deal with sight. The first being a spiritual sight that Sarah herself possessed, which clearly affected the way she perceived the world; and the second, regarding how the rest of the world perceived her.
Yiscah, however, was a name that stayed with Sarah only when she was a young girl, after which she was never referred to as Yiscah again. It is written that she herself changed her name. Once she grew up and understood modesty, she never allowed herself to be gazed upon by others. The name she chose thereafter, Sarai, literally means “my princess.” With this name change she decided to go from being Yiscah to Sarai, taking herself from being “seen” by all to having the more private and elevated quality of royalty.
This first transformation did not only symbolize her newfound adolescent modesty, but it was also a realization that she was to begin a line of aristocracy—the nation of Israel. This shows the level of her prophecy. She was still a girl who had yet to even meet her husband, but she saw the divine path before her.
So, this woman we speak of was not an easily swayed girl. She walked into that desert seeing all, and knowing precisely where she was going and whom (or what) she was following. She was not a girl following her heart, but a woman following her soul.
Sarah’s level of prophecy was actually equal to that of Abraham. It is known that he came to the revelation of the one G‑d on his own, and even destroyed his father’s idols. But his original name, Abram, means “father of a nation.” It was not changed until much later, when he received the divine letter hei from G‑d before finding out he was to have a son. It was at the same time that his wife received her third name, from Sarai
(“my princess”) to Sarah (“princess”).
Sarah began life as Yiscah. This is a testament to the fact that she was born with vision, with prophecy. When it comes to Avram, on the other hand, it is interesting to note that there is no evidence in the Torah that G‑d ever spoke to Abraham before commanding him to leave for the desert. Furthermore, it is said that Sarah was such a powerful prophetess that G‑d spoke to her directly, while to the others He spoke through a messenger.
Sarai in Act 1, Act 2 & Act 3
Most of the time we know Sarah, she is called Sarai, “my princess. She was called this because she was the princess of her house and of her tribe. It is as Sarai that she does some of her most prolific work.
While having shed the name Yiscah, Sarai retained its essence in her core. There are many examples in the Torah of Sarah’s hospitality to guests, as well as to her followers. Sarah’s tent was no ordinary dwelling. Its doors were open to everyone, and G‑d’s miracles abounded. A light would be lit from one Shabbat eve to the next. There was a blessing in her dough, and it would rise miraculously. And a cloud was stationed over her tent. These miracles lasted throughout Sarah’s life, and ceased when she took her last breath.
Throughout the time she was known as Sarai, she continuously showed her royal nature and embraced her role as founder of a nation. However, what made her a truly gifted and insightful ruler was that, while having shed the name Yiscah, Sarai retained its essence in her core. And she demonstrated clearly that the gift of prophecy remained with her throughout her days.
The most profound example of this is in her dealings with her maidservant Hagar. When Sarai was unable to conceive after many years of marriage, she decided to give her maidservant to her husband as a surrogate. This could not have been an easy decision, but one that would have required her to be selfless. “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai,” says the Torah, because she was divinely inspired.
Sarah in Act 3
It is not until Sarah reaches the age of ninety that G‑d Himself changes her name to Sarah. The name Sarah is, in essence, a covenant that was given to her by G‑d. And it is representative of the idea that only then did He see fit to give her a child. “Do not call her name Sarai,” are G‑d’s words, “for Sarah is her name.” It is only now that Sarah has achieved her true status as “princess,” because she was recognized globally as such.
The birth of a child was all that was needed to secure Sarah’s pedigree. It was significant because not only did it show that Sarah was powerful in the natural world and had secured the dynasty, but, considering her age, it proved that she was a woman worthy of the greatest of miracles.
In fact, G‑d performed many miracles for Sarah related to the birth of Isaac. Although she was ninety and had obviously aged, her hair turned black again. It is also said that she experienced no pains during childbirth.To disprove wagging tongues, Isaac was created in the image of his father. Further, G‑d dried up the breasts of all noblewomen, so that they had to bring their babies to Sarah to nurse. She had an abundance of milk and nursed them all. It is said that the infants nursed by her were rewarded in this world, and grew to be rulers. All of these miracles were performed by G‑d to ensure that the parentage of Isaac would be indisputable as being both legitimate and miraculous. And only this allowed her to truly begin the dynasty of Abraham and Sarah, thus fulfilling her destiny of being a princess to the nations.
I am so humbled to be carrying this story through a Play and I am overwhelmed by love and beauty. I hope you are receiving it too friends. Sharing is so pleasurable. I am imagining, seeing and feeling how the Play will be like in live, with you all. And wow, it sounds spectacular!
Love,
Sarah
Commenti