Parshat Lech Lecha – Sarah: ‘Blind Faith’

Avraham Avinu is, without question, one of the supreme role models in Jewish history. His faith, courage and willingness to follow Hashem into the unknown form the foundations of our people.

Our Midrashim tell us extraordinary stories about his first 75 years, but the Torah itself tells us remarkably little.

Then, at 75, everything changes.

Hashem commands Avraham:

לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָ

“Go forth from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.” (Bereishit 12:1)

Hashem promises to make him a great nation, bless him and make his name great. But there is someone else in this story whom I believe deserves at least as much admiration.

Sarah.

Because there is a striking distinction at the very heart of this week’s parsha.

Avraham heard the Divine command. Sarah heard Avraham.

The Torah records Hashem speaking directly to Avraham, but no equivalent conversation with Sarah (in this week’s Parshah). We cannot know what Avraham shared with her or what spiritual insight she already possessed. What we do know is that she undertook the same journey without the Torah recording that she personally received those promises.

And, arguably, she made even greater sacrifices.

Following without hearing

Imagine the conversation. Your husband, aged 75, announces that you are leaving your home, family and everything familiar to travel to a land whose destination has not yet been revealed.

He tells you that Hashem has instructed him to go.

Would you simply pack your bags?

The Torah records no objection from Sarah. She accompanies Avraham.

Yet Rashi, drawing on Bereishit Rabbah, tells us something remarkable. Commenting on “the souls they had made in Haran” (Bereishit 12:5), he explains that Avraham brought the men closer to Hashem, whilst Sarah did the same for the women.

Sarah was no passive follower. She was an active partner in their spiritual mission, a leader in her own right.

Already we see that her faith was something more than unquestioning obedience.

The terrifying journey into Egypt

Almost immediately, things go wrong.

The couple arrive in the Promised Land, only to encounter a severe famine. Avraham decides to leave for Egypt.

Surely Sarah might reasonably have asked: Wasn’t this the land Hashem promised us? Why are we leaving already?

But matters become considerably worse.

Fearing that the Egyptians will kill him because of Sarah’s beauty, Avraham asks her to pretend she is his sister.

אִמְרִי־נָא אֲחֹתִי אָתְּ

“Please say that you are my sister.” (Bereishit 12:13)

Consider what he is asking.

Sarah must conceal their marriage and expose herself to the possibility of being taken by another man.

And that is precisely what happens. She is taken into Pharaoh’s palace.

The Ramban (Bereishit 12:10) is remarkably critical of Avraham, arguing that he sinned by leaving the land during the famine and exposing Sarah to danger rather than trusting Hashem.

But whatever we conclude about Avraham’s decisions, it is Sarah who bears the immediate danger.

Ultimately, Hashem intervenes, afflicting Pharaoh’s household, and Sarah is released.

Her faith was not theoretical. It was tested in circumstances of genuine fear and vulnerability.

The greatest sacrifice of all

Perhaps Sarah’s most extraordinary sacrifice comes later in the parsha.

Avraham has been promised descendants numbering the stars in the heavens (Bereishit 15:5). But Sarah remains childless. Ten years after arriving in Canaan, she takes an extraordinary step.

אוּלַי אִבָּנֶה מִמֶּנָּה

“Perhaps I shall be built up through her.” (Bereishit 16:2)

Sarah offers her maidservant, Hagar, to Avraham so that he might have a child. Consider the magnitude of this decision.

Sarah desperately wants a child herself. She is growing older, and now she is prepared to see another woman bear the child she cannot.

Whatever the social conventions of the time, this was an enormous personal sacrifice. And crucially, it was Sarah’s initiative. Avraham listened to her.

She was not merely obeying her husband. She was making one of the most consequential decisions in the history of our people.

The consequences were painful. Hagar became pregnant, their relationship deteriorated, and Sarah expressed her distress and anger.

This was not a woman without feelings, doubts or pain. She was profoundly human.

Only in the following chapter does Hashem explicitly promise Avraham that Sarah herself will bear a son:

וּבֵרַכְתִּי אֹתָהּ וְגַם נָתַתִּי מִמֶּנָּה לְךָ בֵּן

“I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her.” (Bereishit 17:16)

But look at everything she had endured before that promise. It’s interesting to note that the promise to her comes only after she made this ultimate decision.

Was Sarah’s faith really blind?

There is, however, a fascinating complication. Sarah was not simply a devoted wife who unquestioningly accepted everything Avraham said.

She was a spiritual leader in Haran, took the initiative concerning Hagar and later challenged Avraham over the future of Hagar and Yishmael.

In Parshat Vayera, when Sarah insists that they must leave the household, Avraham is distressed.

Hashem tells him:

כֹּל אֲשֶׁר תֹּאמַר אֵלֶיךָ שָׂרָה שְׁמַע בְּקֹלָהּ

“Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice.” (Bereishit 21:12)

Rashi makes an extraordinary observation:

לָמַדְנוּ שֶׁהָיָה אַבְרָהָם טָפֵל לְשָׂרָה בִּנְבִיאוּת

Avraham was secondary to Sarah in prophecy.

Pause for a moment and consider that. According to Rashi, Sarah possessed prophetic insight that, in this respect, exceeded even that of Avraham.

This changes our understanding of her completely. She was not spiritually inferior to her husband. Nor was she incapable of questioning or disagreeing with him. Her later laughter at the prospect of motherhood (Bereishit 18:12) also reveals a very human response to something that seemed impossible.

Perhaps, therefore, blind faith is not quite the right description. Sarah did not lack spiritual insight or independent judgement. She had both in abundance.

Her greatness was not that she followed without thinking, but that she remained committed without knowing how Hashem’s promises would be fulfilled.

The woman behind the promises

There is something profoundly moving about the contrast between Avraham and Sarah.

Avraham receives the instructions. Avraham hears the promises. Avraham is told that he will become a great nation.

Yet Sarah shares the journey, the dangers, the disappointments and the sacrifices.

Of course, Avraham faces extraordinary tests of his own. But the Torah is describing not simply the faith of one great man, but the remarkable commitment of a couple who become the founders of our people.

The Midrash recognises Sarah’s leadership. Rashi recognises her prophetic greatness. The Torah records her courage, initiative, suffering and determination.

This is not merely a story of marital devotion. It is a story of spiritual partnership, in which Sarah sometimes follows, sometimes leads and sometimes challenges.

And perhaps there is a much broader lesson here.

Much of Jewish history has been built not only by those who receive the call or articulate the vision, but by those who help carry it forward.

Spouses, parents, teachers, communities and countless others who make sacrifices for a future they may never see, fulfilling promises they may never personally have heard.

Their contribution is no less significant because they were not the ones who first received the instruction.

That is what Sarah teaches us.

Avraham heard the promises of Hashem.

Sarah helped make them possible.

Shabbat Shalom.