Parshas Vayera

If You Are Happy Then I Am Happy!

 

“And Sarah said, ‘Hashem G-d made rejoicing for me. All who hear will rejoice for me.’” (Bereishis 21:6)

Chezky, an American boy, was learning in a yeshiva in Israel.  His chavrusa, study partner, Yankel, was married.  One day, Yankel invited Chezky to join his family for a Shabbos meal. Chezky went and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Chezky noticed, however, that the amount of food that was served was limited. A few weeks later, Chezky decided to buy a special treat for Yankel’s children. He assumed that the children did not get treats often as Yankel appeared to be on a tight monetary budget. Chezky purchased ice cream sandwiches for all of Yankel’s children. He brought the ice cream to the house and happily noticed the excited looks on the children’s faces. He assumed that the children would tear off the wrappers and eat the ice cream immediately. He was very surprised that after saying thank you, the children ran outside before eating the ice cream. A few minutes passed. Soon the sounds of many children were heard. Yankel’s children had invited their friends to share their treats. They cut the ice cream sandwiches into small pieces and shared them with their friends. Noticing all the smiling faces, Chezky understood that Yankel’s children felt even happier because they were able to share with their friends and make their friends feel happy. (based on More Maggid Stories for Children by Chaviva Krohn Pfeiffer).

Hashem performed a miracle, and our matriarch Sarah gave birth to Yitzchak at the age of 90! Sarah was obviously very happy. Sarah said, “Hashem made rejoicing for me. All who hear will rejoice for me.”  (Bereishis 21:6)

What did Sarah mean when she said that “All who hear will rejoice for me”? The Radak explains that Sarah was convinced that everyone hearing about her good fortune of having given birth in her old age would automatically share her joy. Any person being surprised by some unexpected happy event, laughs for joy.

Midrash Rabbah (53:8) says, “Rabbi Berechya ben Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Yitzcḥak, ‘When Reuven is rejoicing, why should Shimon care? Sarah was remembered but why should others care?’” The explanation is that when Sarah was remembered, many other barren women were also remembered, and they conceived. Many deaf people gained their hearing, many blind people had their eyes opened, many imbeciles gained intelligence. As Rashi sums up, many prayers were answered together with Sarah’s and that brought great rejoicing in the world.

Rabbi Avraham Pam zt”l (Messages from Rav Pam by Rabbi Sholom Smith) learns a beautiful idea from this. What was the purpose of all the miracles which answered the different prayers of so many others? Rav Pam answered that Sarah’s joy would not have been complete if she had friends and neighbors who were still childless! To complete Sarah’s joy, Hashem answered the prayers of others, giving them relief from their own personal tzaros!

What a beautiful idea that we should emulate!

Even at our times of great joy, we should feel

that some degree of our happiness is missing

if our friends or relatives are currently experiencing challenges.

We should always keep them in our prayers.