13. "And Sarah's life was..." HE ASKS, Of all the women in the world, Why is Sarah the only one whose death is mentioned in Torah? Rabbi Chiya answered, This is not so, for it is written, "And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Efrat" (Beresheet 35:19), "and Miriam died there" (Bemidbar 20:1), "and Deborah, Rivkah's nurse, died" (Beresheet 35:8), and "the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife died" (Beresheet 38:12). THE DEATH OF MANY WOMEN IS MENTIONED IN THE TORAH.
14. Rabbi Yosi responded, But it is not written of them as it is written of Sarah, of whom it is said, "And Sarah's life was a hundred and twenty-seven years old, these were the years of Sarah's life" (Beresheet 23:1). No other woman's days and years were specified as they were for Sarah. Furthermore, none of them has a portion of the scriptures devoted to them, as does Sarah. There is an esoteric reason for this. IN THE SCRIPTURES, SARAH'S DAYS AND YEARS ARE SPECIFIED, but the secret is that the days and years of all men depend on this grade. THIS MEANS THAT THE MOCHIN, WHICH IS THE SECRET OF THE LIFE SPAN OF SARAH, IS ALLUDED TO IN THE NUMBER "127 YEARS." FROM THIS, THE LIFE SPAN OF MAN IS ALSO DRAWN.
15. He opened with the verse, "Moreover, land has an advantage for everyone, he who tills a field is a king" (Kohelet 5:8). "Moreover, land has an advantage" IS THE NUKVA "for everyone." Certainly, THIS IS THE SECRET OF YESOD OF ZEIR ANPIN, CALLED "All" (Heb. kol). Because FROM YESOD emanate spirits and souls and goods to the world. Of the verse, "He who tills a field is a king," IT IS ASKED, Who is the king? He is the Holy One, blessed be He, who "tills a field" when it is properly cultivated. The King is the supernal King, NAMELY ZEIR ANPIN, who is joined to the field when it is tilled. IT IS ASKED, What is the field? This is a field which Hashem has blessed, NAMELY THE NUKVA, AS IT IS WRITTEN, "Like the smell of a field which Hashem has blessed" (Beresheet 27:27). For when it is tilled and cultivated properly, the supernal King, ZEIR ANPIN, unites with it.
16. Rabbi Elazar asks, How many mysteries are alluded to in the verse, "He who tills a field is a king!" A king (why, if Shechinah is feminine principle?) is the Shechinah, which only dwells in a man's house when he is married and mates with his wife to beget children and bear fruit. And she, THE SHECHINAH, brings out souls to dwell in her, which is why THE SHECHINAH IS CONNECTED only to a tilled field.
17. Another explanation, A king is "a woman who fears Hashem," (same comment as above - mixed genders) as it is written, "A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised" (Mishlei 31:30). THIS IS THE SHECHINAH. A tilled field is a strange woman, NAMELY THE OTHER SIDE, as it is written, "That they may keep you from the strange woman" (Mishlei 7:5). For there are two kinds of field. There is a field in which all blessings and holiness dwell, as it is written, "Like the smell of a field which Hashem has blessed," NAMELY THE SHECHINAH. And there is a field, in which destruction and defilement, extinction, killings and war reside, NAMELY THE OTHER SIDE. This king, NAMELY THE SHECHINAH, sometimes tills the second field, THE OTHER SIDE, as it is written, "For three things the earth is disquieted...and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress" (Mishlei 30:21). IN THIS CASE, HEAVEN FORBID, THE FIELD OF THE OTHER SIDE INHERITS THE SHECHINAH, AND THE LIGHT OF THE SHECHINAH is covered and darkened until it is purified and joins ZEIR ANPIN above.
18. This is the purpose of offering the goat on the first day of the month, when no blessings dwell upon the second field, THE OTHER SIDE, as it is separated from the Holy King, THE SHECHINAH. When that field is tilled FOR THE OTHER SIDE, then it is written, "For he found her in the field, AND THE BETROTHED MAIDEN CRIED OUT, BUT THERE WAS NONE TO SAVE HER" (Devarim 22:27). The field is THE OTHER SIDE, as has been explained.
19. Come and behold: Eve came into the world and clung to the serpent. He injected impurities into her, and she brought death to the world and to her husband. Sarah then came and went down INTO THE PLACE OF THE OTHER SIDE, BUT she rose again without any KLIPOT clinging to her, as it is written, "And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had" (Beresheet 13:1). When Noah came to the world, it is written that "he drank of the wine, and was drunk, and he was uncovered within his tent" (Beresheet 9:21).
20. Because Abraham and Sarah did not cling to THE OTHER SIDE, Sarah earned supernal life for herself, her husband, and her son after her. This is the meaning of the verse: "Look at the rock whence you are hewn [ABRAHAM], and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug out [SARAH]" (Yeshayah 51:1). Therefore, it is written, "And Sarah's life was...," for she merited all THE YEARS. It is not so for the rest of the women, FOR IT IS NOT WRITTEN, "And Chavah's life was..." and so on. Sarah clung to life. Therefore, her life was her own.