A Torah scroll. Photo: RabbiSacks.org.

Sarah died when she was 127 years old, at the end of a very difficult life. More is told about her life and her struggles than any other of the wives of the great fathers of our people. And her parsha is the only one that is named after a woman. I wonder, though, why the Torah specifically and unusually describes her as being 100 years old, plus 20 years, plus 7 years, totaling 127.

I wonder what is so special about that number 127, which is also the number of the states that King Achashverosh ruled in the Persian Empire (although more than 1,000 years separated them). Should we necessarily think there has to be a connection? Was it a hint at a future benevolent civilization?

Most of the major commentators play around with those numbers and explanations. And Rashi adds that all the stages of her life were equally good. Rashi is not just giving her a chronological age but also a qualitative one. This is a perfect example of how much commentary has accumulated over the years to explain and reconcile so many different aspects of Torah.

I am particularly fond of Sarah because she had a sense of humor, or at least she laughed when she was told she would have a child in her old age. A sense of humor was obviously a plus for anyone. But that’s especially true given Sarah’s story. Sarah devoted her life to supporting her husband and his goals even at her own expense.

In the same parsha we read about Rivkah and how Abraham’s representative Eliezer found and selected her to be Yitzchak’s wife. Clearly, he was looking for character. Another female personality whose name will only be mentioned later, is Rivka’s nurse or nanny, Deborah, who was buried under a weeping tree (Bereishit 35:8). She must have been special too to merit the mention.

On the face of it, the Torah gives priority to males. But at the same time, it gives the women much more significance than any of the other contemporary cultures and with equal presence at Sinai and Moshe’s farewell speeches.

But there’s another interesting episode when it comes to Rivkah. When her family sent her off to become Yitzchak’s wife, they give her a blessing: “They blessed her saying, ‘our sister may you become many thousands and may your offspring inherit the gates of their enemies'” (Bereishit 24. 60).

It is one thing to be beautiful, kind, and loving, but you also have to be strong too, for your own sake and those who come after you.

The author is a writer and rabbi based in New York.