“Abraham married his niece Sarai, daughter of Haran. She was ten years younger than Abraham, but was no less righteous, and later even surpassed her spouse in the gift of prophecy.”
Whenever the Midrash mentions any woman, it refers to “your inner woman” (whether you are a male or a female). Therefore, Sarai, who later became Sarah, symbolizes the desire to receive within you, which is your inner woman.
As long as the woman inside you exists without the right intention, she serves the destructive ego. But once the right intention is attached to her, the woman becomes a constructive force.
So it is here. “Abraham,” the intention to bestow, marries Sarah, the desire to receive, and thus transforms her into a righteous woman.
By unifying with Abraham, Sarah, the desire to receive, acquires the intention to bestow and becomes a pure and exalted state, and you begin to understand the meaning of true happiness, what it means to think about others instead of yourself, and what true love feels like.
Subsequently, Sarah becomes more exalted than Abraham because she contains an egoism that’s absent in Abraham because he is inherently pure, the quality of Bina in you.
Next, Sarah becomes the mother of all.
Abraham begins to attach the egoistic desires to himself and purify them. The first and closest desire to him is Sarah, followed by his students, whom we will discuss soon, then his sons—Isaac, Jacob—until you’ve achieved complete purification.
As you’ve learned time and again, we’re always talking about what is happening within you.
It is written about Sarah that “She later even surpassed her spouse in the gift of prophecy.”
There is no doubt about it because the Abraham in you is absolute bestowal and is therefore detached from egoism. Sarah, however, epitomizes your egoistic desire. Hence, in unifying with Abraham, she becomes a very significant figure (desire inside you).
Sarah is closer to the earth. It is written that she (as is every woman in our world) is not “detached from life,” and at the same time she is connected to Abraham. This is why she can prophesy while being understood and admired.
At the Age of 70, the Married Abraham Starts to Teach
It is written, “By that time Abraham has turned exactly seventy…” This means that all seven Sefirot (Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzah, Hod, Yesod and Malchut), the whole of Abraham, this entire desire within you, becomes corrected (by attaching to itself the previous degree of Terah, who believed in his son). And since each individual Sefira comprises 10 Sefirot, there are seventy in all.
For the first time, the Abraham inside you can begin to teach. Having unified with Sarah and reached the age of seventy, he finally became a fully functional desire.
No longer was his head in the clouds, for Sarah “lowered him to the earth.” Now you can connect with the people inside you and teach them without being considered eccentric. Now you will be understood.
Abraham passes the wisdom forward and thus connects to himself more desires and purifies them.
Here is what the Midrash has to say about the matter: “What did Abraham do in Haran?
He called public gatherings and declared before them the truth about the one Creator, appealing to people to serve Him…
In addition to public speeches, he held discussions in which he defended his claims against anyone who doubted them.
He also composed books that proved the futility of idol-worshipping. Thus Abraham drew tens of thousands of followers, who accepted the existence of the Creator.”
Indeed, this is precisely how Abraham gathers within you all the altruistic desires, which will later be called the “nation of Israel.”
“Israel” derives from the words Yashar (Heb. straight) and El (Heb. God), meaning straight to the Creator.
Note that this notion has absolutely nothing to do with religion, nationality, or race. The nation of Israel (the desires aimed at the Creator) is formed within you (regardless of the denomination into which you were born).
Additionally, it is correctly written that “Abraham traveled the earth without rest, spreading the faith in the Creator.”
In other words, there is a continuous search for newer desires within you, which could be attached to the nation, i.e., corrected, whereby an altruistic intention will be added to an egoistic desire.
“What Is the Meaning of Abraham Finding a Wife and Starting to Teach, in the Bible Story?” is based on the book, The Secrets of the Eternal Book: The Meaning of the Stories of the Pentateuch by Semion Vinokur.
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