A Midrash for Parashat VaYerah – Sarah’s Laugh

A Midrash for Parashat VaYerah – Sarah’s Laugh

By Rabbi Stacey Blank

It is written in the Torah that G-d said to Sarah, “No, but you laughed.” Why does G-d say this directly to Sarah? Because He was hurt by Sarah’s laugh. Why? Because He cared very much for Sarah’s opinion.

Why did G-d speak to Sarah only now? Ever since she was a child, Sarah believed in G-d. Sarah called to G-d and asked Him to take her away from a place of idol worship and to bring her to a new place. She knew that Abraham would not listen to her, therefore she prayed to G-d and called Him to help her. And so, “And YHWH said to Abram, ‘Go out you yourself from your land,’’’ etc.

She believed in G-d for all those years even when He did not give her offspring. She knew that it was important to Abraham, so she offered him Hagar in order to provide him with an heir. She felt that “all the souls that they had made in Haran” and that joined them in the Land of Canaan were like her children. She passed on her inheritance to them through education to believe in the One G-d and believed that they would always raise her name to their lips as they passed on the tradition to their sons and daughters.

When G-d announced to Abraham the birth of a son to Sarah, she laughed from delight as it is written, “And Sarah said: ‘G-d has made me laughter, all who hear will laugh for me.’” (Genesis 21:6). “Laugh for me” is to say “laugh with me” which is to say “rejoice with me”. But when Sarah laughed, G- was hurt because He thought that she was mocking Him and was losing faith in the ways of G-d. He was afraid that if Sarah lost faith, everyone would lose faith.