Kabbalah Library

2) “And Sarah died in Kiriat Arba.” Such as that has never happened with any of the women in the world. The count of her days and years of life in the world, and the place where she was buried was stated so as to show that in all the women in the world, there was none like Sarah.

63) However, it is written about Miriam, “And Miriam died there and was buried there,” as with Sarah. It was written to show Israel’s sin, as it is written, “And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses.” This was so because the water did not go in Israel but only by the merit of Miriam. However, in her death, no days and years were mentioned as was said with Sarah.

64) It is written, “Happy are you, O land, for your king is free.” Happy are Israel, for the Creator gave them the Torah, to know all the hidden ways and to reveal to them the sublime secrets.

65) “Happy are you, O land” is the land of the living, the Nukva, who clothes the living God, which is Ima, since her king, ZA, has prepared all the blessings for her, which he was blessed by the upper patriarchs, upper AVI. This king is the Vav, who is always poised to bestow upon her blessings. And he is called “free,” since he is the son of Yovel [50], Bina, YESHSUT, whose Mochin sets slaves free, which are the Mochin of illumination of Hochma. And he is a son of the upper world, upper AVI, who always impart from their perpetual coupling, every life, every light, and every oil of greatness and glory.

This is so because the king, ZA, is the son of Yovel, from which the Mochin of freedom is imparted, meaning the illumination of Hochma. And he is also the son of AVI, whose coupling is perpetual and never ceases, and all the Mochin come from them. This is why he is called “free” and not “the son of freedom.” And the firstborn son, ZA, imparts all the Mochin of Yovel and of the upper AVI to this land, to the Nukva, as it is written, “My son, My firstborn, Israel.” Israel is ZA. He is called “firstborn son” when he has all those Mochin. This is why the verse says about her, “Happy are you, O land.”

66) It is written, “Woe unto you, O land, when your king is a boy,” for then the bottom land and the world nourish from the government of the foreskin, and everything is drawn down only from a king who is called “a boy,” meaning Matat. Woe to a world that needs to nourish in this way.

67) That youth, Matat, has nothing of himself except for the blessings that he receives from the Nukva for a certain time. And each time he was deprived of the blessings—since the moon was flawed and darkened—woe to a time when the world needs to nourish its sustenance from him. Moreover, the world is judged by many judgments before it nourishes from him, from the shells, since then everything persists and is done in judgment.

68) “And Sarah died in Kiriat Arba, which is Hebron.” Her death was not by that Slant Serpent, the angel of death, and he did not rule over her as he rules over the rest of the people in the world, for all people die by him since the day Adam caused them the death. The exceptions are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, who did not die by the angel of death but by a kiss, as it is written about them, “According to the word of the Lord.” And for the honor of the Shechina, it did not say about Miriam, “According to the word of the Lord,” although she, too, died in a kiss.

69) But regarding Sarah, it is written that she died in Kiriat Arba, above and not by another. In Kiriat Arba and not in a serpent. In Kiriat Arba, which is Hebron, where David bonded with the patriarchs. Hence, her death was not by another but in Kiriat Arba.

There are two phases to Malchut: fourth and seventh. Above the Parsa, from Chazeh of ZA upward, she is called “fourth to the patriarchs,” which are HGT, and she is called “Malchut of David,” as well as “Kiriat Arba.” And she is the corrected one, called “the land of the living,” of whom it was written, “Happy are you, O land, for your king is free.”

And with respect to below the Parsa, from Chazeh of ZA downward, she is regarded as seventh to the sons, NHY, and she is called “Malchut of Joseph.” It is written about Sarah that she died in Kiriat Arba, in the upper one, meaning Malchut of David, for she is the upper one, above Parsa of ZA, and not the other one, which is the lower Malchut below the Parsa, called “seventh.”

It is also said, “In Kiriat Arba,” and not in the serpent. This is why it appears that she did not die by the quality of the serpent, which is the angel of death, for he has no authority and hold in the Malchut that is above the Parsa, called Kiriat Arba.

“In Kiriat Arba, which is Hebron,” means that King David connected to the patriarchs, HGT, above Parsa of ZA. Hence, her death was not by the angel of death, who is extended from the lower Malchut, but in Kiriat Arba.

70) When one’s days exist in the upper degrees, HGT NHYM, one exists in the world. Since he still does not exist in the upper degrees, when he completes the life of seventy years, which are extended from the seven Sefirot HGT NHYM, his days depart the Sefirot and descend below the Sefirot. Finally, they approach the degree where death is present, meaning the angel of death, who is below the Sefira of Malchut, where it is written, “Sin crouches at the door.”

And then he receives permission to take out the soul, and he flies the whole world in one flight and takes the soul and defiles the body, and the body remains impure. Happy are the righteous who were not defiled, and no impurity remained in their bodies.

This is an evidence that the angel of death did not rule over Sarah, since it has been explained here that death comes to a person after he exits the seven Sefirot and goes below the bottom Malchut—the place of the angel of death—who then receives permission and takes out one’s soul. Thus, Sarah never descended below the bottom Malchut, but died in Kiriat Arba, which is the upper Malchut above the Parsa, at the place of Chazeh of ZA. Hence, it is certain that she did not die by the angel of death.