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Why does the Torah (תורה) use the plural verb "vayihiyu" (and they were) when describing Sarah's life, rather than the singular "vayehi"? The shiur explores multiple approaches: Sarah lived two distinct personas (public and private), two life stages (before and after lech lecha), or perhaps the formulation indicates that all her years—despite being seemingly two separate lives—merged into one unified spiritual whole. The discussion extends to Avrohom and Yitzchok's deaths, examining when the Torah uses singular versus plural constructions.
The shiur begins with a close grammatical analysis of the opening verse of Parshas Chayei Sarah: "Vayihiyu chayei Sarah" (And the life of Sarah was). Rabbi Zweig points out a fundamental difficulty: the verb "vayihiyu" is plural ("and they were"), yet the subject appears to be singular—Sarah's life. Even if "chayei" (life) is understood as a plural construct (the lives of Sarah), the grammatical structure of the verse remains perplexing. Why does the Torah (תורה) choose this unusual formulation? The shiur compares this verse to similar passages describing the deaths of other patriarchs. By Avrohom, the Torah states "vayihiyu yemei Avrohom" (and the days of Avrohom were), using a clearly plural construction. By Yaakov, similarly, "vayihiyu yemei Yaakov" (and the days of Yaakov were). Yet by Adam and others, the Torah sometimes uses the singular "vayehi." The class examines when the Torah employs plural versus singular verb forms and what this might signify about the nature of each person's life.
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Bereishis 23:1-2
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