(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּ֒שָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסֹק בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה:
(1) Blessed are You, Hashem our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctified us with commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.
There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live. Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was. Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace. And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels. But Hashem afflicted Pharaoh and his household with mighty plagues on account of Sarai, the wife of Abram. Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and begone!” And Pharaoh put men in charge of him, and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed.
There was a famine in the land; and Emrama went down into Mitzrayin to sojourn there; for the famine was harsh in the land. And it happened, when she drew near the border of Mitzrayin, she said to Sar her husband, Now, I know that you are a beautiful man. And when the Mitzriyot women see you they will say, ‘This is her husband,’ and they will kill me, but they will keep you alive. Please say you are my brother; that it may be better for me, for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you. Now, when Emrama came to Mitzrayin, the Mitzriyot women saw the man, that he was very beautiful. And the princesses of Par'ah saw him and praised him to Par'ah; and the man was taken into Par'ah’s house. And it went well with Emrama on his count; and he had sheep and cattle and she-asses and female and male slaves and donkeys and camels. And Tehovah plagued Par'ah and her house with great plagues because of Sar, Emrama’s husband. And Par'ah called Emrama and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that he was your husband? Why did you say, ‘He is my brother’ so that I took him to be my husband. Now here is your husband, take him, and go your way.” And Par'ah commanded her women and they escorted her on the way, and her husband, and all that she had.
The Rabbis have explained this subject in Bereshith Rabbah: “Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Oshaya that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham, ‘Go forth and tread out a path for your children!’ Thus you find that whatever is written concerning Abraham is also written concerning his children. In connection with Abraham it is written, And there was a famine in the land; in connection with Israel, it is written For these two years hath the famine been in the land.”
Know that Abraham our father unintentionally committed a great sin by bringing his righteous wife to a stumbling-block of sin on account of his fear for his life. He should have trusted that G-d would save him and his wife and all his belongings for G-d surely has the power to help and to save. His leaving the Land, concerning which he had been commanded from the beginning, on account of the famine, was also a sin he committed, for in famine G-d would redeem him from death. It was because of this deed that the exile in the land of Egypt at the hand of Pharaoh was decreed for his children. In the place of justice, there is wickedness and sin.
רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ בְּשֵׁם בַּר קַפָּרָא אָמַר, פַּרְעֹה בְּרָאתָן לָקָה. אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל מְצָאַנִי זָקֵן אֶחָד מֻכֶּה שְׁחִין בְּצִפּוֹרִין, וְאָמַר לִי עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה מִינֵי שְׁחִין הֵם, וְאֵין לְךָ קָשֶׁה מִכֻּלָּם שֶׁהָאִשָּׁה רָעָה לוֹ אֶלָּא רָאתָן בִּלְבָד, וּבוֹ לָקָה פַּרְעֹה. אָמַר רַבִּי אַחָא אֲפִלּוּ קוֹרוֹת בֵּיתוֹ לָקוּ, וְהַכֹּל הָיוּ אוֹמְרִים עַל דְּבַר שָׂרַי אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם. אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה עָלוּ דְּטוּלְמוּסִין לְמִקְרַב לִמְסָאנָא דְּמַטְרוֹנָא. וְכָל אוֹתוֹ הַלַּיְלָה הָיְתָה שָׂרָה שְׁטוּחָה עַל פָּנֶיהָ וְאוֹמֶרֶת, רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים אַבְרָהָם יָצָא בְּהַבְטָחָה, וַאֲנִי יָצָאתִי בֶּאֱמוּנָה. אַבְרָהָם יָצָא חוּץ לַסִּירָה, וַאֲנִי בְּתוֹךְ הַסִּירָה. אָמַר לָהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כָּל מַה שֶּׁאֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה בִּשְׁבִילֵךְ אֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה, וְהַכֹּל אוֹמְרִים עַל דְּבַר שָׂרַי אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם...
Resh Lakish in the name of bar Kappara said: Pharaoh was struck with ra'atan [some sort of skin condition]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said, I found an elder struck with boils in Tzipori, and he told me there are 24 kinds of boils, and ra'atan is the only one which a woman would exacerbate - and thus was Pharaoh struck. Rabbi Aha said: Even the walls of his house were struck, and everyone was saying, "It is because of Avram's wife!" Rabbi Berekhya said: because he dared to approach the feet of that matron. And that whole night, Sarah was prostrate on her face and saying, "Master of the worlds, Avraham went out by a promise, and I went out with [only] faith. Avraham is outside the prison, and I am inside the prison!" The Holy One, Blessed Be, said to her, "All that I do, I do for your sake, and all will say, 'It is because of Sarai, the wife of Avram!"...
In the text of the Torah where Sarai has no voice—and on the backdrop of pre-Rabbinic texts that give Avram a voice but not Sarai—it is remarkable to see our Sages draw out Sarai’s voice in this narrative. In the midst of a situation where she is objectified for her beauty, and deprived of any agency, Sarai’s voice emerges loud and strong, uttering the first words of prayer. The textual catalyst for the midrash is the phrase “ על דבר שרי / al devar Sarai ” (Genesis 12:17). At face value, this means “about the matter of Sarai,” where she is the object of discussion, but the midrash takes it instead as “due to the word of Sarai,” where she becomes a subject who speaks, finding her voice in this context of total degradation.
This is where prayer comes from. Not from a figure who is in direct relationship and regular conversation with God, but from someone who has no reason to believe God will do anything for her. In Avivah Zornberg’s words, hers is a faith of “grim realism.” God has never spoken to her and never indicated an interest in her own future. Nonetheless she decides to articulate the fragility of her position, and the untenable nature of her reality, directly to God.