The Light Someone Else Will Carry

Think of someone whose voice still guides you.

Perhaps a parent whose words return to you when you face a difficult decision. A teacher who recognized something in you before you recognized it yourself. A colleague whose integrity changed how you serve.

They may never have known how deeply they affected you. Yet something they gave you now shapes what you give to others.

It raises a question worth sitting with: What are people learning to carry because we have been part of their lives?

This week’s Torah portion offers a remarkable way to think about that question.

It is called Chayei Sarah, “The Life of Sarah,” yet it opens with Sarah’s passing. We read about her burial, then follow the search for a wife for her son, Yitzchak.

Why call this the story of her life?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that Sarah’s life continues to reveal its depth through what endures after her passing. Her commitment to the Jewish future takes lasting form in the family and generations that follow her. What she lived for lives on through them.

That insight asks us to look beyond what we accomplish personally and consider what we help another person become.

The light returns

Later in the portion, Yitzchak brings Rivkah into Sarah’s tent, and she becomes his wife. Rashi explains that her arrival brings a remarkable change.

During Sarah’s lifetime, three miracles marked her home: the lamp she lit before Shabbos continued burning until the following Shabbos; a special blessing was present in her dough; and a cloud rested over the tent. After her passing, these miracles ceased. With Rivkah’s arrival, they returned.

Each miracle corresponded to a specific mitzvah entrusted especially to Jewish women. The enduring lamp reflected the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles. The blessing in the dough reflected hafrashas challah, the separation of a portion of dough as a sacred offering. The cloud over the tent, a sign of G‑d’s presence, reflected taharas hamishpachah, the laws of family purity, including mikvah.

Their return showed that Rivkah continued Sarah’s devotion to these mitzvos through her own righteousness. The holiness that had distinguished Sarah’s home was carried forward into the next generation.

That gives this moment its deeper meaning. Sarah’s absence was still real, yet the Jewish home she had helped build had a future. What she lived for would continue through those who followed her.

The Rebbe explains that when Jewish women and girls light Shabbos candles today, their spiritual light also extends throughout the week. The flames themselves burn for a limited time, but the holiness they bring into the home reaches beyond those hours.

This offers us a way to appreciate the enduring power of a mitzvah, and, more broadly, to consider the lasting influence of what we give to others. An action may occupy only a few minutes of our day while continuing to shape someone else’s days for years.

The moment ends. What we kindle within it can keep giving light.

What we leave with people

For those who serve others, much of the most meaningful work happens without a clear measure of its outcome.

An officer takes an extra moment to explain something respectfully to a frightened family. A service member helps someone new feel less alone. A chaplain listens without watching the clock. A parent puts down a phone to give a child undivided attention.

The immediate moment passes. Its influence may remain.

Someone treated with dignity may find it easier to extend it to another. Someone patiently guided may become a patient mentor. Someone who discovers that asking for help is safe may finally reach out when life becomes overwhelming.

These possibilities give weight to encounters we might otherwise rush through. We rarely know which conversation a person will remember when they need courage.

We also do not need to wait until the end of a career or a lifetime to begin thinking about legacy. We are already shaping it through what others experience in our presence.

Grief deserves room

A reflection on carrying someone’s light must also make room for the pain of their absence.

The Torah does.

Before purchasing the burial place and building the next generation, the Torah tells us that Avraham mourned and wept for Sarah. His grief belongs in the story.

For anyone carrying a loss, there should be no pressure to turn sorrow into a project or to find an uplifting explanation before they are ready. Sometimes the work of the day is simply getting through it with support.

When a person does feel ready, however, a mitzvah or an act of kindness in a loved one’s memory can offer a meaningful way to express an enduring bond. Their name becomes connected to something good happening in the world today.

Give someone something to carry

At SoulLinks, this helps explain why the Jewish connection matters in the everyday lives of those who serve.

Helping a Jewish officer put on tefillin, bringing holiday resources to a military family, or extending a Shabbos invitation can open a relationship that lasts beyond that encounter. A person gains someone to call, a place to ask questions, and a stronger connection to the faith and people they belong to.

That connection can reach their home, their children, and the people they will someday encourage.

Each of us has an opportunity to start such a chain.

This week, think of one person who gave you something you still draw on. Identify what it was: patience, faith, generosity, courage, or the feeling that you mattered.

Then choose one concrete way to share it.

Teach a child a Jewish practice you treasure. Invite someone who might otherwise spend Shabbos alone. Call the colleague you have been meaning to check on. Take a mitzvah you associate with someone you love and make room for it in your own life.

And if someone has given you that kind of light, tell them while you can.

You may never know how far your influence travels. You can decide what to give the next person to carry.

Help SoulLinks bring Jewish connection, spiritual care, and practical support to those who serve and their families. Support the work here.

Every day, first responders, law enforcement officers, military personnel, veterans, and their families dedicate themselves to serving and protecting others. SoulLinks helps serve those who serve.

By joining the SoulLinks Chai Club, your monthly support helps provide encouragement, spiritual care, meaningful connections, and critical resources to those who dedicate their lives to others.

A small act of generosity, repeated consistently, can create a lasting impact.

Giving Tzedakah teaches us that giving is more than a single act; it is a commitment to bringing goodness into the lives of others. Through the SoulLinks Chai Club, that commitment becomes an ongoing source of support for the people and families who are so often there for us when we need them most.

Join the SoulLinks Chai Club today and help ensure that those who devote themselves to serving and protecting others know that they are supported, appreciated, and never alone.

"Serving Those Who Serve" - and strengthening the links that connect us all.