Vayera: He laughed, she laughed

Avraham and Sarah are both given the same information.

A child will be born when you are 100 and 90, respectively.

He laughs in 17:17 and is told, “It’s true! It is really going to happen.”

In 18:12, when Sarah is given her version of the message; she too laughs, but is criticized. G-d asks, “Why is this that Sarah is laughing?” (18:13-14)

If they both have the same response, why are the reactions to their responses so different? Avraham’s seems to be supported by G-d, while Sarah’s response is rejected, requiring her to defend her natural reaction.

To strengthen the question, we can further wonder why Avraham seems to bear the brunt of the critique against Sarah? Rashi teaches us (21:12) that Sarah was greater in prophesy than Avraham. Why then did G-d’s criticism of her reaction come through Avraham’s prophesy?

Rabbi Yehuda ben Eliezer, the 14th century Riva, writes that there’s a simple explanation for the difference. Quoting Rav Elyakim, he notes that Avraham received the information directly from G-d, and his laughter was therefore of the joyous type – completely accepting G-d’s promise, while overcome with emotions that uncontrollably cause laughter.

Sarah, on the other hand, heard the promise indirectly, through an angel that dressed up as a wanderer, which caused her to be skeptical.

The Or HaChaim takes a different viewpoint, noting that Avraham laughed when he heard the news, while Sarah laughed not on the hearing of the news, but only after her body began to show signs that birthing was to be a real possibility. In other words, for Avraham, the message was convincing enough. For Sarah, the message was not convincing enough – it didn’t cause her to believe anything – only body changes could convince her that something was going to happen.

Perhaps this is a knock on Sarah’s faith. But I still find it unconvincing, in light of the comments of the Riva with which we opened. It is not G-d who is speaking to her. It is a stranger that her husband randomly stopped from his journey on the road.