A woman of striking beauty, Sarah (originally “Saraiâ€) was the wife of Abraham. Unable to conceive a child, and wanting to uphold the covenant of God that Abraham would be the “father of a great nation†she gave her husband over to her servant, Hagar, in order that she bear him a child. Hagar conceived and bore Ishmael, but then began to look upon her mistress, Sarah, with contempt. So God promises Sarah a son, too. This caused great laughter as Sarah was over 70 (not quite the child-bearing age). Sure enough, Sarah conceived and bore Isaac. They named him Isaac (Yitzac in Hebrew) which, fittingly, means ‘laughter.’
