Avrohom and Sarah enjoyed the ultimate marriage. The greatness they respectively reached was only possible because of the other’s efforts. The respect Avrohom had for Sarah and vice versa provided a home that was fit for the dwelling of the Shechinah itself.
    After surpassing the greatest of his tests, the akeidah, Avrohom returned home to find that his beloved Sarah had died as a direct result of the akeidah. Avrohom was crushed, yet he controlled his emotions so as not to show any signs of regret over his fulfilling G-d’s command. But Avrohom said a beautiful eulogy for Sarah that we repeat every Friday night at the commencement of our Shabbos seudah, (chapter 31 of Proverbs), "Aishes chayil mi yimtza- A woman of valor who can find?"
    The Yalkut Shimoni describes at length how the entire paragraph delineates the greatness of Sarah as the complete and perfect woman. Chazal explain that the entire chapter is also analogous to Shabbos (which would explain why we read it at the onset of Shabbos) and to the Torah.
    Bearing this in mind, I was always struck by the second to the last verse in the chapter. "Sheker hachain v’hevel hayofi isha yiras Hashem hi tis’halal- Grace is false and beauty is vain, a G-d-fearing woman – she should be praised." What grace and beauty does Shabbos and the Torah have which is false and vain? If the Torah is the guidebook to living perfection and Shabbos is the crescendo of the week and a glimpse into the utopia of the future, what aspect of it can be false or vain?
    "The Mashgiach", Rabbi Mordechai Finkelman shlita, related a personal incident that helps shed light on this inquiry. Rabbi Finkelman lives in Boro Park and shares a two-family house with Italian neighbors. One Friday his neighbor’s sister knocked on his door and asked if she could leave a package for her sister, as she was not home at the moment. The Finkelmans graciously accepted but told her to leave a note on the neighbor’s front door notifying her.
    In the middle of the Friday night seudah as the Fineklmans were eating, the neighbor knocked on the door. They welcomed her in and told her that the package was in the kitchen and unfortunately they couldn’t help her with it because it was Shabbos. The neighbor began walking toward the kitchen but then stopped dead in her tracks. She slowly looked around at the Shabbos table. She eyed the silver candelabra with the Shabbos candles still burning brightly, she stared at the delicacies lining the table served on fancy china with silver cutlery, she glanced at the children and at Rabbi Finkelman sitting around the table in their Shabbos finest with glowing faces. Then she slowly looked up and asked, "Do you do this every week?" Rabbi Finkelman gently replied that this was their Shabbos seudah, and he began to explain a little bit about it. Before he could finish, she burst into tears. "If we are lucky, we have a family get-together twice a year," she sobbed, "and you have this beautiful ritual every single week."
    When I was learning in Eretz Yisroel a number of years ago, one of the Rabbeim from the yeshiva invited a friend and myself to join him at his home for Shabbos. I remember vividly how we crammed into his small Telz-Stone apartment with all his young children. To say the apartment was modest is an understatement. I recall how one of his children was screaming and making a whole ruckus, yet the Rabbi and his wife spoke to him softly cooing and pacifying him.
    So often one reads stories about such ‘Yerushalayim Jews’ but I saw it for myself. The man’s face literally radiated with joy and holiness. I remember feeling a sense of holiness that I had never felt before in my life. There was a G-dliness and a serenity that permeated that little apartment that cannot be described with words. While sitting at that Shabbos table, the words of ‘Aishes Chayil’ took on new meaning. It became clear to me that indeed there is a tremendous beauty and grace present in observing shabbos. It is a wondrous sight to see a family joined together in lofty conversation with candles burning etc. One who leads a life of Torah also merits a certain beauty. A Torah life carries with it meaning, aspiration, direction, answers, and holiness. There is no scarcity of stories of secular Jews who at first only became religious because of the beautiful lifestyle Torah carries.
    However a Jew must be cognizant that the reason he observes Shabbos and follows the laws of the Torah is not because of its inherent beauty and grace. We keep them for one reason only: The Torah commands us to do so. Had Shabbos been a dreary day and a Torah lifestyle a painful existence, we would still observe them, because our only purpose is to fulfill the will of the Almighty. "Sheker hachain v’hevel hayofee:" the aspect of beauty and grace of Shabbos/Torah is false and vain; the only reason we observe them is, "Isha Yiras Hashem hee tishalal" because we must be G-d fearing Jews who follow G-d’s command.
    Even with this newfound explanation I was still bothered by one thing: Is it a coincidence that there is such greatness and spiritual ecstasy to be found in keeping Shabbos and observing a life of Torah? Doesn’t G-d want us to enjoy them? I understand that the beauty and grace aren’t a priority but is it "false and vain"?
    Recently I came across an insight of the Vilna Gaon that answers this question. The simple meaning of the text bothers the Gaon. How can it be said that the beauty of a woman is false and vain if the Torah often relates to us that many of the righteous women of history (including Sarah and the other Matriarchs) were physically attractive? Why would the Torah point this out if beauty were so meaningless?
    The Gaon explains that grace and beauty are false and vain only when they are not accompanied by the Fear of G-d, for otherwise, they are nothing but external features. But if a beautiful and charming woman possesses the Fear of G-d, she is worthy of praise. True beauty must radiate outward from within, and must relate to deeper qualities as well, not to external and painted-on beauty. Jewish tradition recognizes beauty as a factor in the total personality. But a woman who lacks values is not considered beautiful but ugly and vulgar.
    The same idea may be said in regard to Shabbos and Torah. One who only keeps Shabbos because of its radiance and only follows the Torah because it provides feelings of holiness, is not following a path of beauty but a path of vanity and falsehood. However one who remains steadfast to all the mitzvos of the Torah and to all the laws of Shabbos simply because he is commanded to do so, will merit the beauty and the inner joy that ebulliently bursts forth from its observance. Such a person can enjoy the beauty and the grace of Shabbos/Torah as well.
    There is a fundamental ramification that comes out of this idea. If one only observes Shabbos/Torah because of their external beauty, when faced with difficulties that make Shabbos/ Torah observance difficult, he will turn his back and forsake them.
    However, one who keeps Shabbos/ Torah because it is the unyielding word of G-d will never be swayed from their meticulous observance and will eventually merit the blissful surge of holiness that they embody.