You are a queen a sovereign of your actions. You’re not ruled by time not even by your own inclinations.

“The life of Sarah was 100 years and 20 years and 7 years the years of the life of Sarah.” (Bereishis 23:1)

 “When she was 100 years old she was like a 20-year-old in sin and when she was 20 years old she was like a seven-year-old in beauty. [The years] were all equally good.” (Rashi)

“Rabbi Akiva was sitting and teaching and his students were dozing off. He wanted to wake them up so he said ‘Why did Esther become the queen of 127 states? Let Esther who was the descendant of Sarah who lived 100 and 20 and 7 years come and rule over 100 and 20 and 7 states.’ ”

This beggars explanation: How was this statement meant to rouse his sleepy students?

Every year that Sarah lived was worth an entire kingdom. She lived a life of royalty; she was queen over each year that she lived.

Who among us has control over time? Who among us is not controlled by time? Those who are slaves to time are the slaves of slaves. (Birchas Mordechai Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi). $c$

Ah to be a queen. To have your every wish fulfilled with a wave of your scepter. A nanny for your kids a dozen housekeepers. The thought evokes wistful sighs from women everywhere — while they squeeze out floor rags lug bags of groceries up the stairs to their home scrub king-size pots on Motzaei Shabbos and pile yet another load of laundry into the washing machine.

“And his students were dozing off…” Rabbi Akiva was shocked. Was this possible?

It must be that a sense of servitude had entered them. They were not masters of themselves; they were not kings. (ibid.) 

Being a queen doesn’t mean having a row of servants at your beck and call or attending royal balls in opulent banquet halls. Being a queen means being in control.

Even a housewife who spends her days washing floors and cleaning chickens can become a queen. She can transform her house into a palace.

[Rabbi Akiva told his students] “Listen to the reward given to a person who becomes king over himself over his time: 127 countries all for one Esther.

“This was measure for measure the reward for the toil of her great ancestress Sarah who ruled over each of her 127 years. Each kingdom was a year and each year was a kingdom.” 

Life is but a speck in the chain of generations spanning back to Creation. Your childhood passes like a flash and suddenly you’re an adult. Each year passes even quicker than the previous one. The train you’re riding on is hurtling forward at lightning speed and the time given at each station isn’t nearly enough.

Another day passes with Mr. Time exerting his authority over the puny humans racing through life’s maze like blindfolded mice. “Today is Tuesday” the master announces in a harsh tone. “On Tuesday we wash the windows run to the post office and go shopping. It’s now 2012 ” he continues authoritatively. “You should be embarrassed of those sofas that went out of style a decade ago. You must buy new ones.”

In the afternoon our master tells us that we’re too tired to daven Minchah and at night he insists that we continue our telephone conversation even after our husbands have returned home.

Being ruled by time means being ruled by death by nonexistence. Time is the opposite of eternity; its very essence is that of limitations.

Being the master of time means being the master of life. It means being “above time” eternal and unbounded. And that is true life.(ibid.) 

You are a queen a sovereign of your actions. You’re not ruled by time not even by your own inclinations. You take instructions only from Above from the King of all kings.

Our days are ticking by. If we let ourselves be pulled by Mr. Time we’ll find ourselves at the final stop empty handed with the sudden awareness that we let the train carry us wherever it wished while we idled the time away looking out the window snacking on sweet biscuits.  

But when a queen travels she decides where to go when to stop and when to resume her journey.

“When Sarah was 20 years old she was like a seven-year-old in beauty.”  The intent here is not to praise Sarah for her beauty but for being in full control of her years. That’s why she remained forever youthful and beautiful.

That kind of time is not transient and fleeting because it is acquired by virtue of the higher purpose invested in it.

So Your Majesty what would you really like to do today?